Growing up in the 80's in Apartheid - South Africa
Let's be clear from the beginning! I am not a racist, I have never been a racist and all South African's are not racists. Sure there are some, just like in any other country. This is very important to understand.
Do I believe that Apartheid was wrong ,YES DEFINITELY. It was so wrong! I do however not believe I need to defend myself ... I was born into the situation, I could've been born anywhere in the world, but I was born in this beautiful country - South Africa.
It was not due to anything, I, or my parents did, or even my parents, parents. It was just life as we knew it.
I was born in 1972 in a small town, Klerksdorp, North West (Previously Western Transvaal). Phew!, I am getting old … but, I am still young at heart.
What was it like to grow up in the 80's in the apartheid era?
Well, it is difficult to explain, but the bare bone answer is that we were brought up very, very conservatively. We were cut off from the rest of the world. There was a lot of sanctions enforced by the rest of the world, rightly so… No international sport, No international television programmes … we lived in our own little world! South Africa did very well in those times from a economic perspective. I mean the South African Rand were much stronger than the US Dollar at that point!
We were however not only cut off from the rest of the world, our own television service, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), also did not show what was really happening in the country. There were massive, aggressive protests happening and it was not broadcasted. As general citizens we were really kept in the dark. At the end of the day, I am very much an optimist.
Growing up in small towns for my whole school career, I did many things which were frowned upon, without even knowing about it. I had many friends from different races. Zulu, Xhosa, Indian … it never mattered to me… My father were the Primary school headmaster, in another small mining town - and living in small town was seen as part of the elite. Not sure how it is in other countries, but in a small town, all the preachers, doctors, school headmasters, attorneys are the people you need to know. You are under the spotlight the whole time. I will never forget, how I always after school climbed the fence, to go and play with the guys that worked in the school garden. Wonderful memories were created … every afternoon.
However being cut off from the world, did create a different type of person. Every South African's have many stories to tell… I guess in the rest of the world as well. I can however relate our stories :)
I read a posts recently about growing up in the eighties, and it triggered many memories (I will reference to some of the content of that post). I do not want to into the negative memories, I would rather highlight the positive things. So a few key things I clearly remember.
Chappies
Chappies (Bubblegum) had a "Did you know?" written in each of the wrappers. We lived for this … Did you know
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Drive without a seatbelt
We never had or wore baby-seats or seatbelts. It was standard practice. I would rather not look up the accident stats for those times as I am sure it will be scary …
We played in the street …
The neighbourhood kids got together and we played either cricket or tennis in the street. When a car came, we all moved to the pavement, let the car pass and then we played again! Nowadays, I see that this is still happening in places like India … I really miss those days.
When you were naughty you got "6 of the bests" in the headmasters office …and bomb drill were standard at school
In those days there weren't things like naughty corners … And we were happy to accept it … But only if you knew you were wrong. From the bomb drill perspective… we really enjoyed missing a few hours of school. But these often very frequently.
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Travelling to the coast for holiday meant getting a goodies bag at the tollbooths
Till today whenever I stop to pay toll on holiday I hope that there will be goodie bags… but nothing, only a bag full of advert :)
Local Children Television programmes
The only real international children television programmes we had were Gummy Bears and He-Man - and the masters of the Universe... The rest were all local. Liewe Heksie, Wielie Walie and many more
Camping was the in thing!
Most people were camping.. I guess this still happen today, but it was the in thing to do back in the day
There are many bad stories, but like I say, I only try to remember the good, despite the terrible things that happened. Not everything was hidden, but we did not see a fraction of it.
I would love to hear stories from other nations and cultures about what it was like to grow up in the eighties in other countries. I would love to understand what else we missed out on!
Please write some posts about growing up in the eighties from all over the world.
Here is the first of the first of another country Growing up in the eighties in Croatia
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The 80's music is my favorite 😀
Yes, Still my favorite as well ... Love the music.
Thanks for the post @jacor - as another South African, you're pretty pot on. The 80's were great for kids back then :) Also still a fan of the music - hehe :)
Trying to remember the good is a very good attitude. I was born way after that but i heard they were fun times. The 90's weren't bad either. I'm from Ghana by the way :) Very nice post. I played in the Streets too barefoot sometimes. It was fun :)
Thank you for the comment @kakradetome . Why don't you write a post about your experiences in the 90's I would love to read. Followed you by the way. Let me know when you post.
Yeah sure. I will give it a shot and let you know. I was actually born in 1989. Thanks @jacor :) and thanks for sharing yours :) Maybe we can create a tag just for this topic. Great job
You just gave me idea what to write!
Glad to be of assistance. Where are you from?
I'm from Croatia, 80's in Croatia were pre-war years, but it was much better life than now... I found my old gameboy, and it reminded me on my childhood! Thanks on idea!
You have a beautiful country. I made some good friends from Croatia who came to South Africa as refugees from the war.....it has always been my dream to retire there, but I found out recently that the immigration laws preclude me..... I don't have enough money :-/
Would love to hear about your life there. Following you and watching out for your posts. Let me know if I miss is please. Also use the eighties tag...
here
https://steemit.com/life/@dumar022/childhood-in-the-80-s-in-croatia
"By the power of Greyskull" - I have added a link to your post at the end of my post. Let's see if we can send some traffic your way!
Beautiful.
From a South African perspective, I share similar moments. Some intense emotion comes up from those time. Maybe I should write a post about my experience. Great post.
Thank you and please do write... I would love if this can become a subject of discussion from all over the world.
Great reading. I have been to SA and I liked it a lot, but it always felt like the country has to be seen from the inside to really understand it.
And it also reminds me of the late Soviet times, which I only caught in my early childhood, but heard a lot from my parents...
Beautiful Country South Africa , with all its stuff it is still one of the greatest places on earth :) Would love to hear more of your country !
Will think of wrining about Russia in the 90-s... Thanks!
I was born in 1971. So many memories. And then in University at the height of the protests!
We need a post of your experiences @onetree :)
Great theme, @ jacor. I also grew up in the 80s but in Russia. Childhood in general a good time, and I remember mostly good things. We also did not have foreign TV programs as now, children's films and cartoons were shown only by one serian a day, if a movie or a cartoon was a serial, the next series could be seen only on next day. Gummy Bears appeared in the early 90s). We also played on the street with friends. Our country at that time was more bigger and called the Soviet Union, and I had the opportunity to travel to the republics of the USSR (Ukraine, Moldova, Lithuania, Georgia and others) My dad was a navy man and also was a part of the elite (and of course I wanted to be like him). He had a good salary and we were one of the first who got different kind of innovations such as a car or a tape recorder. It was great!!!
Nice to meet you. Why don't you do a post on your experiences during the time. Let's see if we can get a topic tag going. I will add a link to your post in my post. Use the same tag as mine and @dumar022 above
@jacor for shure I will do a post, it was just a few words, your post has caused good memories))))
Love it @jacor. I'll have to write about about my 80's now. What a great idea for a post. I think so many people can relate and share.
Can't wait to read! Use the tag 'life' and 'eighties' when you post!
Awesome post...Frank Sinatra was one of a kind too...
Interesting perspective. I've often wondered what it would be like growing up in that environment. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
Where are you from @fraterralph ?
I am from Missouri in the USA.