Fair Play – does it all depend on the referees?

The documentary, Fair Play, one in the seven-part series called Have You Heard From Johannesburg?, directed by Connie Field of Clarity Films, Berkeley, California, was screened at the Peoples’ Justice Fan Centre in Jabavu, Soweto on Friday 9 July, 2010 in a focus on Sport, Memory and Apartheid. The film highlights the central role that Dennis Brutus played as an anti-apartheid activist in the sports arena.

As we have seen in the FIFA Soccer World Cup 2010, fair play does not necessarily take place — especially when referees and linesmen (and they were all men) make mistakes.

Fair play was not the name of the game during apartheid either. The main referee at that time, the apartheid cabinet and government as a whole, made the rules and applied them through the security forces. But they applied the “rules” unfairly and allowed them to be applied unfairly — including letting multinational corporations such as Daimler, General Motors, Ford, IBM and Rheinmetall do business under apartheid laws. This meant these companies (and many others) would have had segregated toilets; differential pay packages based on skin colour, and “job reservation” — ensuring that only white people were given managerial posts. Unions were banned for much of the time of apartheid for fear of strikes disrupting the economy.

Dennis Brutus in full voice

Dennis Brutus clearly saw the injustice of all this,  made his voice heard, and was targetted by the apartheid regime. He was shot  in the back in 1963 while attempting to escape police custody, and nearly bled to death on the sidewalk while waiting for an ambulance. The ambulances were also segregated and only ambulances reserved for whites were immediately available. He had to wait for a “blacks only” ambulance. Fair play? No.

Brutus’s being shot is the reason he was listed as a plaintiff in the Khulumani Lawsuit. Unfortunately he died in his sleep in December last year and will not see the outcome. His son Tony is representing him.

Even after a democratic government came to power in South Africa, Dennis Brutus recognised that there was still no level playing field for many, if not most, of the people of South Africa. He got stuck in and started to make his voice heard again — this time about different kinds of injustices.

Khulumani Support Group recognises and salutes Dennis Brutus for the role he actively played in attempting to ensure fair play in a democratic South Africa. Winning the South Africa Apartheid Litigation would be a major tribute to him — particularly as it would set a precedent that multinational companies are obliged to “play fair” when working with foreign governments.

Spotlight on Activism Through Film – Clarity Films and Active Voice

As mentioned in a previous post about the activities at the People’s Justice Fan Centre, we recently screened two of the seven-part documentary series Have You Heard from Johannesburg. Just as we have embraced the arts such as Hip Hop – see our Music 4 Justice project and Officially Offside album – so we have been lucky to connect with like-minded organisations and creative people using fim, theatre, arts and music to further the cause of global justice.

One organisation doing just that is Connie Field’s production company Clarity Films who describe their mission as follows: “to encourage a re-examination of our past to better inform social progress in our future and to stimulate thought provoking discussion around issues of major social concern in today’s society.” Clarity Films has worked closely with Active Voice, a multimedia company that tries to bring public policy issues to public attention through putting a human face on the issues. Together these two companies have tried to use the moment of the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from jail to shine a spotlight onto the global struggle to overcome apartheid – highlighting the many untold stories of how the world united to put an end to the horrific oppression of the former regime. If you would like to get involved in their campaign, or find a way to get hold of the films for your own screenings, check out the campaign website here.

As these films look back at the success of the world uniting against apartheid, we look forward to galvanising similar global solidarity to stand up to the corporate abuses that continue to go unchecked worldwide. 30 years ago global public opinion forced many companies to leave South Africa pushing the apartheid government closer to negotiations. Today we say that giving up making a profit off the lives and abuses of South Africans was the first step in a broader process of reparations and acknowledgement for their involvement.