”This is how I survive — selling rosary beads,” volunteered Cornelius Monaheng as he traipsed up and down the steps of the Johannesburg Stadium in the midst of the multi-cultural Africa Day celebrations.
He wasn’t doing a brisk trade at all. In fact there were no takers for his R10 glow-in-the-dark plastic beads, since most of the audience was of school-going age and probably strapped for cash.
Monaheng was not perturbed. ”People need these, they need to relate to God,” he said while volunteering that he was a contented man. ”I like being African. This is a good country. We have peace and diversity.”
Sarah Sambu, who works for a provincial education department said she was delighted with the celebrations and had taken care to dress appropriately.
Her tall round hat was Zulu; the wrap-around skirt Pedi and her brightly coloured beads the Shangaan tradition.
”I’m multi-cultural and I stand for Africa,” she said. She expressed concern about tensions in other African countries further north and said people there could learn a great deal from South Africa’s experience in transformation and in particular from former president Nelson Mandela.
Another South African, Mapaseka Lekabe, resplendent in a ruffled emerald green dress with just a touch of ethnic flavour, also expressed joy in her cultural heritage. ”It’s a wonderful day to know all Africa states are coming together to make one African state. I am so excited.”
Mouhamed Ndiaye (15) who hails from Senegal looked cool in his richly patterned robe and matching cloth hat. The teenager said he’d been living in South Africa for a year-and-a-half and felt very much at home. ”People are very welcoming,” he said.
Ayan Abdi (18) from Somalia was less enamoured and said she had experienced some xenophobia in the three years she had lived South Africa as a refugee from the ravages of war in her native land.
And while she and her friends dream of returning to their to Somalia one day, she firmly believes in the ideals of the African Union — the multilateral successor to the Organisation of African Unity. ”We are all Africans and I am proud of my African brothers and sisters, whatever their country of origin.”
Thirteen year old Khensane Mboweni who was in Johannesburg for an Africa Day music and dance competition stated her preferences for her own culture quite clearly.
”It’s good to be an African. I’d rather be an African than an American.” – Sapa