WULF UTIAN’S LETTER FROM CAPE TOWN, FEBRUARY 2024 – A VINTAGE TRAIN RIDE PRESENTS A METAPHOR FOR CURRENT SOUTH AFRICA

WULF UTIAN’S LETTER FROM CAPE TOWN
FEBRUARY 2024
A VINTAGE TRAIN RIDE PRESENTS A METAPHOR
FOR CURRENT SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa is one darned difficult country to comprehend, and most particularly for the casual visitor or tourist who tends to be presented with a vision tainted through rose-colored lenses. Blessed with a wonderful climate, scenic vistas beyond imagination, mineral wealth, abundant farmland, hardworking and mostly amiable people, and friendly neighboring countries, it has also been cursed for generations with a series of really bad governments, perhaps none as bad as the present, and yes probably even the apartheid government.

I am not going to address the hypocrisy of the ultra-corrupt syndicate currently running the country. Others have addressed this better than me, and I prefer to keep my blood pressure stable. Suffice to say that the Apartheid Nationalist government split the country between black and white. The current government has split black South Africans on a tribal basis, and all other groups and religions in any way they can, following the old maxim of ‘divide and conquer,’ maximizing hate and suspicion, as South Africa speeds towards a highly divisive and decisive general election as early as May. In the process they have robbed and destroyed every state entity, and have privatized foreign policy, selling it off to the highest bidder.

The metaphor for South Africa today is the tragedy of private enterprise meeting head-on with failing or failed public services. I will illustrate it using a vintage train ride to highlight the metaphor. It is also one sad example of just how dangerously split the country is between the have-nots, the robber-barons of government, and a private sector desperately trying to hold the collapsing entity together. It is revealed through a vintage train ride that Moira and I had heard about, and thought would be a lovely experience for our grandsons Jack, age 15, and Max, age 13.

The Ceres Rail Company is a private organization, one of several in South Africa, that has rescued steam locomotives and rail stock from the collapsing South African rail system, a major victim of government corruption and incompetence. They have been refurbished and used on different scenic routes across the country. The largest is Rovos Rail that offers 6-star service on long distance overnight vacations. Unfortunately, these remarkable and dedicated companies are hostage to the collapsing rail lines and signaling systems of what was once one of the best rail systems in the world.

Here I illustrate with visual evidence what ails current South Africa, a private sector trying to be imaginative and productive facing unbelievable government induced hurdles, and the population suffering in the process.

Let me get back to our train ride to Elgin, a farming community famous for its apples and apple-related products, set in a magnificent area of the Western Cape above Sir Lowry’s Pass. The metaphor is of an idyllic train experience regrettably not quite being as described. Inside Guide magazine of Cape Town sets the scene: “Few things are more evocative than a steam-train ride through the countryside… It conjures movie scenes of star-crossed lovers saying their final farewells as the train chugs away from the platform amid a puff of smoke…And you can experience the splendor firsthand aboard one of Ceres Rail’s family-friendly locomotives! The three-and-a-half-hour train ride to Elgin departs from the Harbour Bridge Hotel in the Foreshore district and travels up and over Sir Lowry’s Pass (one of the steepest rail lines in South Africa). Enjoy the breathtaking scenery of mountains, rolling fynbos-covered hills, farmlands and apple and pear orchards along the way.”

Much of this is correct. But it is not the whole story.

Here is how it really is.

 

 

 

The train left on time and after an hour we stopped at a railroad siding, and private South Africa met the real South Africa. Where once there were several operative rail tracks there was now only one. Much of the copper cabling, and indeed even some of the rails, had been stolen. The result was that a regular commuter train had priority to use the single remaining track, and we had to wait while it went to its destination about an hour away and then returned. After a boring 2-hour delay, we were once again on our way.

 

 

We did suffer another similar delay, so our 3 ½ hour train ride to Elgin took almost 6. At one stop at an old station, we were allowed off the train to stretch our legs. Unfortunately, it exposed what had happened to the station.

 

 

But this was not the worst of it. What was horrifying, was slowly passing the ‘in your face’ extreme poverty.

 

The day we chose for our train ride was hot, very hot (F106/C42). We were cool as voyeurs in an air-conditioned observation car. But our minds steamed up when we saw what we saw. Most poignant for us was watching the abject shock and horror of Jack and Max as they literally had a close-up view of what real poverty looks like. For miles we witnessed corrugated iron shacks no bigger than dolls houses would be in the backyards of the privileged worldwide. The sun was baking, and the insides of the shacks had to be as hot as ovens. Running along the tracks were skinny, half dressed and barefooted children, smiling and waving at a ride most would never ever experience. This is real evidence of a corrupt government of fat cats who have failed their people by not providing the housing, food, basic services, education, or health care, they had promised as they evicted the Nationalist government 30 years before, in 1994. Most of these people consider themselves worse off than under apartheid, and that is a devastating thing to say.

 

Over the years we have taken overseas friends to visit some of the ‘informal settlements’ closer to Cape Town. Invariably they ask us, of the fortunate few that are employed, how do they get out of this looking clean, spruced, and ready for work on a daily basis? I don’t know, but have asked, and the response is usually that “I get up at 4am for my job that starts at 8, and usually only get home around 8pm.” Still, they are part of the fortunate 40% who have jobs. Unofficial unemployment figures are around 60%. It is stated that anyone without a job by the age of 25 is unlikely to ever be employed. So why should the high crime rate be surprising?

 

 

 

And yes, beyond this there are glorious mountain views, and, of course, evidence of how the other side live.

 

 

 

 

 

We finally arrived in Elgin at the Elgin Railway Market,  built inside an old apple warehouse originally constructed in the 1940’s by Italian POW’s. The large market gave multiple food options for an informal lunch.

After 2 hours we reboarded our train for the long ride in reverse.

There you have it, my take of how even a simple tourist train ride exposes you to the wide disparities of contemporary South Africa. Please visit, but when you do, keep your eyes open and really look.

As ever

Wulf Utian

Cape Town, February 7, 2024