Editor’s note: Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, veteran South African producer Anant Singh, whose films include Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom and 2004 Oscar nominee Yesterday, has…
anniversary of the historic student uprising in Soweto, South Africa. The anti-Apartheid uprising was a series of demonstrations led by black students, many of them children, in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the main language in local schools. The protests were met with fierce police brutality and it is estimated that hundreds died. Below is Singh’s letter.
Reflecting on these inspiring words, in 1985 I made the first ever anti-apartheid film in South Africa and did it while being pursued by the police’s Special Branch. It is the story of a black farm worker who dares to ask his white right-wing employer for more supplies because he cannot manage with what has been given. And that simple gesture ends with his murder.
In the past weeks, we have seen people around the world stand up against the brutality that led to the killing of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and so many others whose names are not known to us. The tipping point for our freedom may have been in 1976, but it would be another two decades before those ideals were realised. I hope that the actions and introspections required today provide quicker outcomes. We simply cannot continue to lose any more lives.
“To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the lives of others.” These are the words Mandela spoke when he was released on 10 February 1990.. That we are all connected, that we need each other to exist. That our every action has an effect on the humanity of the world. Today, ubuntu is more relevant than it has ever been.
It seems to me that this is the introspection that is needed. Sadly, even in my own country, now in the 82day of lockdown, the violence against our people has once again been largely by those in authority, this time being police and military. That these spheres of public service are dominated by black officials is a particularly tragic irony.
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