Bontle's first Holiday in RSA, Part IV

Our first night in Cape Town we couch surfed at an amazing gay couple's house. It was all of our first time couch surfing, and their first time hosting couch surfers, so we were all a bit nervous and wanted to make it a good time for them. They were incredible hosts! They made us dinner, we drank good wine, and had great conversation. We of course told stories of village life, and they told us stories about growing up in South Africa during Apartheid as non-racist Afrikaners. One of them had been 17 when he was drafted into the army; it was mandatory at that point, and if you did not go into the army after finishing Matric (the national exam given at the end of grade 12), you were imprisoned. Because our host spoke Xhosa, a black South African language ( very few white people, especially during Apartheid spoke a black language) he was assigned to intelligence to 'decode' messages intercepted from the ANC, the leading anti-apartheid political party at the time, and still the leading political party in RSA today. He grew up on a farm and played with the worker's children, who were black, so he was never a racist. He did not want to translate the messages because he knew that if he did, many innocent people would be murdered, for no other reason than the color of their skin. During the height of the anti-Apartheid struggle, he refused to translate the messages, and he was charged with treason. By the time his court case came around, Apartheid had ended so he was not sent to prison.

The choice that he and other whites made to stand on the side of justice was not a simple one. White South Africans who stood on the side of the blacks put themselves at risk of charges of treason and imprisonment. They put themselves and those close to them at risk of murder and hate crimes perpetrated against them by racists white South Africans. Many of them were disowned by their families and friends. Because of all the atrocities against them, many black South Africans would not trust a white South African, so often times they were not accepted by the blacks either.The amount of strength, courage, and character it took for white South Africans during Apartheid to rise up against their upbringing and risk loosing everything in the name of justice and humanity is incredibly honorable, and something I think more people should be aware of.

After a wonderful stay with the couch surfers, we spent our last day with the car on a wine tour, which was of course delicious! That evening we checked into the Penthouse Backpackers on Long street, where we stayed for the remained of our time in Cape Town. I highly recommend anyone who visits Cape Town to stay there. The staff is amazingly nice and I feel like they are my extended family now. Our first night there I decided to have a good wrastle with David ( like any proper Texas gal who grew up with a twin brother will do). I jumped on his back, and before i could get him in the sleeper hold, he through me off onto the ground... and onto Chris's metal water bottle. I was immobile almost instantly, and was in incredible pain, but somehow I managed to walk to the Mexican food restaurant that night ( crying all the way, of course, but there was no way in hell I was going to miss out on Mexican food! I couldn't walk for the rest of the trip, so I just kicked it at the hostel, still having an amazing time because the staff and people staying there were so incredible. Turns out I fractured my 12th rib... oops. But do you think that will stop me from a good wrastle? No ways! Ive only got to figure out a way to maneuver the sleeper hold with more speed and agility. My next holiday in RSA, I'm looking to come away with more broken bones, new insights, and powerful connections with other people, with this country, and with this planet.