![[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Tatamkhulu Africa: December 7, 1920 - December 23, 2002 T he 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.](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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- 1. Nothing’s Changed Tatamkhulu Afrika
- 3. 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." 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." 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." 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."
- 7. District Six
- 9. ‘ leaving small mean O/ of small, mean mouth.’ ‘ spit a little on the floor:/ it’s in the bone.’ ‘ crushed ice white glass,/ linen falls,/ the sungle rose.’ ‘ new, up-market, haute cuisine/ guard at the gatepost,/ whites only inn.’ ‘ the hot, white, inwards turning/ anger of my eyes’ District Six has not been fully redeveloped. It appears neglected. The blacks were forced to move out and the land is now derelict. 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 ‘ . . . Cans/ trodden on, crunch/ in tall, purple-flowering,/ amiable weeds.’ How it relates to the cultural/ social situation in South Africa Significant features of language Quotation