Warm Patat Story In English

[Tina Popielarczyk]

Theyear 2009 marked the 50th commemoration of the so-called "Potato Boycott". This celebration, not unlike the boycott itself, was shrouded in convoluted controversy. While the Mpumalanga provincial government initiated premature celebrations, the event itself was beset by various misunderstandings and conflicting interpretations. This article analyses the complexity of the recent commemoration, but also considers the actual boycott, by tracing its history. The potato boycott took place in a period when blacks implemented various economic boycotts to voice their frustration with the discriminatory apartheid laws that affected their daily existence. In this case, the government tried to supply farmers in the then Eastern Transvaal with cheap "convict" labour. In June 1959 the ANC launched the "Potato Boycott" as a reaction to alleged farm labour abuse practised mainly on farms in the Transvaal highveld. By specifically boycotting potatoes, blacks sought to send farmers a direct message and to strike an economic blow to capitalist farming and its allegedly abusive nature. They also were intent on forcing the government to abandon the regulation of farm labour and admit to the illegality of the system. The protest action also elicited widespread (and contradictory) reaction among the press and non-governmental agencies.

In 2009 het die 50ste herdenking van die sogenaamde "Aartappelboikot" plaasgevind. Die herdenking, soos die boikot self, is gekenmerk deur omstredenheid. Terwyl dit blyk dat die Mpumalanga provinsiale regering voortydige vieringe onderneem het, was die herdenking ook ontsier deur verskeie misverstande en teenstrydige interpretasies. Di artikel ontleed die gekompliseerdheid van die herdenking, maar gee ook "n histories oorsig van die boikot. Die aartappelboikot het plaasgevind in "n tydperk toe verskeie ekonomiese boikotte deur swartes gebruik is om hulle frustrasies met die apartheidswetgewing, wat hulle lewens daagliks benvloed het, te kenne te gee. In hierdie geval het die staat gepoog om boere, veral in die voormalige Oos-Transvaal, van goedkoop "bandiet"-arbeid te voorsien. In 1959 het die ANC "n aartappelboikot van stapel gestuur as reaksie teen die beweerde wrede behandeling van plaaswerkers, hoofsaaklik op plase in die Transvaalse hoveld. Deur spesifiek aartappels te boikot, het swartes gepoog om "n direkte boodskap aan boere te stuur wat ten doel gehad het om "n ekonomiese slag te slaan teen kommersile boerdery en die beweerde gepaardgaande vergrype. Hulle doel was om die regering te dwing om die plaasarbeiderskema af te skaf en om die onwettigheid van die skema te erken. Die gebeure het ook gedurende die tyd wye reaksie ontlok van onder meer die pers en nieregeringsorganisasies.

The year 2009 marked the 50th commemoration of the so-called "Potato Boycott". This celebration, not unlike the boycott itself, was shrouded in controversy. While the Mpumalanga provincial government appeared to initiate premature celebrations, the event itself was compounded by various misunderstandings and conflicting interpretations. This article will not only analyse the contested nature of the recent commemoration, but also consider the complexity of the 1959 boycott itself.

The past decade in South Africa has witnessed marked attempts at government level to re-address the South African past. The concern has been to ensure that the stories of previously marginalised groups are given their rightful place in the broader historical narrative of what is considered a more inclusive approach to dealing with South African history. These projects took on various guises, including the unveiling of statues of struggle heroes; the re-naming of geographical place names; the commissioning of publications highlighting previously untold stories; and building new museums, heritage parks and exhibitions.

Taking this reality into consideration, one should not ignore the fact that much of this history has always been part of the diverse and divided discourse on South Africa"s past. However, the emphasis has been to put this history specifically in the public domain and to ensure that these narratives become part of public history. Various academics, especially those interested in the fields of history and heritage, have written on issues relating to these processes over the past two decades.1 Gary Baines points out that public history is a particularly "contested terrain" and it is here that "battles over [the] meaning of the past are being and will continue to be waged in contemporary society".2 One of the main reasons for the contested nature of public history is the fact that so many role players, including politicians, the media, cultural brokers, museum, heritage and tourism practitioners, and also the public at large, are involved in shaping memory of the past and enforcing their own views and interpretations onto the present.3

Added to this conundrum is the fact that history and memory are contested definitions. Each represents fundamentally and inherently different interpretations of the past, but at the same time, they have numerous similarities.4 John Tosh perceptively explains that it is not always easy to distinguish between history and social memory as "historians perform some of the tasks of social memory".5 Although academic historians might distance themselves from the "misrepresentations" that are part and parcel of social memory, there is also no denying that memory continues to serve a fundamental role in society.6

Baines defines public memory as "a body of beliefs and ideas about the past that help a public or society understand both its past, present, and by implication, its future".7 Nevertheless, he also points out that the interpretation of public memory deals very little with matters concerning the past and much more with issues "such as the nature of power and the question of loyalty to both dominant and subordinate cultures" in the present.8There is no denying that South Africa remains divided in its cultural diversity and its heritage. It is admirable and necessary that the post-apartheid government has tried to shape the South African past into a more diverse and encompassing story to be shared as a new collective, albeit conflicting, national memory. It is, however, disheartening that the past, as was the case with the previous regime, is still used and manipulated by the government for purposes that fit ulterior motives. Despite these concerns, it remains a fact that politics will inevitably always be intertwined with public history. David Glassberg expresses this as follows:

It therefore follows that commemoration of a historical event will always elicit some form of controversy and debate. The 1959 Potato Boycott is no exception. In a recent magazine advertisement issued by the Mpumalanga government"s Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation (DCSR) to commemorate the life of African National Congress (ANC) stalwart Gert Sibande and the Potato Boycott, it is said of Sibande: "This man brought South Africa"s economy to a grinding halt in the 1950s - using a single potato."10 This eye-catching statement is a historical fabrication, but in terms of commemoration, the veracity of the statement is far more complex. Although commemoration deals with issues of the past, it does not always deal with "truth" or "actuality". Commemoration is based on conflicting interpretations of selected past memories and more concerned and rooted in the legitimisation and justification of present day realities.

The commemoration of the Potato Boycott, and consequently then the celebration of the life of Gert Sibande, can be regarded as an example of how remembrance can be misconstrued. It reflects the polarisation that often accompanies commemoration in diverse communities. In addition, reflections on the boycott are clouded by various and complex guises. It embodies the usual debate that accompanies memorialisation, but it also speaks to the never-ending contestation between emphasis on historical veracity and historical mythmaking when it comes to remembering and celebrating the past.

In this instance, one would assume that the most uncontroversial, even incontestable aspect would be the date of the commemoration. The boycott was called out at the end of May 1959 and ended in September of that same year. Thus, when in May 2008 the Mpumalanga MEC for the DCSR, J.L. Mahlangu, held a media briefing and informed journalists that 2008 marked the 50th celebration of the Potato Boycott,11 the first error was placed in the public domain. Furthermore, no one in the department attempted to rectify this embarrassing mistake. Successive newspaper articles and speeches delivered by government dignitaries on the commemoration of the event continued to perpetuate the error that the boycott had taken place in 1958. This glaring inaccuracy is also (quite literally) cast in stone as part of the epitaph on the statue erected for Gert Sibande in Bethal.12

MEC Mahlangu announced that the boycott would be commemorated with several initiatives. The Bethal Museum would be upgraded and statues of several ANC heroes, including Gert Sibande, would be erected. This project was to be unveiled on 24 September 2008. The MEC also announced that a "theatrical play about the 50-year anniversary of the Potato Boycott", had been commissioned to highlight the "social and political injustices" farm workers had suffered in the past.13 Although the MEC did not directly mention that the play would also be about the life of ANC stalwart, Gert Sibande, he added that:

However, a month later, the political ramifications of the 2007 ANC Polokwane Conference filtered through to Mpumalanga. In a cabinet reshuffle, Dina Pule replaced Mahlangu as MEC of the DCSR.15 At an address to the provincial legislature on 24 June 2008, outlining her department"s policy and budget for the period 2008/2009, the newly appointed MEC gave a more streamlined version of the proposed celebration. Only statues of Sibande and one Slim Dick Simelane would be erected. She added that the statue of Sibande would be "larger than life" and that no less than R2.5 million had been budgeted for an imposing "king size statue".16

3a8082e126