For non-South Africans, August 9, Women’s Day, is the anniversary of the 1956 march of 20 000 women on Pretoria to demand that women not be forced to carry passbooks.
This year, there was another march, on a different issue, marked by the high number of children taking part, whether they were carried, pushed in strollers, shoulder ridden or allowed to stride out decisively on their own. About 50 000 people marched from District Six and swept up Adderley Street to Parliament to demand that Israel stop bombing Gaza and that the South African government should take action against Israel. Inevitably, the presence of the children led to a sad reflection on the slain children of Gaza.
The FREE PALESTINE march sweeps past The Slave Lodge
As I came out of the Slave Lodge, where I had been giving a walkabout of my show, ‘There’s something I must tell you’, the first marchers reached the corner, and an hour later, they were still swarming past. STOP BOMBING CHILDREN read one sign, and APARTHEID ISREAL. Artist Lynn Lomovsky went by carrying a sign reading BEING JEWISH DOESN’T MAKE ME A ZIONIST. Our national treasure Archbishop Tutu had given a speech at the beginning of the march, saying how important it was, in spite of everything, not to hate.
One of Sumaya Hisham’s photographs of Archbishop Tutu
Earlier in the week, Tutu was present at the opening of an exhibition of vivid photographs of him going about his daily life, taken by photo journalist Sumaya Hisham, photographs which exude his warmth, his wisdom and his charisma.
Sumaya Hisham
Sumaya says sometimes the Archbishop made her laugh so much she couldn’t take the photo she wanted, but the images that are there are a fine record of this remarkable man. The exhibition is set up in St George’s Cathedral, and it’s up for the whole of August.
Showing Mr Redford my etchings
And on a personal note, two weeks ago, the Slave Lodge called me to ask if I would be free on August 1 to give a tour of my show at the request of an important visitor… a visitor who turned out to be actor, environmental activist and Sundance director Robert Redford and his party. A most unexpected honour.
