Finally I get a bit of time to write a decent blog. Been a rather eventful few days – Drove the new Audi at exhilarating speeds around the Kyalami track, gave 100k to a white hill billy in Vanderbijl – the culmination of a campaign I have been working on for a while, did a film shoot in the heart of Eldorado Park. The road to Eldorado is by no means laced with gold – thanks Disney!

On a more serious note though something has been plaguing my mind for a while now and I need to get it off my chest.

When I was at Varsity I took a subject called development studies, why? ‘Cause I was told it was an easy course and one was sure to score good marks – in reality it was hectically boring but at some points rather insightful. Towards the end of my final year we were having a debate in the class – for the life of me I can not remember what I said but a black girl – extremely well dressed and impeccably spoken stood up and responded in saying “ You white bastards made me live in exile, away from my family during my teenage years”. I was quite taken a back by this – being form the school where I was too young to have lived through the harshness of apartheid I felt rather offended. I responded by saying “My mother is from Scotland and my Father the UK, they immigrated here 5 years before I was born, surely you can not generalise so much”.

I thought about it for a while and asked myself perhaps not saying anything is as bad as agreeing with the regime. But can you blame them – having a small child, the threat of being rejected by one’s community – could you blame them, would I do the same? I don’t know. It takes a special kind of hero to do that.

I voiced my feelings to the Hoff and his folks one evening at their house. I had always suspected that they were hippies in Varsity and had always maintained a completely non racial attitude throughout the years. Johnny Clegg is Hoff’s God father for fuck sakes, but I never realised how involved they actually were. They rallied in the townships – an offence that would see any white person being locked up immediately, their phones were tapped, and they were constantly watched and followed. Although they did not have to carry pass books their lives were lived in constant fear.

So 1994 comes and goes and we move onto a democratic society. Hoff finishes matric and receives 4 distinctions moves onto Uni and gets his BCom Accounts. He sent out his CV and battled to find a place to do his articles. He could not get in with any of the big five and whilst they loved him he was quite blatantly told it was due to the colour of his skin.

So his parents were ridiculed, shunned and their personal lives under constant watch because they disagreed with the mistakes of the previous government all in order so that their son can’t find a job – even with an array of degrees because of the colour of his skin? That’s not right!

I admit there are many unsung heroes of the struggle but I do believe that some sort of recognition should be given to the people of other races who played an active role.

Upon further investigation I have realised they were not allow and have met an array of other people in a similar situation.

I really feel strongly about this and would love to create a documentary about this. Hope fully to clean up the mindset of that girl in Varsity and others like her, who have the nerve to generalise without understanding.