Day 5 (cont’d) – Freedom Park

After our morning visit to the Apartheid Museum, we drove through Pretoria, which is South Africa’s administrative capital.  We stopped for lunch at the hilltop park across the road from the office of the President of South Africa (currently Jacob Zuma).  The weather was warm, the sky was clear and the view from the park, called the Gardens, was unbelievable:

It was too bad that there was a high stone wall and fence blocking the front of the President’s office.  This is the best shot I could get:

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Once lunch was over, we continued on into Pretoria to Freedom Park.  The idea for Freedom Park came from Nelson Mandela’s sentiment that the nation should not forget the men and women who fought for South Africa’s freedom.  Situated high on a large expanse of land, high on a hill, Freedom park was designed to address Mandela’s lofty aim.

When we arrived, we were told that we could tour the site on our own, but that a guide was strongly suggested, as the site contained so much symbolism that we would miss much of the intended meaning.  We opted for the guide, but decided to walk rather than travel by golf cart.

Our tour started with a long walk up a paved path.  Thin, flat stones were used to create a small wall that followed the path on both sides.  Our guide Badresh explained that this material and the style of construction was a tribute to early tribal building styles.  This is one sample (taken from the Freedom Park website):

The main destination of our walk was a structure called S'khumbuto, or place of remembrance.  Our guide explained that this building serves as a place of quiet and reflection, where visitors could contemplate loved ones or simply remember those who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom.  Within this building, one entire wall was transparent, and it looked out onto a reflective pool.  Set in the center of the pool was an eternal flame to symbolize the spirit of those who fought for freedom:

Badresh explained that elements of this scene (stone, water, fire) were core symbol in African ceremonies.  Along the base of the viewing area were inspirational quotes from religious texts.  This was my favorite:

This says:

Therefore, seeing we are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily ensnare us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.  (Hebrews 12:1)

The design of the exterior of the building was something that I would have dismissed, if it were not for our very informative guide:

At first glance, the outside walls seem to be patterned in the same style as the thin rock walls that lined our path to the top.  However, Freedom Park designers decided to use the outside of this building to memorialize any person who fought for South Africa’s freedom.  As we got closer to one outside wall, we noticed that the bands on the wall were not long strips of stone, but rather small, foot-long blocks that were arranged in rows and columns.  Inscribed on these blocks were the names of South Africa’s fallen heroes of freedom:

We asked how the names were chosen and arranged on these walls.   Badresh went through the process, which was both incredible and detailed.  He told us that anyone could submit names for the memorial.  All names were presented to a memorial committee, whose members consisted of representatives from various government organizations.   This committee would research each name and verify that the person was involved in some freedom struggle.  Once the name was verified, it was assigned to a specific category of freedom conflict.  The committee identified eight broad categories of struggle that occurred in South Africa. These are: pre-Colonial Wars, Genocide, Slavery, Wars of Resistance, Anglo-Boer/South African wars, World War I, World War II and the struggle for liberation.   Once a name was verified and categorized, it was scheduled for inscription onto the wall.

Once I understood what I was looking at, the building took on a whole different meaning.  The Freedom Park website notes that there is almost half a mile (!) of space to hold names and they estimate about 120,000 names can be enshrined. 

We also noticed that the names within a category were not in alphabetical order, so we asked how visitors could possibly find the names of a loved one.   Badresh showed us numbers engraved at the bottom of each section of wall.  A database exists that contains every inscribed name and the number of the section where the name is located.  Visitors will be directed to the proper section and then can search for a specific name within that section.  As we walked to the back of the building, we came upon additional stone walls that formed walkways:

These stone walls will hold the names of South Africans who lost their lives in the World Wars.  Because these names can be more easily verified (through military service records, etc.), many names have already been memorialized:

Close up of names from World War I

It’s clear that the process of researching, organizing and inscribing so many names is a task that will likely take decades.  Given the way new names will probably be continually discovered, it might very well be a process that may never be completed.

Following our time at the memorial building, we continued down a path until we came to an area called Isivivane.  Here, designers placed eleven large boulder-like stones in a circle.  Within that circle of boulders is a symbolic burial site of smaller stones:

This space is intended to bring some closure and sense of finality to loved ones inscribed on the memorial.   To create a sense of unity, nine of the eleven stones were mined from each of the nine South African provinces.  The tenth and eleventh boulders represent the South African government and the rest of the world.

From Isivivane, our tour took us to the last major structure in the park, a meeting place known as Moshate.  Designed with native African foliage (like the unique Aloe plant below) and traditional African art, Moshate can be rented out for meetings and functions. 

Currently, Moshate contains a temporary exhibit called the Gallery of Leaders.   This exhibit contains the names of 24 people in South Africa as well as other countries whose contributions improved human rights and freedom.  Some of these leaders are displayed on huge banners:

In all, Freedom Park is a monumental undertaking that tries to do the impossible: giving the proper credit to those who fought for South African freedom.  With 75,000 names already ready to be inscribed and room for another 45,000, this is an exhibit that will be visited for years to come.