20 years on, 14 days to go

It was 20 years ago…..that the then South Africa President FW de Klerk announced to a stunned parliament, country and world that the ANC and other more extreme organisations were no longer to be banned, and the world’s most famous political prisoner Nelson Mandela would be released. 9 days later, Mandela would walk out the gates of a prison and become a symbol for hope and ultimately the focal point for what de Klerk had called a ‘New South Africa’, and to many would become the Rainbow Nation.

Hope, as so often, has for many become replaced by weariness, compromise and cynicism. Some say South Africa may yet go the way of Zimbabwe. I think that’s possible but unlikely. But you never know. I’m seeing the movie Invictus in the next week, so I’ll blog more on the subject then, I’m sure. For now, let’s reflect on what could have and hasn’t happened. Many predicted, even assumed, an inevitable and bloody civil war. Many assumed, even predicted national meltdown. Many assumed, even predicted bloody revenge would be visited on the Afrikaner heartland. To understand that, you could do a lot worse than click here and read this excellent interview with FW de Klerk 20 years on. Here’s an excerpt of what he says, to give you a taster:

He says some whites still accuse him of having given the country away. Asked what would have happened had he not made the 2 February speech, De Klerk has a ready answer. “To those people I say it is a false comparison to look at what was good in the old South Africa against what is bad today.

“If we had not changed in the manner we did, South Africa would be completely isolated. The majority of people in the world would be intent on overthrowing the government. Our economy would be non-existent – we would not be exporting a single case of wine and South African planes would not be allowed to land anywhere. Internally, we would have the equivalent of civil war.”

There is much to do, but today give thanks, and let hope breathe into cynicism and fear. We fly to Cape Town in 14 days time in order to fulfill God’s call on our lives to go. It would be utterly naïve, not to say insulting, to pretend that we’re going to be anything like the difference-makers. But by doing what God has for us, we play our part in His mighty work of grace and redemption. Deo Gratias, for what has been and what is to come.

By Dave

The Paperwork Has Begun

So it has started …

… the filling in of forms has begun!

The main thing is the work permit – one for David and one for me (as an accompanying relative).

I’ve never done anything like this before so for an admin-type nerd like me it’s actually quite interesting.

The form itself is only four pages long but they manage to fit a lot of questions in very small type onto those four pages. Then there’s another 11 pages of lists of stuff you have to provide:

- a police check just to make sure we haven’t been naughty boys and girls (apparently it takes 40 days to process!) for £10 each

- a medical certificate to say if there’s anything wrong with us (£25 each)

- a chest x-ray to show we haven’t got TB (no-one seems to know how much this costs – which worries me slightly!)

- UK passports (I have to get a new one as it expires soon … apparently they are around £77 now!)

- marriage certificate

- birth certificate

- letters from the church we are going to proving that they couldn’t fill the vacancy from within South Africa

- proof of qualifications for Dave

- CV and references for Dave

- bank statement showing we have enough savings to return to the UK at the end of the work permit (mmm!)

Interestingly I can’t find anywhere how much the work permit costs … maybe it’s free

It’s beginning to sound like an advert for Mastercard …

Police Check – £10

Medical Certificate – £25

New Passport – £77

… going off to serve the people of South Africa – priceless!

I’m sure this won’t be the last of the paperwork – there’s bound to be more to come.

by Bev