Nothing’s Changed

Tatamkhulu Afrika

Tatamkhulu Afrika: December 7, 1920 - December 23, 2002 (Page 1)

The writer and poet -- now known as the Grandfather of Afrika -- was truly African and symbolised the pan-African ideal of a free Africa from top (Cairo) to bottom (Cape): he was born in Egypt and died in South Africa.

His story itself is an indictment of racism and exploitation and also a story of one man's quest for his and our humanity. The names he took at different times tell his story: Mogamed Fu'ad Nasif (born of Arab and Turkish parentage); adopted as John Charlton by English Methodist family; Jozua Joubert (adopted by Afrikaans family in Namibia); Ismail Joubert (reversion to Islam); and Tatamkulu Afrika (freedom fighter and writer).

Tatamkhulu Afrika -- a name given to him by ANC underground cadres -- was born in 1920 in Egypt to an Arab father and a Turkish mother. His parents died shortly after coming to South Africa in 1923 and he was raised by an English Methodist family under a new name John Charlton. (He did not know his family background) At 17, while still in matric, he wrote his first novel, Broken Earth, published by Hutchinsons in London.

In his life, our poet of the month had to face many obstacles that forced him to make a stand, resulting in him changing his "race" and even his religion.

After working in Namibia for at least 20 years doing different jobs, and living with Afrikaner foster parents where he got the name Jozua Joubert, he settled in District Six in Cape Town where he reverted to Islam and had himself classified as "coloured" as he did not want to be white, and wanted to continue living in his township. His changed his name to Ismail Joubert. In District Six he founded Al-Jihaad to oppose the apartheid removals and worked closely with MK who gave him the praise name

Tatamkhulu Afrika --Grandfather Africa -- the name he took with him to the grave.

Tatamkhulu Afrika's comments on the poem: "Nothing's Changed is entirely autobiographical. I can't quite remember when I wrote this but I think it must have been about 1990. District Six was a complete waste by then, and I hadn't been passing through it for a long time. But nothing has changed. Not only District Six ... I mean we may have a new constitution, we may have on the face of it a beautiful democracy, but the racism in this country is absolutely redolent. We try to pretend to the world that it does not exist, but it most certainly does, all day long, every day, shocking and saddening and terrible. "Look, I don't want to sound like a prophet of doom, because I don't feel like that at all. I am full of hope. But I won't see it in my lifetime. It's going to take a long time. I mean in America it's taken all this time and it's still not gone ... So it will change. But not quickly, not quickly at all."

Background

• In 1948 the election to power of the nationalist party saw, for the first time in South Africa, the formal introduction of a system called apartheid or separate development. It was voted in by the whites who made up perhaps 15% of the country's population. Amongst its most savage and far-reaching actions was to pass, in 1950, the Group Areas Act. This defined where people of each "race" could live. Those Africans with rights to live in urban areas were mostly male, as they were needed to work in the urban centres. To move into or within a city required a pass book, to be carried with them at all times.

• Those without passes were sent to the "homelands", areas comprising 13% of the land area but to accommodate 75% of the population. Not only was the land area insufficient but also it was of the poorest quality, with unproductive soil and no infrastructure. People were displaced by force and their land taken. Houses were razed to the ground and possessions seized. The populations of the homelands grew rapidly, and although these areas were officially rural it is claimed that their population densities were closer to those of urban areas. Over 450,000 Africans from the white areas were resettled in the homelands up to the end of 1968.

Learning Intentions

Key Teaching Points

• To read the poem• To examine the way

the poem handles themes of injustice and anger.

Key Terms• Tone• Attitude• Repetition• Alliteration

Now read the poem

• We need to work through the poem now answering the following questions:– What happens? What is it that the narrative

tells us?– What are his feelings?

• Now write the story of the poem – using one sentence per stanza. Be prepared to read these aloud!

District Six

Language in ‘Nothing’s Changed’

• On the next page there is a chart of quotations.

• You must work in pairs.• Discuss each quote with your partner

and identify what the significant aspects of language are.

• How do these relate to the cultural/ social situation in South Africa?

Quotation Signif icant features of language

How it relates to the cultural/ social situation

in South Africa‘. . . Cans/ trodden on, crunch/ in tall, purple-flowering,/ amiable weeds.’

The cans suggest it is littered. The weeds show that it is unkempt. The phrase ‘amiable weeds’ draws the reader’s attention to it because of the unusual combination of friendly & weeds

District Six has not been fully redeveloped. It appears neglected. The blacks were forced to move out and the land is now derelict.

‘the hot, white, inwards turning/ anger of my eyes’

‘new, up-market, haute cuisine/ guard at the gatepost,/ whites only inn.’

‘crushed ice white glass,/ linen falls,/ the sungle rose.’

‘spit a little on the floor:/ it’s in the bone.’

‘leaving small mean O/ of small, mean mouth.’

Important points to note – add what you missed!

1. Tactile imagery2. Repetition3. Harsh sounds4. Alliteration

5. Sharp images6. Contrasts

1. Small hard round stones

2. ‘and’ lines 12 to 153. Brash/ glass4. Flaring flag –

expresses contempt5. ‘the single rose’6. Whites only inn/

Working man’s café

Conclusion & Homework

• Tatamkhulu Afrika said that he liked this poem best out of all the poems he wrote about his old home in District Six.

• Without knowing these other poems, why do you think he might have liked this one particularly? Write a paragraph explaining why.