The Dzhambul of South Africa?
Copyright © 2001 by Hugo S. Cunningham
Italicized text from Hepple (cited below), who in turn extracted it from official South African sources that might or might not be copyrighted.
first posted y10722
redone y10722
Source for specific cites on this page:
Alexander Hepple, Verwoerd, Penguin Books, Baltimore MD, 1967; paper, 253 pp.
Introductory notes
Dr. Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (1901-1966), Prime Minister of South Africa 1958-1966, was the brains behind Apartheid. Some might compare his intellect and firmness of will with that of the Great Lenin, except that linking the name of the Great Lenin with an unregenerate fascist would be disgusting, worthy of the
supreme measure.
Verwoerd was South Africa's "Minister of Native Affairs"
(responsible for government policy toward the voteless African majority) 1950-1958. His patronage powers in that position presumably inspired the ode below.
Some might believe the style is similar to that of Dzhambul, but Dzhambul wrote of his love for N.I. Yezhov and especially the Great Leader and Teacher voluntarily, while this H. Kharibe wrote under the gunpoint of fascist torturers.
According to Mr. Hepple (p. 108), the ode appeared in the June 1955 issue of "Bantu" (a newspaper published and distributed to black petty-officialdom by Dr. Verwoerd's ministry) in June 1955, written in "the vernacular" (Zulu? Xhosa? or what?) and with an English translation.
DR. VERWOERD
MINISTER OF NATIVE AFFAIRS
I.
Dr. Verwoerd, thou art the Shepherd of the black races,
Thou art the defender of the Bantu, our rock, our mountain,
Thou art our refuge and our shield,
The mountain that saves us, our refuge,
the saviour who rescued us at the time of need.
II.
We the Bantu boast and say: "Glory unto thee Dr. Verwoerd',
And to all who are the defenders of the Bantu:
We were amidst the seas of fear,
Fearing the Government of the malefactors, trapped in the nets of the hypocrites. We were in fear.
III.
We were cornered and we called the Government -- the N.A.D.,
We called to the government in Pretoria and it hearkened unto us,
Dr. Verwoerd, thou hast answered our prayer,
And saved us when the cunning had risen against us,
Thou rescued us and helped us because thou loved us.
IV.
Thou showed us compassion because we have no guilt,
Thou led us because there was no one to lead us in our works,
We now sit in the glory of thy good works,
We shall never forsake thy laws, for they bring
Plenty, wisdom and knowledge.
V.
Dr. Verwoerd, thou art with us! Glory unto thee our redeemer,
Praises be unto Dr. Verwoerd, the defender of the Bantu,
He that helped the chiefs by giving them good laws,
He that gave our schools proper education,
Because he knew what we needed and we could not manage.
--H. KHARIBE
Dr. Verwoerd indicated his ideas of "proper education" during a House of Assembly debate on 17 September 1953 (Hepple, p. 124):
"I will reform it [education] so that Natives [black South Africans] will be taught from childhood to realize that equality with Europeans is not for them... Racial relations cannot improve if the wrong type of education is given to Natives. They cannot improve if the result of Native education is the creation of a frustrated people who ... have expectations in life which circumstances in South Africa do not allow to be fulfilled..."
Dr. Verwoerd might have taken credit as an early advocate of "Afrocentric" education programs, sheltering non-white schoolchildren from the alien Western curriculum of missionary schools. He forfeited such credit, however, by making no attempt to hide his disdain for non-whites.
The Kharibe ode provoked ridicule by Dr. Verwoerd's political opponents, to such an extent he eventually felt compelled to deny having authorized it. Supposedly it was a spontaneous offering of the masses.
Some works by Dzhambul:
Return to Cyber USSR index page.