A DUSTY soccer field was the setting for an historic occasion. On its 50th anniversary, the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication is a fitting home for the Freedom Charter.
Neil Fraser
June 27, 2005
"ON the anniversary of Freedom Day in June 1955, Bram [Fischer] and Molly took Ruth and Ilse to a little koppie overlooking a soccer field in the African township of Kliptown, some 15 miles from Johannesburg. Bram looked out at the scene arrayed in front of them and told Ruth and Ilse that it was a historic occasion."
They were viewing the scene rather than participating in it because both Bram and Molly were banned. This was the site of the most momentous political gathering of the 1950s, the Congress of the People, which by definition they could not attend.
The idea for the congress had emerged about two years previously when Professor ZK Matthews, then president of the Cape ANC, had made a specific proposal for a "National Convention, a Congress of the People, representing all the people of this country, irrespective of race or colour, to draw up a Freedom Charter for a democratic South Africa of the future".
This was to be the event that signaled and initiated a renewed quest for full enfranchisement and social equality in South Africa.
The setting became all but mythologised in its memorialisations, evoking through its images of the promised land a humble heroism and vibrant dedication that had to resonate and inspire for the nearly 40 years in the wilderness that followed: the bare platform in the veld with, above, a banner showing the freedom wheel of the Congress Alliance; the thousands of men and women (those whom the police had not, with their usual assiduity, held up at railway stations and roadblocks) streaming in from all parts of South Africa by train, lorry, bus and on foot; the enclosed strip of land where they gathered, marching and singing beneath ANC flags.
South Africa belongs to all
There were stalls, a peace pavilion, pamphlets, slogans and everywhere the ANC colours of black, green and gold.
There, over two days, delegates heard explained clause by clause a charter which declared, as first among its principles, that "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, Black and White". Other clauses called for the nationalisation of banks and mines; for universal suffrage; for equal rights; for equality before the law; for work and security; for "the doors of learning and culture" to be opened; and for global "peace and friendship".
It was not only the delegates who attended the congress, however. Plainclothes policemen were present throughout the proceedings. Then, at about 3.30pm on the second day, with two more clauses of the charter to be announced, there was a wholesale invasion by police armed with sten guns.
As they cordoned off the area and moved on to the platform, the delegates, recognising what was happening, began singing Nkosi Sikelel'iAfrika, as if to intone bodily the resonance and dignity of their resistance.
These words are from the biography of Bram Fischer by Stephen Clingman. They capture so vividly the sights and sounds of what was to become one of the most pivotal days in South Africa's history.
As someone remarked to me, the miracle of the country's democratic change actually started that day, 26 June 1955. I understand that for almost two years prior, hundreds of trained volunteers had covered the entire country to talk to as many people as possible to find out what "the people" believed should be incorporated in the charter.
Draft charter
A small drafting committee had then encapsulated the ideas of the people into the draft, which was read out to the accompaniment of speeches, and voted on by a show of hands.
Proclaimed over a hundred years ago, Kliptown is one of the oldest townships in the country. The area was the recipient of people displaced when the so-called "Coolie Location" in what was to become Newtown, was burnt to the ground to prevent the spread of plague.
Initially established as a tented camp, it was divided into three areas, on a racial basis, to house black, Indian and coloured people. It has, in fact, always retained much of its multi-culturalism and, in that sense, was similar to Sophiatown and District Six.
Over the next few decades brick houses and shacks replaced the tents. The houses were quite distinctive, characterised by wide verandas with their roofs supported on brick columns.
Lindsay Bremner, writing nearly 48 or 49 years after the Congress of the People, captured the ethos of the local community in her book Johannesburg, One City, Colliding Worlds.
"The way of life here exemplifies the multi-layered communal experience that the majority of white South Africans have cut themselves off from. People have little money and even less faith in the post-apartheid system.
Street life
"Most are unemployed. During the day, they walk the streets, talking, gambling, shopping. They meet outside Lucky's Shoe Repairs or the sangoma's shop to gossip; they wash or rebuild cars at Bob's Place with pickings from the scrapyards. Life is lived on the streets as much as possible.
"Houses that front the promenading main street are prized observation spots from where one can greet and meet acquaintances and do deals. The typical Kliptown front stoep doubles as a living room, complete with sofas and orange-crate seating and within hailing distance of neighbours.
"The living room is a hair salon, grocery shop and advice centre. Homework, committee meetings and soccer spectating take place around the kitchen table. Hospitality is a celebration of the neighbourhood 'superfamily', given and received with no formality.
"Guests simply arrive and take part in whatever is going on - cooking, eating, repairing the door lock, throwing a screed, peering under the scrap car's bonnet."
Kliptown is a great example of the best use of public space - something I have been writing about over the past few weeks. Here, as Bremner points out, the streets are not just used as thoroughfares "but as common ground for public life".
It was on a large, unpaved, dusty square or soccer field in the centre of Kliptown that the event described in Bram Fischer's biography took place. It was here that the Congress of the People came together on 25 and 6th June 1955 to sign the Freedom Charter that was to be central to the development of the Bill of Rights in our Constitution.
Freedom Square
Subsequently known as Freedom Square but more recently renamed the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication, it was the focus on Sunday of a unique celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of that pivotal event. Today and tomorrow a full sitting of Parliament will take place at the square - in itself a unique and historic occurrence.
The dusty square, of course, is no more - it is now a formalised public space that celebrates its two days of historic significance in a number of ways. On its southern edge is a striking building that incorporates a market area, a tourism centre and a hotel.
On the northern edge an equally striking structure houses an auditorium and multi-purpose hall. Centrally in the square is a monument, a conical-shaped structure that contains an engraved replica of the Freedom Charter.
Through a hole in the roof the sunlight produces an image of a voting cross, an X, which moves around the inside walls of the monument as the sun's direction changes. Like Constitution Hill, the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication contains wonderful iconography and imagery. However, you need to visit it yourself to feel the sheer power of what has been created.
Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication
MAS Architects, the Johannesburg practice that won the international design competition for the square, has produced a remarkable design that will act as the third point of a triangle of heritage projects together with the Constitutional Court and the Apartheid Museum.
The Johannesburg Development Agency was responsible for the macro project, as it was for Constitution Hill.
As with Constitution Hill, this is not merely another monument. Rather, it is the use of a celebration and memorialisation opportunity to implement an urban upgrade in what is a very depressed area - unemployment is about 70 percent.
The project thus has been planned to:
Contribute to the integration of the area's local economy with that of Greater Johannesburg and Gauteng;
Upgrade the existing business node into a sustainable entity that helps to address the needs of the local residents as well as visiting tourists;
Create business opportunities and employment in the retail, manufacturing, tourism, transport, services and construction industries - many of the finishings to the buildings were produced by the local community;
Grow tourism through the creation of a distinctive cultural and heritage centre;
Increase commuter transport efficiencies within and to Kliptown and THE surrounding areas of Soweto; and
Improve the socio-economic conditions of the area.
My only disappointment with the macro project relates to the provision of housing. A number of housing projects are under way (They should have been largely completed for Sunday's celebration but that is another story).
However they represent, to me, a missed opportunity. Surely their design could have incorporated some of the unique features and the "feel" of the traditional Kliptown houses? Oh well, I guess you can't win 'em all.
Best, Neil
