'His presence was just something magnificent'
South African family living in Yellowknife remember Nelson Mandela and the apartheid system he helped dismantle
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, December 11, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Growing up in apartheid South Africa, Ryan Peters remembers hearing people talk about Nelson Mandela as if he were a mythical figure.
"We would sing songs about Mandela, people would talk to you at the school about Mandela," said Peters.
But Mandela was charged with four counts of sabotage and conspiracy to violently overthrow the government in 1963 and his image was subsequently banned from being circulated in public or published by the media.
"Prior to seeing Nelson Mandela on TV (in 1990), I couldn't really remember that I'd ever seen him," said Peters.
Peters, who moved to Yellowknife along with his family in June of this year, said that all changed when Mandela was released from prison.
"At that point I realized he was actually just a person. Obviously he was a great person, but he was not a god. He was just a humble person doing something for his country that not a lot of people would do," he said.
Even more monumental for Peters, and the rest of the country, was Mandela's eventual election to the South African presidency in 1994.
Peter's wife, Michelle, remembers that day as if it was yesterday.
"I was so proud. I could not believe that an African person could be elected and could be governing our beautiful country," she said. "You just walked a little taller because he was in charge."
Michelle was even fortunate enough to be in the same room as Mandela when he came to give a talk at her university. Although she does not remember what he said that day, she will never forget the feeling she had when he entered the room.
"When he walked in I had goosebumps. His presence was just something magnificent," she said.
Sadly, the man who ended the oppressive apartheid regime in South Africa died on Dec. 5. Although he was only in power for five years, Mandela transformed the nation by giving it an egalitarian constitution and presiding over a peaceful transition to a representative democratic state - a feat which many believed was impossible.
Even in the years after he left politics, Mandela continued to be an advocate for peace and democracy, not just at home, but also on the international stage.
His efforts were officially recognized by Canada in November 2001, when the country granted him honorary citizenship.
Michelle, who was born in April 1976, just several months before the infamous Soweto uprising, in which hundreds were killed in clashes between black high school students and government security forces, said it is difficult for some people to imagine the extent to which people were segregated during the years before Mandela came to power.
In South Africa, both Michelle and Ryan are officially identified as coloured, which is a term used to denote a group of people that are mixed race. Although there is a degree of subjectivity to how that group is classified, as coloureds, they were not only cut off from white communities, but black communities too.
"It was institutionalized so that people were never allowed to mix. There were separate churches, there were separate schools; the whole social structure was designed so that people feared each other," said Michelle.
According to the couple, one of the worst things about apartheid was the segregation of the school system, which prevented blacks and coloureds from studying technical subjects such as science.
"The first time I saw a laboratory was in university," said Michelle.
"There's a lot old people that are really intelligent and they never got to do anything with their lives," added Ryan, pointing in particular to his parent's generation.
Although both Ryan and Michelle had exceptional grades and were able to get into technical schools alongside white South Africans, neither of them remember the experience fondly.
Michelle recalls that her white peers could not believe that she was able to speak the predominantly colonial language known as Afrikaans, when it is in fact the mother tongue of most coloured people such as herself.
"They would come up to me and say, 'oh you speak such beautiful Afrikaans,'" she said. "That is the extent of the segregation - really, it's shocking."
Michelle and Ryan are relieved that because of Mandela, they have been able to raise their children in a society where people have equal opportunities regardless of their skin colour.
But despite the extent of Mandela's reforms, they both say prejudices persist in the country.
"Even though we have equality there are still negative trends," said Ryan. "We still need to educate our kids."
Since moving to Canada, Michelle and Ryan have also noticed that there are parallels between the need for continued reconciliation between whites, blacks and coloureds in South Africa, and between First Nations and non-indigenous people in Canada.
"If you have two sons and you give everything to the one son - he studies, you feed him, he becomes a doctor, he gets the car, he gets the house - and the other son gets nothing, then suddenly you call them in and say 'listen, guys, I'm going treat you as equals, it doesn't solve the problem," said Ryan. "You almost need to rewrite history."
Premier Bob McLeod travelled to South Africa to represent the Northwest Territories at Mandela's historic state memorial service in Johannesburg yesterday.
Michelle and Ryan are both disappointed that they are not able to be at home as their nation mourns the death of its greatest political figure.
"Just watching the scenes on TV - people are dancing, singing and being sad, but also celebrating his life and legacy - not to be a part of that is disappointing," said Ryan.
In the absence of being able to go home, Ryan has gotten together with some other South African families in Yellowknife to organize a memorial service in honour of Mandela.
The service will be taking place this Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church.
Ryan said he hoped people from all backgrounds will come to show their support for Mandela.
"Mandela has done a lot for South Africa but his actions and everything he stands for are relevant to the world," he said. "He had a universal message of hope and endurance, but also of forgiveness and compassion and I think that's something that everyone can share regardless of their nationality."
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