Leon Lemmer: Elsa Joubert se onpatriotiese reis – praag.co.za
Elsa Joubert (gebore in 1922) het in 1950 met ‘n mede-joernalis en -skrywer, Klaas Steytler (1922-1998), getrou. Haar outobiografie is in twee dele gepubliseer, ‘n Wonderlike geweld (Kaapstad: Tafelberg, 2005), vertaal as A lion on the landing: Memories of youth (Hermanus: Hemel & See, 2014), en Reisiger (Kaapstad: Tafelberg, 2009, 381p; Amazon Kindle $35), vertaal as A daughter of Africa: Writing through the apartheid years (2017, 609p; Amazon Kindle $11,39). Aangesien die tweede deel oor Joubert se lewensloop van 1948 tot 2007 handel en ek veral haar politiek wil belig, skenk ek slegs aan hierdie deel van haar outobiografie aandag. Die Afrikaanse e-teks is buitensporig duur, gevolglik gebruik ek die Engelse weergawe. Dit het die voordeel dat dit dan makliker is om Joubert se teks (die Engelse aanhalings) van my kommentaar in Afrikaans te onderskei. Let op hoe die titel van die Engelse teks, wat seker veral met die oog op buitelandse lesers gepubliseer is, aangepas is om aan die werk ‘n uitdruklike politieke konnotasie te gee. Die Engelse boektitel is ontleen aan ‘n 1992-kortverhaal van Joubert, “Dogters van Afrika”: “The women here in Africa are sisters in their inner being. They are all daughters of Africa” (Kindle 219).
In sy boek, Die Afrikaanse literatuur, 1652-1987 (Pretoria: Academica, 1988, 494p), noem JC Kannemeyer dat dit vir Joubert veral om “volkereverhoudings” gaan (p 267) en dat Suid-Afrika ‘n land is “waarin sy wesenlik ontuis is” (268). Haar gevoel van ontuisheid vind uitdrukking in ‘n gebrek aan vaderlandsliefde/patriotisme. Daarmee gee Kannemeyer uitdrukking aan kernaspekte van Joubert se skryfwerk.
Reeds as 16-jarige het Joubert besluit om ‘n skrywer te word “to shake South Africa awake” (188). Dit klink ambisieus, indien nie voorbarig nie. Terwyl Joubert in ‘n bus vol inboorlinge in Madagaskar ry, wek hierdie mense se primitiwiteit aanvanklik weersin by haar. “A great repugnance has built up in me over the last few days against those that I think of as uncivilised” (2905). Toe ‘n kind op die skoot van ‘n tienerma vir Joubert in haar sy wakker skop, is daar hierdie eienaardige, eintlik ongeloofwaardige, reaksie by Joubert: “When I realise what it is, the bitter aversion that has travelled with me falls away. A great, deep feeling of oneness with her, with the people on the bus, with all people, all life around me, fills my being” (204, 2910).
Die vertaler, Irene Wainwright, ‘n oud-Suid-Afrikaner wat haar in Amerika gevestig het, borduur na aanleiding van hierdie insident soos volg voort: “For Elsa, it is this connection at a personal level that is the key factor in overcoming differences between groups that are separated by race, religion, and/or culture. And it is especially women who are the harbingers of this concept since they are connected to all other women by the instinctual nurturing of their children that all women share” (209). Hierdie soort feministiese betoog is kenmerkend van baie Amerikaanse geskrifte. Joubert toon ook feministiese neigings. Andersins is die verregaande boodskap dalk dat blankes tot begrip van die wesenlike eenheid van die mensdom geskop kan word.
Naòmi Morgan het ‘n artikel oor hierdie vertaling gepubliseer (LitNet, Books & writers, 27 April). Haar kommentaar is deels in die Kindle-katalogus gereproduseer. Wainwright sê Joubert “would like all the people of Africa of whatever origin, nationality or race to consider themselves equally African.” Joubert het oor haar reis in Madagaskar geskryf: “We are all travellers, bound for our destination together, and can travel together if we accept each other as equal human beings. And what, then, is our ultimate calling in Africa? Perhaps simply this: mutual compassion” (225). In die nuwe Suid-Afrika is daar by swartes egter (op die amptelike vlak) bitter min sprake van empatie jeens blankes. Joubert se reise in Afrika en elders het volgens Wainright by Joubert die gevoel gewek van “belonging to her country and her continent” (231). Ja, Joubert wil Afrikaan wees maar, soos ek hier onder aantoon, was sy glad nie patrioties tydens die Nasionale Party-bewind nie.
Dit blyk dat Wainright goed met Suid-Afrika se geskiedenis bekend is, want sy skryf (dalk ietwat oordrewe): “the colour bar has been in full force for centuries before apartheid” (231). Rassediskriminasie is ‘n Britse erflating maar word in die nuwe Suid-Afrika by voorkeur aan Afrikaners toegedig. Joubert beskou rassesegregasie as ‘n victoriaanse idee waarvan “the falseness remains clinging to us” (3268). Dit blyk dat Joubert ‘n (gesonde) weersin in die Britte het. Toe sy in 1948 ‘n skeepsreis na Oos-Afrika onderneem, ervaar sy sommige van die passasiers as “claustrophobically British” (254). Oor Kenia skryf sy: “I am ill at ease with the British colonials who have moved from India to Kenya … They are derogatory about the Indians. They were shocked to the marrow when they were displaced from that country” (376). “Don’t think that the English don’t feel strongly about the colour bar. At Nairobi they booed at me when I entered a bioscope with Mahmoed [see next paragraph]. They didn’t want to allow me in a hotel because he was with me” (480).
In 1948 was Joubert se toekomstige man, Klaas Steytler, in Kanada en hulle het gekorrespondeer. Hy was daar in ‘n verhouding betrokke (Klaas “left behind a girl in Montreal” – 1686) terwyl Joubert in Kenia hals oor kop op ‘n Indiër, Mahmoed Hassan, verlief geraak het. “I am at peace and happy with Mahmoed” (420). “I’m living in a heightened state of excitement. I want to go anywhere, anywhere, with Mahmoed” (425). “I drink water from his amber-coloured hands” (439). “He kisses me with herb-covered hands. Everything open up around me” (443). “When I have to take leave of him, it feels as if a part of my body is being torn away” (455). “I don’t know what it is that I feel, but it overwhelms me. It burns like a flame in me” (475). Sy het toe “two boyfriends” gehad (544).
Joubert reis van Kenia na Uganda en van daar na die oorsprong van die Nylrivier en verder noord met die rivier langs. Sy ontmoet ‘n Sweedse verpleegster wat in Abessinië werk en van ‘n inheemse stam sê: “They didn’t want white blood in their tribe” (529). In die Britse kolonies in Oos-Afrika het Joubert rassesegregasie ervaar. “The culprit … is England” (650). “England … left racial remorse amongst her ‘stepchildren'” (659). Sy ervaar Suid-Soedan heeltemal anders. “Why this sudden uplifting, a feeling of freedom that I am experiencing for the first time in my life? … I hear all sorts of languages and see all sorts of people … We were under the tyranny of the colour bar. The freedom of Juba is overwhelming – my first experience of relating as a free person to a free person” (539). “I feel at home” (591). Sy ervaar ‘n “complete shift in values” (705). “This trip through Africa has changed my perception of the world” (710). Ná 1990 ervaar sy dieselfde soort vryheid in Suid-Afrika maar sonder dat sy in ekstase daaroor is. Politieke verligtheid het sy perke.
Joubert ontmoet ‘n Egiptiese meisie wat vertel dat haar ouers vir haar ‘n man kies. Dit blyk dus dat mense kultureel verskil: “It’s different with us, very different” (556). In die Soedan word in 1948 met vreugde kennis geneem dat Jan Smuts en sy Sappe in die verkiesing deur DF Malan se Natte verslaan is. “Smuts is anti-Arab. He is on the side of the Jews” (598). In die Soedan “I have gained a strange sort of reputation as a Malan supporter, which I am not” (622). Sy skryf van die Soedanese se “false trust in Malan … everybody knows that what is going on is evil” (1404). Joubert weet dat haar ouers Malan se oorwinning in die Paarl vier, maar sy onthou die woorde van haar ma se suster: “Malan and his colour pettiness” (617). Sy skryf aan Klaas: “I have not been a Patriot anymore. I grew up in a Malan household, but I cannot identify with his policy at all. I detest it” (670).
Via Egipte gaan Joubert na Parys in Frankryk. Daar ontmoet sy die Suid-Afrikaanse skilderes, Maud Sumner (1902-1985), wat haar vertel van “creative joy” (730). Sumner raak die volgende groot waarheid oor die kunstenaarslewe kwyt: “It’s difficult to handle a life without structure” (754). Dus, as ‘n mens nie ‘n formele pos beklee nie, moet jy self struktuur aan jou lewe gee; eintlik aan elke dag. In Parys maak Joubert ook kennis met die Afrikaanse skrywer, Jan Rabie (1920-2001). ‘n Kort tyd werk Joubert as tikster in die Suid-Afrikaanse ambassade in Lissabon, Portugal. “I am making use of the hospitality of the embassy of a country that I hate” (864). “All of them are for the preservation of the white man” (840). ‘n Mens kan jou afvra: Waarom nie? Sy wil nie terug na Suid-Afrika gaan nie (849).
“When an Angolan black man and his family, on holiday in Lisbon, move into the pensão [herberg], the Portuguese occupants don’t associate with them. It shocks and confuses me” (859). Jare later het Joubert besoek gebring aan Mauritius, wat ‘n Hollandse, Franse en Britse koloniale geskiedenis het en ‘n soortgelyke situasie waargeneem. “There is no social intermingling amongst the groups. The French and English form a small minority as do the Creoles” (2919) en dan is daar die Indiërs, “the majority by far” (2914). Op Madagaskar is daar dieselfde verskynsel: “The Malagasies complain … ‘The French don’t socialise with us'” (2928). ‘n Mens kan vra: Is dit geregtigheid as die swart meerderheid in Suid-Afrika deesdae gedwonge rasse-integrasie aan blankes opdring?
Van Lissabon keer Joubert terug na Parys. Na ‘n verblyf van twee jaar in Kanada kom Klaas daar aan. Spoedig gaan Joubert na Swede waar Mahmoed in ‘n Stockholmse hospitaal weens ‘n longkwaal behandel word. “He is used to friendly, warm, helpful Africa, not the cold, aloof Europeans” (932). ‘n Mens kan vra: Waarom sou Afrikane hulle dan so oorgraag in Europa tuismaak? Joubert vertoef ses weke in Stockholm, “the expensive, shiny, aloof city” (1030). Sy word toegelaat om Mahmoed net twee keer per week vir ‘n uur lank te besoek. Daarna vra hy haar om liewer weg te gaan: “I will not write or talk to you again. It’s better this way … Put it behind you now. It’s in the past. Allah is above all” (1137). Lank daarna skryf sy aan hom en ontvang selfs ‘n antwoord. Dan kom daar uiteindelik by Joubert hierdie besef: “I now know I would not have fitted in” (1349).
Sy gaan terug na Klaas in Parys en vandaar gaan hulle na Duitsland waar hulle kennis maak met “the de-Nazification of all primary school children … It shocks me and reminds me of Milner with his anglicisation of South African schools” (1213). In die 1960’s bring hulle weer ‘n besoek aan Duitsland. “There’s distancing of the self from the past, excessive guilt or nostalgia, or complete surrender to materialism, even hedonism” (3643). “One young man tells us he is bringing up his children as Europeans, not Germans” (3648). Dit herinner aan mense wat eens Afrikaners was maar deesdae probeer om Afrikane en Engelssprekend te wees. In ‘n museum sien Joubert ‘n foto’s uit die Nazi-tyd van banke in parke met die woorde, “Nur für Arier (literally, ‘Only for Arians’). It strikes me like a blow in the stomach; the Afrikaans equivalent, Slegs vir Blankes” (3674). By nabaat vervolg sy: “Will we also throw ourselves into a paroxysm of materialism … one day when our government is overthrown and the Afrikaners are shattered into nothing? It’s a day that will have to come to our country. Everybody knows it must come” (3674).
Sy en Klaas raak in Londen verloof. Wanneer die inwyding van die Voortrekkermonument in 1949 genoem word, “the words fall like a bucket of ice-cold water over me” (1277). In 1938 het Joubert die hoeksteenlegging van die monument meegemaak, maar nou het sy “completely altered convictions … How being an Afrikaans writer will fit with no longer being a Patriot, I don’t know” (1282). Later wanneer ‘n Afrikaanse koerant oor die bevordering van Afrikaans berig, is die reaksie by die Steytler-egpaar “disdain that this should make front page news … we feel a slow hardening against the concept of ‘preserving’ the language” (1381). In die nuwe Suid-Afrika word hierdie dwase gesindheid by baie Afrikaanssprekendes aangetref. Dit het (ver)regs en verkramp geword om vir Afrikaans te veg. Joubert skryf: “One’s ‘country’ is a loaded word, as I myself know from experience. Although the over-emotional concepts of volk and fatherland that I experienced as a schoolgirl died away after a few years and then disappeared, I still wonder sometimes: ‘Are the templates still lying buried deep within me?'” (3425) – “I who as a child had so much love for my volk” (5747). Ná die koms van die nuwe Suid-Afrika sal daar elemente van haar gesonde Afrikaneragtergrond uiteindelik na vore tree, soos hier onder blyk.
In Johannesburg wil Joubert nie lid word van die Klub Maria van Riebeeck vir Afrikanervroue nie (1517). Klaas is ‘n joernalis by ‘n Afrikaanse koerant. Die Steytler-egpaar “are invited to welcoming dinners by the Afrikaners on the Rand … But we don’t find a rapport with these people … They don’t know much about culture, although they always have pretentious opinions. Some of them haven’t even been as far as the Cape. We feel superior” (1517). “We don’t have many friends” (1648). “I realise what these years have brought – total isolation, claustrophobic isolation in my idyllic, soundproof cell with my husband, my children and my white gardenia trees” (2101). Ook in ‘n ander opsig distansieer die Steytler-egpaar hulle van die Afrikaners. “We don’t agree with the policy of segregation practised by the church. On the contrary, we find it evil, in direct opposition to the Christian teaching of loving one’s neighbour” (4169). Joubert se ma sê: “I know you are not church people or strongly religious” (1551). Klaas word ‘n kommunis genoem (2154). Hy sny selfs die grasperk op ‘n Sondagoggend (2184). “Klaas says that the only bit of Afrikaans culture that still speaks to him is the old-time dance music that is played on the concertina [boeremusiek]. The rest is forgetable” (2179). Ook Afrikaans?
Hendrik Verwoerd word as “cruel” bestempel (1850). Die Steytler-egpaar begeer “that the walls of apartheid-Jericho should fall” (2287). Wanneer swart vroue in Pretoria ‘n optog na die Uniegebou hou uit protes teen die dra van passe probeer Joubert die samewerking van MER(othmann) (1875-1975) kry om vroue teen die NP-regering te mobiliseer (2092). Sy ontvang geen reaksie nie. Noudat Joubert getroud is, is sy nie meer so entoesiasties oor ongebreidelde vryheid soos destyds in die Soedan nie. Sy begin toepas wat Maude Sumner in Parys gesê het.”I would not fit into an unstructured life and Klaas even less. We are not Bohemians. I only feel free when I’m anchored” (2261). Maar dan wil sy tog Afrikaners se ankertoue losmaak. Wat Klaas begeer is “an open mind … and an open heart” (2266).
Daar is een saak waaroor die Steytler-egpaar nie ‘n oop gemoed het nie: “The heroic past, something for the volk to feel proud about” (2315). Dit word as ‘n mite bestempel (2315). Joubert sê: “The days of the generals are over. We must forget about the Boer War. We must think about today. We must start building our own myths” (2321). Miteskepping is iets wat die ANC sedertdien in oortreffende mate gedoen het. Joubert skryf oor “the love-hate feeling I have for my country. I am proud of my Afrikaner origins but ashamed of my people for what they are doing” (2864). Die woord volk irriteer Joubert. Haar pa was die hoof van die Opleidingskollege Paarl (OKP) vir onderwysers. Na sy dood lees Joubert die teks van sy toesprake, bv: “Above all, love of the volk” (3757). Joubert: “Ai, Pappa, what were you teaching us there? Where is that love of the volk leading us now? I am no longer in touch with the concept” (3757).
1959 was die jaar waarin “Die Wonder van Afrikaans” gevier is. Joubert het daaroor ‘n voordrag by Kollege Helpmekaar in Braamfontein gelewer. “I tried to awaken enthusiasm for the first Afrikaans newspaper, the Patriot, and the First Language Movement … Jokes about Pannevis and Uncle Lokomotief, SJ du Toit and the young farmers of Dal Josafat and the reading of a few poems held their attention, but whether they could see the broader picture, I don’t know. There were no real signs of interest. The boys and girls in their school clothes seemed too self-satisfied and pink and plump” (2327). Dalk het Joubert as nie-patriot nie met genoeg oortuiging oor die Afrikanernasionaliste van die Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners gepraat nie.
Aan die Coronationville Opleidingskollege vir Onderwysers word die Wonder van Afrikaans deur bruin mense gevier. “These are our people. How can we ever compensate for the injustice that we are doing them? What became of my ideals after I got to know Mahmoed and his people? How can I endure any longer this barred cage that has been built around my country’s people?” (2410). “The Coloured people are not only close to us, they are us en we are they” (2840). Die kulturele ooreenkomste tussen blankes en bruines word deur Joubert beklemtoon en die verskille gerieflikheidshalwe geïgnoreer.
Wat eienaardig is, is dat die ergste moontlike gewelddadige onreg wat elders in Afrika teen blankes gepleeg word nie vir Joubert in dieselfde mate ontstel as blanke owerheidsoptrede in Suid-Afrika nie. “My first personal contact with Belgian refugees from the Congo hits me hard. Reports of the Mau-Mau murders in Kenya didn’t alarm me as much. I have no ties with the white [Afrikaner] settlers of the highlands” (2521). In 1960 het David Pratt ‘n aanslag op Hendrik Verwoerd se lewe gemaak. Die Steytler-egpaar was blykbaar teleurgesteld dat die sluipmoordpoging misluk het. “We are shocked and upset when we hear that the Afrikaans actress and writer, Anna Neethling-Pohl and her producer sister, Truida Louw, stood watch the whole night in the passage outside the ward where Verwoerd was lying. NP van Wyk Louw (who is married to Truida) sat and waited in his car in the parking area. The word is that NP van Wyk Louw is a member of the Broederbond. Now it looks as though he is also a Verwoerd-man. I hear that MER is a good friend of the Verwoerd family. She probably prayed hard for his recovery. So much for my writing to her asking her to lead us against Verwoerd! It’s no wonder she didn’t even acknowledge my letter” (2667). “I don’t want to fall, like Van Wyk Louw, into a watered-down ‘loyal resistance’ [lojale verset]” (2868, ook 3430).
Later noem Joubert dat Van Wyk Louw sy vorige vriend, Beyers Naudé, nie eens meer groet nie (3344). Joubert het haar blykbaar heeltemal van ‘n Afrikaner van die formaat van Van Wyk Louw gedistansieer: “I cancelled the invitation that I had accepted to deliver the Van Wyk Louw commemoration lecture at Stellenbosch … I can’t do it. I don’t know how” (5638). Maar die Steytlers se afkeer van die Britte is selfs sterker: “Klaas and I both vote for a republic” (2717). Maar “the concept of a republic tastes bitter because it’s Verwoerd’s Republic” (2864). “I have never been an admirer of Dr Verwoerd … but I have to admit that he is indeed brilliant. I can see how he sweeps along the Caucus and also Parliament with his reasonings” (3278). Dit herinner aan die linkse joernalis, Allister Sparks, wat Verwoerd tereg intelligent genoem het en toe verplig is om sy stelling terug te trek.
Joubert het die stigting in 1963 van Beyers Naudé se Christelike Instituut verwelkom. “At last there will be a place for anti-apartheid Afrikaners” (3337). Joubert wek by my die indruk van ‘n bokser wat probeer om bokant sy gewigsklas te veg. “My own talent, I know, is not so great and all-encompassing” (6797). Dit blyk telkens dat Klaas meer gesonde verstand en ewewig as sy het. “He can stand back and evaluate things from a wider perspective” (6696). “Klaas is not as emotional as I am” (5019). “I cry so easily. I don’t know what I would do without Klaas” (5773).
Joubert skryf oor Nelson Mandela se 1964-betoog in die Rivonia-verhoor: “His closing arguments impressed us: ‘I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal oppportunities'” (3365, 7486). Mandela het inderdaad teen blanke gesag geveg. Maar dit is ‘n infame leuen dat hy ooit teen swart oorheersing geveg het of daarteen gekant was. Swart mag was sy ideaal. Weens die ruggraatloosheid van ‘n klein groepie blanke politici het Mandela sy ideaal verwesenlik. Ervaar ons sedert 1994 vryheid, bv van beweging en uitdrukking, bv spraak? Lewe ons in harmonie of word ons deur misdaad, bv koelbloedige moorde, geteister? Is daar sprake van gelyke geleenthede en regte vir blankes of word daar suiwer op grond van ras teen ons gediskrimineer?
Na vyftien jaar in Johannesburg word Klaas in 1965 na Kaapstad verplaas. Afrikaners was geneig om die noordelike provinsies as polities meer konserwatief as die suidelike provinsies te beskou. As iemand wat in verskeie opsigte ‘n nie-Afrikaner wil wees, het Joubert ‘n ander siening: “I don’t relish exchanging the freedom of the big city for the more conservative, in some ways more limiting, Cape Town society” (3550). Hulle vestig hulle in Oranjezicht. “The Afrikaner community of Oranjezicht is claiming us … The establishment is enfolding us” (3624).
Joubert probeer deurgaans om die deurslaggewende belang van verskille in ras, etnisiteit en kultuur te ondergrawe; selfs te ontken omdat swart aktiviste die mite van ‘n enkele swart etnisiteit koester. Sy stel eerstehands vas dat daar by swartes by bv onderrig “opposition to using the mother tongue” is (4426). Oor etniese tuislande voel die swartes “that ethnic identity is an anachronism that we [the white government] are forcing upon them” (4468). “We don’t need ethnic grouping. We are united into a much larger group by our black skins” (4503). Dit is ‘n rasgebaseerde argument wat op swart mag neerkom. As swartes versuim om hulle etnisiteit en moedertaal na waarde te skat, hoef blankes of Afrikaners nie dieselfde te doen nie.
Joubert se anti-Afrikanerinslag blyk duidelik uit die volgende sin: “The more solid the Afrikaner bloc in the National Party becomes … the more pressing the need for outright resistance” (4706). Die Steytler-egpaar koop ‘n strandhuis op Onrus. Hulle assosieer daar met NP-teenstanders. “Everyone is outspoken against apartheid. Jan [Rabie] refuses to speak a word of English” (4721). Hulle vind die bruin skrywer, Richard Rive (1931-1989), wat net Engels wil praat, wonderlik. Rive bring van sy swart skrywersvriende na hulle strandhuis (4779). Joubert skryf: “I find it a tragedy that in our fenced-off, divided country we are barred from getting to know our fellow South Africans by virtually the only way that we could – through their books” (4783). Sy hou van swartes se “resistance prose and resistance poetry” (4868). “I am blown over by the new world that Richard, with the array of banned books on his shelf, has opened up for us. I make it my goal to convey what I have discovered to the reading public, especially the whites” (4811). Rive se homoseksualiteit lei daartoe dat hy vermoor word (7096). Adam Small en Franklin Sonn wou glad nie met Rive assosieer nie, dalk onder meer omdat “Richard was totally against the boycott of classes or the burning down of schools” (7106). Afrikaans is die sterkste en dalk feitlik enigste band wat die Steytler-egpaar met Afrikaners behou. Soos Braam de Vries dit gestel het: “We are Afrikaans language Patriots” (4971, 6576). Joubert besing “the vigour and explosion of Afrikaans in the Coloured community” (5047) maar rep geen woord van kritiek oor die gehalte/suiwerheid van daardie Afrikaans nie.
Dit is die blankes wat alewig van rassisme beskuldig word, maar in Angola het Joubert gesien hoe die blankes en basters uitgemoor of uit daardie land verdryf word. “They murder the mulattoes. Not a drop of white blood must remain” (4662). Sy kom blanke Angolese vlugtelinge in Grootfontein in Suidwes-Afrika/Namibië teë, sommige met Afrikaanse name en vanne, wat gruverhale vertel. Hoe reageer Joubert hierop? “I am more handicapped than a newly arrived person because his slate is still clean, but mine is tainted by the false concepts and prejudices of centuries. Today I was touched to the quick by these sweaty, unkempt, uncomprehending refugees. I don’t want to be like them one day. … I don’t want to live in the cocoon of false safety … never questioning anything. It must no longer be tolerated by us” (4668). Sy uiter nie ‘n woord van veroordeling teen die rassisme, gewelddadigheid en barbaarsheid van die Angolese swartes nie.
“I have spent enough time travelling in foreign African countries, noting down all that I see or hear and coming back to write it up in our false country” (4673). “But it would not be my own travel story that I write. It eventually becomes the journey of a black woman, Poppie Nongena, and, through her, my journey” (4684). Uit die voorafgaande blyk dit duidelik dat Joubert wil verseker dat die hoofkarakter Poppie, in haar boek, Die swerfjare van Poppie Nongena (1978), die politieke menings uitspreek wat die outeur tydens haar reise in Afrika en haar verblyf in Suid-Afrika gevorm het. “I am familiar with her background through all my journeys” (5216). Die fiktiewe elemente in die roman begin met die naam van die hoofkarakter. In werklikheid is sy Ntombizodumo Eunice Ntastha (6030), Joubert se huishulp, wat ‘n noodsaaklike rol vervul omdat Joubert volgens eie erkenning ‘n “incompetent housewife” is (2215). “For safety, and also for personal reasons, Eunice and I decided right at the start to use a pseudonym for her in the book” (5297). “Eunice becomes part of our household. We love her” (5119).
In hierdie tyd is daar onrus in die swart woongebiede by Kaapstad. “Police cars drive past followed by an open truck with white boy-soldiers with upright gunstocks between their knees. I want to march out into the street and stand in their way, to stop them with my hand. I want to take the guns out of the children’s hands” (5181). Sy wil vir die soldate sê: “This is your city, your [Table] mountain. Are you going to shoot its people and children? Wake up and look around and see that this is your world; these are your people!” (5186). “Even the army is sent in against the seething, wronged masses. Don’t they realise that the army with the tanks and machine guns and the grim faces of the white youngsters in uniform is oil on the flames?” (6006). Dit kom blykbaar nie by Joubert op dat hierdie soldate wet en orde probeer handhaaf nie; dat hulle lewens en eiendom teen vernietiging beskerm nie. “My heart sinks when I see the many recruits with their long guns” (5659); daardie mense wat ons land so uitnemend teen oorname deur terroriste beskerm het. Dit is in hierdie emosionele atmosfeer dat die emosionele Joubert met werk aan die boek begin.
Eunice/Poppie vertel in werktyd, dus terwyl sy betaal word, “three mornings a week, two-hour sessions with a short break for tea” (5220), haar lewensverhaal wat deur Joubert op band opgeneem word. Klaas lees Joubert se aanvanklike formulerings. “He says that there is too much of me in the book” (5231). Sy dik die verhaal doelbewus aan: “The main thing is that they [the readers] should not get bored” (5231). “The narrative threatens to become boring, and I have to think up new ways to recreate the immediacy of the events” (5352). “I wanted to make a personal statement with this book” (5297), bv “the enormity of the abyss that the government has created between its citizens” (5522). “There was heartache in the writing of this book, an intentional exaggeration [!] of the spiritual abyss towards which the laws are leading us” (5959). Reeds vroeg in haar outobiografie erken sy: “I fabricate” (816). “I wrote the book … for my people, the Afrikaner people” (5372). ‘n Vergelyking van die bandopnames en die boek behoort interessante inligting na vore te bring, bv wat en hoeveel in die roman het Eunice as oorsprong en wat en hoeveel is deur Joubert bygevoeg. Ten einde nog inligting te kry “I invite Eunice’s family to dinner – her brothers and half-sisters whom I have come to know from our sessions. I put the tape-recorder in the middle of the table” (5238).
Oor die boek skryf Joubert: “I begin working on it in January, 1977, and in May, 1978, I hand in the over-long manuscript to my publisher” (5269). Die boek was ‘n reuse sukses, deels vanweë die onderwerp en die tydstip waarop dit gepubliseer is. Die teks is in 13 tale vertaal. Die roman is ook tot ‘n drama verwerk. “Ever since the appearance of the English edition , the English South Africans here and overseas want to own me as one of them, a deserter to their side, a traitor” (5377). “I am a writer, not a political activist” (5392). Byvoorbeeld, José Donoso het gesê: “I believe that the writer has only one ‘duty’: to strive for literary quality. It is more important than his opinion” (6146, ook 7193). ‘n Vrou het aan Joubert gevra: “How can you air your people’s dirty linen in public?” (5356). Joubert het geantwoord: “Because it’s true and we should be aware of it” (5356). ‘n Ander persoon het gevra: “If our country is so awful, why don’t you get on the next boat and leave?” (5362).
Poppie is die soort leesstof wat die huidige bewindhebbers in Suid-Afrika graag as voorgeskrewe boek, dus as verpligte leesstof, aan skoolkinders opdring, wat groot drukoplae meebring. Die boek het Joubert in ‘n welvarende skryfster omskep. “At functions he [Klaas] introduced himself as ‘Uncle Poppie’, and the atmosphere is immediately congenial. Half of the money from the prizes and royalties goes to Eunice” (5341). Glad nie sleg vir iemand wat in werktyd bloot haar lewensverhaal mondeling as die basis vir die boek vertel het nie. Wat het van die oorgekompenseerde Eunice geword? “Eunice doesn’t come back to work for me. She wants to take care of her children” (5443). Eunice is in 1992 oorlede (5978). “According to custom, I give money and flowers to Eunice’s family” (6015).
Klaas het by geleentheid die ooreenkomste tussen Afrikaners en Afrikane/swartes probeer opsom, maar ek vind dit moeilik om sy poging te waardeer en onmoontlik om dit te onderskryf: “Both Afrikaner and African are followers, power followers; have the ‘short-leash’ controlling mentality; are hungry for land; practice land politics; are destructive of nature; possess a degree of innocence and disinterest in politics; excel in collective activities and spirit; have a strong psychical bent; have feasts – compare the Afrikaners’ National Party festivals and black feast days. Both can be cruel, are conservative. Both have a mania for learning. Both are conservative and strongly family-oriented” (5567). Oor elke item kan uitgebreide kommentaar gelewer word. Die ooreenkomste is kunsmatig of oppervlakkig of as daar ooreenkomste is, is daar aard- of graadverskille. Klaas moes eerder die verskille probeer opnoem het maar dit sou nie sy politiek gepas het nie.
Om Afrikaners verder te diskrediteer, voeg Joubert haar stuiwer by: Die Afrikaner het ná 1652 uit Hollanders, Franse en Duitsers ontstaan “and then, as it were, existing in hibernation, especially in the hinterland, for close on two centuries. They totally missed out on the Enlightenment” (5573). Dit is blykbaar gebaseer op hierdie stelling van Klaas: “Our spirit went to sleep, and we revitalised, shedding centuries of cultural memory” (5578). Klaas het gesê: “The Afrikaner is a person still in the making.” (5578) As rede hiervoor word beïnvloeding deur Afrika aangegee: “We de-westernised ourselves in Africa” (5578). Die omgewing het seker ‘n impak, maar om sy gesonde kern te behou, sal Afrikaners myns insiens hulle Europese wortels moet bly koester. Dalk moet die Steytler-egpaar, wat hulle doelbewus op die rand van die Afrikanerdom geposisioneer het, hulle eerder van sulke uitsprake oor Afrikaners weerhou. Hierna volg ‘n stelling wat meer gewig dra: “Perhaps we are misleading ourselves when we think there is still a place for the white man in Africa. Perhaps it is a terrible self-deception” (5589). Dít dui op fundamentele verskille tussen wit en swart mense.
Joubert hammer op hoe onaanvaarbaar apartheid in die praktyk is. Dalk nie meer as ‘n enkele keer nie, kom sy uit by ‘n geldige rede daarvoor: “Perhaps the whole system of apartheid is self-defence” (5594). Apartheid het myns insiens primêr om die selfbehoud van die blankes gegaan; nie net tot voordeel van die blankes nie, maar ook ter bevoordeling van die land. Met die afskaffing van apartheid en die soort grondwetlike bedeling waaraan toegegee is, het die voorbestaan van blankes in Suid-Afrika (hoogs) twyfelagtig geword. “The psychiatist says I have a conflict between the conventional establishment and the rebellion inside me” (5841). “I am grieving for the death of the child of six who wanted to be a Patriot; the child of sixteen with a burning torch [a reference to the laying of the corner stone of the Voortrekker Monument in 1938] in her hands who wanted to pour herself out into the burning oil for her people. It is that child that I have betrayed” (5847).
Sy erken geredelik dat sy hardkoppig is (1722, 1986, 4827). “I said yes [to my mother] and then did what I wanted” (7309). Sy het van haar ouerhuis weggeloop toe sy in 1948 Afrika ingevaar het (3568, 7303). Sy vra vir Klaas of sy na Madagaskar mag gaan, maar skryf dat sy in elk geval sou gegaan het (2890). Tydens die lees van hierdie outobiografie het ek dikwels gewens ek kon vir Klaas ‘n handdrukkie gee, uit simpatie en ter bemoediging. Weens haar fundamentele onpatriotisme jeens Suid-Afrika tydens die “apartheidsregime” distansieer Joubert haar van Afrikaners. Maar dan kla sy: “My people would never give me an ovation for my work” (7092).
Vir my was hoofstuk 7 die treffendste. Die Steytler-egpaar het in 1984 na Argentinië gereis en die Afrikanerdiaspora in Patagonië opgesoek. Die Afrikaners wat na die Anglo-Boere-oorlog daarheen uitgewyk het, het feitlik almal al uitgesterf en hulle nageslag is almal vinnig besig om te verspaans. “Oom Tobias [Norval] is not very hopeful that Afrikaans will survive … I give the language another twenty years” (6361). En in die 21ste eeu? “Nothing” (6366). Verder is daar hierdie ontstellende feit, wat die afgelope drie dekades veel ernstiger afmetings aangeneem het: “The Argentineans complain that when they visit Africa the Afrikaans they hear is truly a mishmash with English!” (6435). Joubert sê: “I feel sad at heart for these people without a future” (6457). “Without an Afrikaans future, you mean,” sê Klaas (6457). Joubert skryf: “The community will also die out, I know. The Afrikaans character of the first generations will disappear; Spanish will take its place. And so it should. It’s right that way. Is there anywhere a life for Afrikaans outside Africa?” (6500). Myns insiens het Afrikaans (op die lange duur) nie ‘n toekoms buite Afrika nie. Het blankes ‘n toekoms in Afrika? “What is the Westerner doing in Africa?” (6841). Moontlik het die Afrikanerdiaspora in Argentinië ‘n beter toekoms daar (al is dit sonder Afrikaans) as blankes/Afrikaners in Suid-Afrika. In Argentinië is blankes in die meerderheid. Die enormiteit van die grondwetlike vergrype in 1990/94 het nog glad nie algemeen ingesink nie. Dit is ‘n groter terugslag vir Afrikaners as die Anglo-Boere-oorlog. Van die ABO kon ons herstel. Is herstel moontlik na 1994? Tans lyk dit nie so nie.
Hein Willemse, weens transformasie tans ‘n Afrikaansdosent aan die Universiteit Pretoria, sê: “he doesn’t use the terms white and black anymore but rather master construct and worker construct … ‘I write for the working class'” (6664). “Hein … is openly Marxist” (6674), soos sy leermeester, Jakes Gerwel, wat ‘n soortgelyke nie-wit, selfs anti-wit, politieke oriëntasie gehad het. Gerwel ” looks at each novel in terms of social relevance … He has separated the teaching of Dutch and Afrikaans making Dutch a separate language like German, so that the students don’t have to think that their language comes directly from Europe or is ‘Western’ but is a language of Africa. Of course, this is only a half-truth” (6669). Dan hierdie bekende gespog met die grootte van die destydse Departement Afrikaans aan die Universiteit van Wes-Kaapland: Gerwel se “first-year Afrikaans class outrivals in size all Afrikaans classes at other universities in the country” (6674). Eintlik was dit die grootste Afrikaansdepartement in die wêreld. Maar Gerwel het nie in die eerste plek Afrikaans doseer nie. Hy het graag gesê dat hy literatuursosiologie doseer, dus primêr politiek en daarby politiek van ‘n marxistiese aard. Tot op hede beïnvloed Gerwel se benadering tot Afrikaans sy oudstudente, soos Willemse en Michael le Cordeur, ten kwade. Dit is waarom hulle bv Kaaps pleks van Standaardafrikaans bevorder.
Hoe nader die nuwe Suid-Afrika gekom het, hoe meer realisties het Joubert soms geword. “The black people are streaming into Crossroads. They are inundating us with a strength and power that will overwhelm us” (6979). Swartes se gewoontes en veral hulle gewelddadigheid irriteer haar al hoe meer. In haar is daar “a remaining bit of white fear – give it its name: ‘racism’ – that fights against this intrusion that they and their traditions and their power are making on my life, forcing me to give in” (7037). “We [whites] sit and count our money and invest for inflation and old age, and they [blacks] invest in people and family and the performance of family duties” (7041).
In 1989 word skrywers deur die ANC “cultural workers” genoem. “A great many of the [ANC’s] ideas … are disturbing for us” (7536). Naïewe, oorverligte blankes word die eerste keer bewus van die deurslaggewende belang van kultuurverskille. “Where does this recognition of the Freedom Charter  come from?” (7545). “I am 100% for working together with COSAW [Congress of South African writers] as a literary organisation and would like to become a member, but why UDF, SARK, Cosatu, or IDASA [Institute for a Democratic Alternative in South Africa]?” (7551). Toe die Afrikaanse Skrywersgilde vergader, moet hulle aanhoor: “‘IDASA is paying for everything – for the speakers and all the meals for members’ IDASA also paid for the Waterfall Conference” (7562). Joubert skryf: “Forces from outside, such as the [ANC’s] Cultural Desk, will take over too much. Will the unknown overwhelm us?” Joubert gooi wal: “I think it is firstly important for the individual to hold onto what is his own” (7598). Dit klink nogal patrioties en konserwatief. Die oorverligte Jan Rabie kom ook in ‘n mate tot inkeer: “I want to say a few things about my language. It is the greatest multiracial achievement in our country ever, with roots in the West, in the East and in Africa … I am my language. Without Afrikaans I am nothing” (7608).
“Klaas says he is still unwilling to accept or adapt to a Marxist state. I can’t either” (7122). Wanneer Die Stem van Suid-Afrika gespeel word, “Klaas and I stand up” (7129). FW de Klerk se 1990-toespraak lui die begin van die nuwe Suid-Afrika in. “I am aware of a release, a feeling of lightness, as though a heavy burden has slid off my back. It begins to penetrate: a free society, no apartheid in any form, one man one vote, and no longer the dichotomy of being an Afrikaans writer and not a Patriot which carved me in two. Now I can be a complete person. There is no longer the angst and shame over the evil of my own people” (7465). “My heart is full of joy. The melting ice is a miracle; everything is a miracle. The frozen pieces of fear and hatred will also melt away to nothing – God’s miracle” (7470), wat spoedig Nelson Mandela se toorkuns/”magic” word. Oor Mandela skryf Joubert: “‘I will follow this man,’ I say to Klaas later as I am making tea. ‘He inspires trust.’ Joy rises in me once more. A new future lies before us” (7486). Deel van Joubert se vertroue in Mandela is dat hy “promised to retain the status of Afrikaans” (8032); uiteraard ‘n (doelbewuste) valse belofte. Later sê Mandela: “It’s the role of writers and journalists to help build a nation … I don’t know why the white Afrikaners think that they are being discriminated against” (8667). Joubert skryf: “A new spirit prevails now. I see no policemen” (7496). Dit is in werklikheid deel van die probleem. Daar is nie meer doeltreffende polisiëring nie.
Maar as dit hoe is, kom Joubert met die afgesaagde argument dat sowel wittes as swartes se bloed rooi is (7428). Dit is ‘n liggaamlike ooreenkoms en glad nie aanduidend van die groot kulturele verskille nie. Antjie Krog word soos volg aangehaal: “How do I rid myself of this exclusive stain?” (7432). Joubert besin oor haar tradisionele dislojaliteit teenoor Afrikanerkultuur: “The concepts of ‘Volk’ and ‘Fatherland’, the world of the FAK Songbook – which have made me cringe on occasion – were the easy butt of ridicule” (7665). “Can I still say ‘our country’?” (7692). Dit het klaarblyklik tyd geword om weer ‘n egte Afrikanerpatriot te word. Pleks daarvan besluit die Steytler-egpaar: “We will be Patriots of a broader conception” (7987). “Klaas calls it [the political transition] getting rid of one’s identity. He says he is not like that; he is and remains an individual” (7712). “Klaas calls himself a Boer. The newspapers now talk about the ‘Afrikaanses'” (8662).
“We didn’t think that the political shift would alter everything” (7772). Wat het nie verander nie? “Peace does not come to the country” (7907). Toe hulle in die 1992-referendum gaan stem, kom hulle agter dat dinge oornag verengels het (7987). “The heavy, nauseous feeling in my heart rears its ugly head again. Will it always be ‘Afrikaans on request’ from now on?” (7991). Die volgende nuwe neiging wat sy kop uitsteek is die “degenerate language of [Afrikaans] teenagers and young people, apparently in resistance against the older generation and especially against Afrikaans, the so-called ‘language of apartheid'” (8022). Kort hierna sterf die Afrikaanse Skrywersgilde ‘n stille dood (8173). “Amongst the younger writers especially, there is … not much enthusiasm for an organised Afrikaans group … Pure Afrikaans is politically incorrect” (8178).
Joubert “poke[s] a little fun at the new tendency to bend over backwards in order to be politically correct” (8311). “Refuse to be brainwashed by other people … Challenge their opinions and judge for yourself” (8420). “We have to keep fighting for what is ours, in our case Afrikaans” (9576). Dit lyk asof sy in ‘n mate uiteindelik tot ‘n beter Afrikaner gelouter is. Nog ‘n nuwigheid: “Our kitchen language, strangely enough, is English” (8326). Ons geskiedenis word “the heart-wrenching mutilation of our past” (8358). Joubert skryf: “As a writer I was never an activist” (9581). Dalk is dit ook hersiene geskiedenis; ‘n ontkenning van wat sy voorheen gedoen het. “I get the strange feeling that the ATKV has broadened to such a degree, that they reach out to all races and want to include everyone” (9591). Vandaar die uittredende ATKV-hoof, Japie Gouws, se skandalige raad: “Ons moenie veg vir Afrikaans nie” (Die Burger, By, 25 Mei, p 2).
“Who and what am I, then? Neither fish nor flesh, a fence-sitter. At one function the word, ‘bridge’, is used. For me this is a better word … I don’t fit in completely with either of the two groups, neither with the Afrikaners nor with the black resistance heroes” (9596). In 2001 ontvang Joubert ‘n eredoktorsgraad van die Universiteit Stellenbosch. “I made a plea for the continuation of Afrikaans at the tertiary level” (9654). In 2007 ken die Universiteit Pretoria ook ‘n eredoktorsgraad aan haar toe (9715).
Skrywer Leon LemmerGepubliseer op 10 Junie 2017 Kategorieë Leon Lemmer, RubriekeSleutelwoord afrikaans, Elsa Joubert, Engelse teks, JC Kannemeyer, letterkunde, outobiografie, Reisiger
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