The period that they talk about in the book is the 1990 – 1994 period. This was a difficult time for many people all over the world. With the Baltic wars in Europe, the wars in Malawi, Somalia, etc in Africa and there was in the gulf war in the Middle East, it was a time of trial for everyone. But there was also a war that was not that publicised in the rest of the world and that was the one in South Africa.
The entire period was not totally negative for South Africa. There was a huge turn around where the South African white population overwhelmingly voted in a referendum to allow a free election where the whole population can vote. It was a first for South Africa and led to parties like the ANC and PAC allowed back into the country. We also got small and large incentives from the International community who allowed our South African sportsmen back into the international scene, business was promoted in South Africa and foreign companies that had left due to apartheid moved back into the country. All fantastic things but all that were prompted by the same source, a move against racism.
This move was also that led to the war that was spoken about in the book. It was a war that was seen as a battle between the Zulus and the Xhosas but as a matter of fact it was a third force that was the dominant force they used the Zulus under the Inkatha Freedom Party to fight there battles. As a white South African we watched the news and we were told that the reason why there was this battle was because the “Black Savages” were not able to govern themselves and they were returning to their traditional warfare. This is what people from Africa do, or so we were told. They kill each other even though the white people tried to tame them, what a load of hogwash. The liberal parties and the ANC accused the ruling party for sabotaging their freedom and the work that Nelson Mandela was trying to do so we can have a clean election. During the “Truth and Reconciliation” trials that occurred years later we found out that the liberal parties were correct and the National Party, the ruling party, has setup everything and fed arms to the Zulus.
What was I doing during this time? I was just about to finish school and then I had to do my obligatory military service. I am not a brave sole and I didn’t want to join the army to fight against people that were only looking to get their freedom. My family and I believed that a war was going to break out and the ruling party would send all the youngsters into the townships to sort out the problems. Our thoughts were not unfounded, a lot of our older friends were sent in as “Peace Keepers” and some of them did not come back. I was not happy to participate in this battle and die for something that I didn’t believe in so my only other option was to go to prison as a traitor. So I left South Africa and went to live in Italy.
These guys chose a different approach to the conflict; they decided to document it in pictures. The main group consisted of four photographers but it actually included a group far. Unfortunately two of the 4 died right at the end of the hostilities, just as everything was about to end and their dream of a South Africa free from racism was about to start. The amazing thing is that thousands of poor black people died in this battle but Nelson Mandela, once he had agreed and committed to the elections, spoke about the death of Ken Oosterbroek, saying that he doesn’t want to see anymore deaths like his. That shows me two things, the first that these photographers were seen to have made a difference in the struggle and the second that still, to the end of the war, a death of a white man had a bigger sway than that of the thousands of black men, women and children that died.
This last comment of mine can be criticized and torn to pieces and I can understand that. What was amazing about this book is that the writers, Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva, mention a lot of names of people that took part in the freedom struggle. What I am trying to say is that the photographers remember the sacrifice that was made by the strugglers and they found it very important that they should be remembered. Unfortunately they could not mention every name they heard or every person they met.
I loved the book and I have recommended it to the rest of my family and some of my friends. It is important to know the full South African history, it doesn’t matter what colour, religion and ethnic heritage we are from we are still South Africans and we share one history. There are a lot of young and old that do not believe that what happened actually happened, they believe that it was all just an over exaggeration of the truth or just fabricated by older story tellers but it is a true history.
I spend a lot of time in townships talking and watching people that grew up in this period or that grew up from parents that suffered in this period and were still affected. It is very sad and disturbing but what really amazes me is that a lot of these people have no hatred in them. They see me as just another South African and not as a person of white skin that made their lives difficult, as some of our politicians try to make out. It shows you what an amazing country we have and what an amazing future we have the potential of creating together.
El Club Del Bang Bang (Instantaneas De Una Guerra Encubierta)
The Bang Bang Club: Snapshots From a Hidden War.(Book Review): An article from: African Studies Quarterly
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