Of Hatred and Reconciliation…
Mark here: During our stay in Queenstown we were fortunate enough to meet a man who had participated in the oppression under Apartheid that riddled this fine country. As a student demonstrator and victim of the police organization’s torture process Elliot Masoka is a living reminder of what this country has been through in the past twenty years.
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As a young man growing up in the black area of Queenstown he chose to join the Youth Movement of the ANC and stand up for the rights that he believed his fellow blacks were to have as human beings. He and his brother were eventually apprehended by the police, one of whom was his own uncle, and taken into custody as supposed members of an underground organization preparing to do battle with the regime in power.
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He was subjected to a variety of tortures, which ranged from wooden slices inserted under the nails of each hand to an unfathomable experience involving being stripped naked and having his reproductive organs battered with a desk drawer. These actions would understandably cause any human being to develop a hatred to the oppressors responsible, but Elliot has risen above the hatred that could have ruined his world and become an example of what South Africa can be in the future.
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He has quietly gone about his life and developed a shared mindset with Nelson Mandela of putting the past in the past and going forward into a future where all South Africans are equal…regardless of color.
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Elliot and his lovely wife Tandi have three children of their own and also provide a home for four foster children and a lovely woman named Grace, who is Elliot’s mother. This South African version of “The Waltons” is something to behold as they work together to provide each other with the best possible in terms of love, support and education.
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Elliot divides his time between a funeral parlor business, farming, parenting, church activities, Rotary, a bed and breakfast and acting as a father for the children living under his roof. This led to a recent heart attack for the forty-three year old man, but he refuses to be slowed in his attempt to make the world a place where his children can be proud of who they are and what they believe in. “I feel that my past has allowed me to see the possibilities of the future”, says Elliot and he has worked hard to show his family that color is not an excuse for failure or lack of pride.
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To Elliot South Africa is on the verge of either excellence or heartbreak and he is scared that it could fall into the same abyss that Mugabe has led neighboring Zimbabwe unless the politicians realize they are the leaders of a land thirsting for change. For all of us that hold images of the Apartheid era in our minds or wonder how this country could ever reconcile it is important to remember individuals such as Elliot Masoka. He was taken into the belly of the beast by individuals that saw him as little more than a servant and survived that journey to stand as an example of what this country is truly about…peace and rebirth.
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Mark here: During our stay in Queenstown we were fortunate enough to meet a man who had participated in the oppression under Apartheid that riddled this fine country. As a student demonstrator and victim of the police organization’s torture process Elliot Masoka is a living reminder of what this country has been through in the past twenty years.
.
As a young man growing up in the black area of Queenstown he chose to join the Youth Movement of the ANC and stand up for the rights that he believed his fellow blacks were to have as human beings. He and his brother were eventually apprehended by the police, one of whom was his own uncle, and taken into custody as supposed members of an underground organization preparing to do battle with the regime in power.
.
He was subjected to a variety of tortures, which ranged from wooden slices inserted under the nails of each hand to an unfathomable experience involving being stripped naked and having his reproductive organs battered with a desk drawer. These actions would understandably cause any human being to develop a hatred to the oppressors responsible, but Elliot has risen above the hatred that could have ruined his world and become an example of what South Africa can be in the future.
.
He has quietly gone about his life and developed a shared mindset with Nelson Mandela of putting the past in the past and going forward into a future where all South Africans are equal…regardless of color.
.
Elliot and his lovely wife Tandi have three children of their own and also provide a home for four foster children and a lovely woman named Grace, who is Elliot’s mother. This South African version of “The Waltons” is something to behold as they work together to provide each other with the best possible in terms of love, support and education.
.
Elliot divides his time between a funeral parlor business, farming, parenting, church activities, Rotary, a bed and breakfast and acting as a father for the children living under his roof. This led to a recent heart attack for the forty-three year old man, but he refuses to be slowed in his attempt to make the world a place where his children can be proud of who they are and what they believe in. “I feel that my past has allowed me to see the possibilities of the future”, says Elliot and he has worked hard to show his family that color is not an excuse for failure or lack of pride.
.
To Elliot South Africa is on the verge of either excellence or heartbreak and he is scared that it could fall into the same abyss that Mugabe has led neighboring Zimbabwe unless the politicians realize they are the leaders of a land thirsting for change. For all of us that hold images of the Apartheid era in our minds or wonder how this country could ever reconcile it is important to remember individuals such as Elliot Masoka. He was taken into the belly of the beast by individuals that saw him as little more than a servant and survived that journey to stand as an example of what this country is truly about…peace and rebirth.
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