Johannesburg



My minister friend Derick goes out of his way to show me
the big changes since apartheid.



What I did when I arrived in South Africa could have landed me in prison 10 years ago.

I shook hands and hugged my friend Derick Maregele and rode home with him. When I entered his house, I gave his wife, Joan, a hug.

It could also have put Derick and Joan in prison. For long stretches. They would have done hard labor in one prison and I in another.

The three of us had violated South Africa's iron rule of apartheid. I, a white man, and Derick and Joan, who are coloured, had fraternized. Fraternization was a great and rigid taboo. There were three classes of people. Whites, mostly descendants of the Dutch settlers. Blacks, the original people. And coloured, meaning people of mixed blood, who were considered blacks under apartheid.

Apartheid forbade the mixing of the races, explained Derick. The idea was to keep the white man superior and the black man inferior. It was the law of this land for nearly 50 years. The white were the minority and the black the great majority. It was the strongest and most cruel wall ever erected between the races in the history of the world.

Apartheid came crashing down 10 years ago. People had had enough. They had begun demonstrating. The government reacted violently. The demonstrations escalated. The people won. The terror and oppression of apartheid became history. The long dream of equality had been achieved.

Since then this country and its people have been transformed. Freedom has flourished. We can do anything, go anywhere, become anything, he said. It was unimaginable that this day would ever arrive. How wonderful it is.

And the country has prospered. The standard of living has risen, great improvements have been made of all kinds - new services, new programs, new buildings - and South Africa has risen in stature among the nations of the world. The rand is their dollar. Three years ago it was worth 8 American cents. Now it is worth 16. Things are looking up.

I was awed by what I saw on my first day here. How modern many things are. I have been in all four of its major cities, and lesser ones as well, in a two-week visit. True, I did not go out into the countryside, or to smaller places. But what I saw were fine highways. Great, modern buildings. Fine shopping centers like ours. Modern railroads and harbors. Excellent universities. So much of what Im seeing looks like the U.S.A., I kept thinking.

South Africa now has an admirable new constitution, education is mandatory for all, and the country is on its way up.

Besides Johannesburg here, which is the biggest city, I have visited Durban, the great resort city on the Indian Ocean. Then famous and historic Cape Town, on the southern tip between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. And Pretoria, the impressive capital.

Yes, great things have been accomplished, but South Africa has a long way to go. There are enormous slums here, and they are slums of the black and coloured. There is still shocking illiteracy and vast differences in income between the races.

I knew Derick and Joan from home in Connecticut. He is Rev. Derick Maregele, a Methodist minister, and he came with Joan to Old Lyme, a village near mine, as a visiting minister at the First Congregational there. Joan is a nursing "sister" at a hospital here - what we would call an R.N.

Derick served in Old Lyme two years, returning home to become the minister of St. Andrew's Methodist Church in El Dorado, a suburb of Joburg. That's the big city's nickname.

I met Derick when I wrote a profile of him for my newspaper, the Main Street News. That led to our friendship. Be sure to come see us, Derick told me when I announced I was planning a trip around the world. Here I am.

I lived with them for four days. Derick drove me around and showed me everything he could squeeze in. And Joan fed me and chatted with me and even did my laundry. Without my asking. How good it was.

I discovered a big problem when I arrived. My 24-page passport had filled up with the stamps every country puts in to show dates and places of arrival and exit. The South Africa clerk barely found a corner to squeeze in his stamp. He looked at me sternly, waving my little book.

They may deny you entry at your next country, he said. My next country was going to be Argentina. Scary.

Fixing the problem wasn't that easy. I arrived here at noon on Friday, which happened to be a holiday. I had to get to the U.S. embassy or one of our consulates. I was lucky; there was a consulate here in Joburg. But everything was closed through the weekend.

I'd have to wait until Monday. But I was flying out at 11:15 Monday morning. And I had to be at the airport at least 90 minutes early. I'd never be able to squeeze it in. An idea! Derick took me to my airline, British Air, where I asked to take a later flight if possible. Certainly, they said to my surprise, and booked me for one at 3:15. And, further surprise, no charge for the change. Airlines can be tough.

I spent an uneasy weekend. The passport problem was heavy in my mind. On Monday we got up early, and Derick took me to the consulate 30 minutes early to beat the queue. Half a dozen people were already in line at 8 a.m. I was the only American. And the consulate had a special desk for American citizen! I was the first one there.

A gracious clerk took care of my problem in 15 minutes. I thought I might need a new passport No. He pasted in 24 more pages. I took out my wallet, ready to pay him. Probably $25 or $50, I thought. There's always a charge, right? Wrong. No charge, the clerk said with a smile. I was astonished.

Derick had not been allowed inside. He saw me coming out. What? All done!

Yes! I got it.

I must tell you how happy I was to be inside the consulate, which legally is a tiny corner of the U.S.A. Everything was so impressively clean, neat, and shiny. The many guards were snappy in their crisp uniforms and gleaming shoes. Out front, the Stars and Stripes looked brand-new. The lawn and grounds were perfect. The service efficient and courteous. Wonderful experience. I felt so proud of our country.