SIMPLE PRESENTATION

Mother to Mother

Presentation

Index

Geographical Overview
Historical Overview
Plot outline
Character map
Topics of the book
Justice and Accountability
The real Amy Biehl case

World-Map

Location 4

Task:

Describe the position

of South Africa!

executive capital

Pretoria

Capitals of SA

judicial capital

Bloemfontein

legislative capital

Cape Town

Facts about South Africa:

largest city is Johannesburg
population 60 million
area 1.200.000 square kilometers - 3.5 bigger than Germany

History of South Africa

1488

first Portuguese came to SA

1806

Cape colony was occupied by British Empire

1854

Orange Free State and Transvaal State was founded by Boers

1652

Cape colony was founded by Dutch East Indian Company

1835-1841

Great Trek

1867

diamonds were discovered at Kimberley

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Anglo-Boer War

1880-1881

first Anglo-Boer War

1902

Transvaal and Orange Free State ruled by British Empire

1948

start of apartheid

1899-1902

second Anglo-Boer War

1910

Union of South Africa is formed

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What is apartheid?

political system
people were separated into racial groups
were kept apart by law
segregation in all sectors of life (schools and public transport)

Apartheid politics and system

1948

"Afikaner National Party" won elections

1950

"Population Registration Act"

1949

"Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act"

1950

"Group Areas Act"

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Apartheid politics and system

1951

"Bantu Authorities Act"

1952

"Abolition of Passes Act"

1950

"Suppression of Communism Act"

1951

"Separate Representation of Voters Act"

1953

"Bantu Education Act"

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End of apartheid and the new South Africa

11th February 1990

Mandela´s release from prison

1995

"Truth and Reconciliation Commission"

After 1996

"Black Economic Empowerment" introduced

1994

ANC winning the first democratic elections

1996

liberal constitution became law

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Rainbow Nation

post-apartheid South Africa described as "Rainbow Nation" 
nation representing different colours and different people —> black and white together 
rainbow as a symbol of hope and a bright future

Mandisa: Role in the novel

functions as a first-person narrator and ist he protagonist as she tells her story
tries to explain the cirumstances that have made her son a murderer, without legitimating the deed
reader is drawn to feel sympathy towards her
the book, which she narrates, is away for her to come to terms with her son’s actions, and to apologize by the Mother of the Girl for her hand in Mxolisi’s upbringing, while also explaining the factors beyond their control that lead to the tragedy at the novel´s center

Childhood

Mandisa was a respectful, hardworking child and talented student, whose life was first disrupted by her family’s forced relocation to Guguletu, and later by her surprise pregnancy
Mandisa and her then-boyfriend China Bad their first son, Mxolisi
out of duty, Mandisa marries China, and stays unhappily married whith him for two years
later she pieces her life back together and starts a new, Mandisa comes to resent Mxolisi for disrupting her life
Mandisa gives birth a second child with a man named Lungile which leaves her afterwards
she marries Dwadwa, with whom she has her youngest child and only daughter, Siziwe

Adult life:

lives in a shack with her husband and 3 kids
says that she loves all her kids equally, but her relationship with Mxolisi in very deep and intense (always hopes and prays for him to be safe)

works as a servant for a white household (family Nelson)
because of the 3 pregnancies, she had less and less time and energy for herself -> feels that Mxolisi’s existence had a bad effect on her life
she feels guilty she couldn´t spend more time with her children

Adult life:

Mandisa feels great guilt regarding Mxolisi’s life and crimes
she feels responsible for him and is made to feel responsible for his murder of the white girl
besides feeling sorry for Amy and her family, she also grieves a lot for her own family and feels an understanding for the politically motivated actions of her son

Mxolisi: Role in the Novel

his live and evolution shows the effects of living under Apartheid
his life shows the mind-altering system he has to live in
extreme corruption of youth

Mxolisi is a product of the circumstances he was born into and a victim of the environment he grew up in (Conditions of Apartheid). Possible for the reader to se him a a victim of society, government and apartheid in order to understand this murder

Mxolisi`s life

1973 January born, unplanned pregnancy
oldest brother of three

Mandisa’s oldest son, and her only son with China
he is originally named Hlumelo, but China’s family renames him, claiming their right to do so, as grandparents traditionally name the baby
Mandisa and Mxolisi have a troubled relationship; she blames him for his own conception
Mandisa, tries to compensate for resenting her son by paying more attention to him

Mxolisi`s life

1973 January born, unplanned pregnancy
oldest brother of three

Mandisa’s oldest son, and her only son with China
he is originally named Hlumelo, but China’s family renames him, claiming their right to do so, as grandparents traditionally name the baby
Mandisa and Mxolisi have a troubled relationship; she blames him for his own conception
Mandisa, tries to compensate for resenting her son by paying more attention to him

Mxolisi`s life

growing up without a real father; China left when he was just 2 years old
Mxolisi began his life as a sweet child, but when he witnessed the police murder his friends, Zazi and Mzamo, he stopped speaking for several years
he later regained his speech, and Mandisa sent him to school, where beatings from teachers discouraged him from continuing to pursue his education
he dropped out without Mandisa’s knowledge to work and help her support the family, but she convinced him to return

Mxolisi`s life

Eventually he became politically active and joined the „Young Lions“, spending his days patrolling the neighborhood, sometimes fighting for his education but often harassing members of his own community

Mxolisi gets caught up in a mob that was forms around the car of a white university girl when she drives in Guguletu

The white girl

the white girl is killed by Mxolisi whom stabs and murders her when she drives into Guguletu
Mandisa believes that the girl was driving through the town in order to drop of her black friends from college, who had warned her about the risks of going to Guguletu
as soon as the Guguletu residents spota white person in their town, though, they begin to chant, “One settler, one bullet,” and a mob forms around the girl’s car, rocking it menacingly

The white girl

when Mxolisi fatally stabs her he is treated like a “king.”
although a fictional character, the white girl based on Amy Elizabeth Biehl, an American Fulbright Scholar studying in South Africa, who was murdered by a group of young black South Africans

huge but congested by the crowds
tiny, low houses cramped close together along narrow streets

lack of hygiene: debris, insects, vermin
children play in the dirt, toys are made of garbage

sandy, infertile land, very windy —> impossible to build solid houses
families are split up, loss of community/friends/neighbors
unhealthy and depressing environment —> sadness, grief and homesickness
long distances and high fared to get to workplaces or to food stores
great number of thrown together people —> feeling of anonymity
high levels of crime

In general

Life in the township of Guguletu

disorganized school systems —> many children are not going to school at all
loss of friends —> loneliness
mothers have to work hard —> can not take care of their children
people die young
teenager pregnancies are common
loss of self-determination
social problems („there is always trouble in Guguletu“)

For young people

Life in the township of Guguletu

Guguletu means "Our Pride" (from the Xhosa)—> bitter irony
living conditions are not acceptable (education, social/medical aspects)
the people are forced to live in poverty —> they hate Guguletu as their home
the government ignores the problems in Guguletu —> institutional racism?

- Mandisa remembers how happy and (relatively) carefree her childhood had been before her family was relocated to Guguletu

Life in Blouvlei:

- sense of community, friends, neighborhoods, tradition, family bonds

- everyone feels secure and at home

- mothers have time for their children, access to education for all children

- poverty —> but with few luxuries

- short distances to shop (within walking distance)

Forced removal form Blouvlei

Similarities to Guguletu: Poverty, Living in shacks, lack of space and privacy

Differences to Guguletu: Sense of community/security, possibilities of education

Forced removal form Blouvlei

- an aeroplane flies over Blouvlei —> dumps flyers informing the inhabitants that they will be relocated next month

- white people begin tearing down the shacks in the township

- Blouvlei is surrounded by police and the army, they ignore all resistance

- all the people are escorted by the government to their new home: wilderness with ugly concrete houses

Process of the relocations:

Teenages pregnancy

Mandisa gets pregnant from her boyfriend China being 15 years old
she has not received any kind of sex education before, her mother was constantly worried that she could get pregnant
Mandisa recognizes her pregnancy while living with her grandmother in Gungululu, before this realization, she planned to got to East London with her aunt to go to school there

Teenages pregnancy

her mother forces her to go back to Cape Town
China does not accept the child as his child, his family forces Mandisa to marry him and
choses the name for the child: Mxolisi „He who will bring peace“

Justice-Definition

interpretation of cumulative ethnical and moral rules → Determines what is fair or not
system of justice in every society → Dictates rules for behaviour
Goddess of justice: „Justitia“ → With blind fold and scale

Accountability-Definition

taking responsibility for own behaviour
repair of the caused harm

Truth and Reconciliantion commission

founded by the South African government in 1995 → Desmond Tutu as the head
uncovering the truth about human rights violations that had occurred during the period of apartheid

→ assist victims in gaining closure
→ handle applications for amnesty from perpetrators

helps South Africans to cope with their past on a morally accepted basis

Maxolisi- murderer or victim of his environment

A muderer: No one forced him to commit the crime → He is responsible for his actions

A victim of his environment: Radicalized due to dehumanising circumstances of his environment → Oppressive system of Apartheid is reason for the killing

By describing the circumstances and recognising his accountability, amnesty could very well be granted

The real Amy Biehl case

the Book based on a real-life incident
April 26, 1967 – August 25, 1993
was an American Graduate of Stanford University
anti Apartheid activist in South Africa

she came to South Africa to study in Cape Town at University of the Western Cape
the day she was killed she drove three people home to the township Guguletu
a mob pulled her from the car, stabbed and stoned her to death
her family started a foundation to help and work with the youth in the township

Thank you for listening!!

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