Somewhere on the Border

Anthony Akerman

Description

Somewhere on the Border was written by Anthony Akerman while in exile more than two decades ago. The play was intercepted in the post and banned as a publication by the apartheid censors because the language was considered ‘offensive’ and the portrayal of the South African Armed Forces ‘prejudicial to the safety of the state’. This publication of a one-act version of the play brings the South African Border War back into public discourse and pierces through the armour of silence, secrecy and shame that still surrounds it. The script is complemented by an author’s preface and an afterword by historian Gary Baines, as well as photographs of its 2011 production.
Preface by Anthony Akerman
Somewhere on the Border
Afterword by Gary Baines

Sujets

• Littérature Africaine
• Littérature Africaine
• General officer
• General

Informations

• Publié par: WITS University Press
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781868145966
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Somewhere on the Border

Somewhere on the Border

ANTHONY AKERMAN AFTERWORD BY GARY BAINES

Published in South Africa by:

Wits University Press 1 Jan Smuts Avenue Johannesburg 2001

www.witspress.co.za

Preface and Play © Anthony Akerman 1983, 2012 Afterword © Gary Baines 2012 Photographs © Suzy Bernstein and Bianca Pugin

Somewhere on the Borderwas first published by Nick Hern Books in 1993 in an anthology titledSouth Africa Plays: New South African Dramaby edited Stephen Gray.

ISBN 9781868145607irP(฀)tn ISBN฀978-186814-596-6฀(Web฀PDF)฀

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permis sion of the publisher, except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act, Act 98 of 1978.

Application to perform this work in public and to obtain a copy of the play should be made to: Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO), P O Box 31627, Braamfontein, 2017. No performance may be given unless a licence has been obtained.

Edited by Pat Tucker Cover design and page layout by Hothouse South Africa Cover photograph by Suzy Bernstein Printed and bound by Creda Communications

For my wife André Hattingh

Contents

Preface by Anthony Akerman

Extract from the Government Gazette, 1983

Correspondence between the author and Directorate of Publications

Somewhere on the Border Afterword by Gary Baines

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1 Preface

Anthony Akerman

When I was 16 and received my callup to serve in the South African Defence Force I didn’t realise I was being asked to defend an ideology rather than a sovereign state. Because of censorship and the banning of opposition political movements during the 1960s I grew up largely unaware of the major ideological confrontation in the country. Going to the army was a daunting prospect, but it didn’t have any political implications for me. I was called up in the last year of the ballot system. Some of my friends didn’t have to go. I was one of the unlucky ones. If I hadn’t been unlucky, I wouldn’t have writtenSomewhere on the Border. The first thing you learnt in the army was not to draw attention to yourself and not to volunteer for anything. I tried to keep my nose clean, but had little genuine respect for military rules and regulations. As a result, I was caught with cigarettes and matches while guarding the ammunition dump at Jan Kemp Dorp, put on orders and marched into a major’s office. I was slightly blindsided when the major asked me if I didn’t love my country. He then explained how my cigarette could have blown up Jan Kemp Dorp, which, in turn, would have blown up Kimberley, which would have then, I think, ignited an ammunition dump near Bloemfontein and the end result would have been a national conflagration. With people like me in the army, who needed theswart gevaar[black peril]? I was given ten extra drills as a punishment. The next time I was placed on orders was when I was a firstyear student at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg. By then I was gatvol[fedup] with the army and hadn’t realised that my citizen force unit, the Natal Field Artillery, would be calling me up for monthly parades at the Drill Hall. A parttime field cornet, determined to

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