The title of this post gives away the answer I am seeking, but let’s play a little game anyway, shall we? I am going to provide you with a snippet of a historical timeline and you tell me where in the world this timeline took place. Here we go! A group of white men arrive on the shores of a new land. These men have come from a foreign land. When they disembark, they do so under the banner of God. These white men firmly believe that they are representatives of God’s chosen people. They also firmly believe that all that lay before them is rightfully theirs because, as just mentioned, they are God’s chosen people. These white men establish a home base, from which they expand ever outward across this new land. They may attempt to convert the Indigenous Peoples they meet along the way as a means of eliminating resistance and easing their path forward. But, truth be told, these white men don’t really care about what happens to the Indigenous populations they encounter. What they do care about is land acquisition, firm control over all who reside on this land, as well as the accumulation of wealth. Those Indigenous populations that resist the encroachment of these white men are met (and subsequently subjugated) by overwhelming military force. Their presence will be removed from the path of progress. Once the white men have established themselves as a political force to be reckoned with, laws will be passed that are aimed to accomplish what armed force was used for previously. This is how empires are built. This is how entire populations are enslaved. Where in the world are we?
If you said that I was referring to how the U.S. west was settled well, points for you! You are correct. If you said that this timeline is from how Spanish conquistadors plowed their way through the Aztec and Inca empires well, points for you as well! If you exclaim that this timeline is obviously referring to how the French and English railroaded their way across the land that we call Canada, then guess what? You get points, too! Points for you for guessing that this is about South American farmers being forced off of their prime farmland. Points to you for discerning that I am referring to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Kudos…as well as points…to you for correctly guessing that colonizing countries have been wreaking havoc around the planet for centuries! In almost every case, one aspect of that drive to conquer and displace native populations has been that it always occurs in the name of God. For the purposes of this post, I am referring to South Africa.
Many European countries called the 1600s and onward as the age of exploration. It was a time when countries such as England, France, Spain and Portugal built up vast navies and set sail to the four corners of the world. Like many geographic locations around the world, the land that makes up the country that we call South Africa had been populated by Indigenous Peoples for thousands of years. The first white men to set foot in South Africa did so in the 1600s in the name of exploration and of God. Without going through the long history of South African colonization, let me focus on the 1900s. In the last century, the Dutch Reformed Church became one of the most influential political and religious organizations in South Africa. The Dutch Reformed Church espoused a belief that they alone were God’s chosen representatives on Earth. They also believed that salvation was something that was reserved specifically for them. Furthermore, living a pure and pious life that rejected all forms of modernism was the only way to ensure that salvation happened when the time came for that. Finally, they believed that no one outside of their group could experience salvation, thus, their lives held no meaning and little value beyond that which could be extracted from their forced labour. If you are reading these words and thinking that the members of the Dutch Reformed Church were crackpots and/or religious extremists and should be ignored, then you are not reading the tea leaves of history properly. The politics of racial and ethnic purity run through all manner of people from all over the world. The Nazis and the Japanese believed this in WWII. The Taliban believe it today in Afghanistan. Sir John A. MacDonald made speeches about this as Canada was becoming a country in reference to the Indigenous Peoples who lived here first. The same thinking is oozing through America as that country suffers through a religious coup that is unfolding in slow motion but unfolding, nonetheless. In South Africa, the same thing happened after WWII when the Dutch Reformed Church, which by then had evolved into the National Party, took power. By 1948, laws were enacted that established a set of policies that became known as Apartheid or “apartness” or, in other words, the formal separation of the races in South Africa and the forced segregation of all those who were not white.
You may be forgiven if you forgot that this is supposed to be a music post. But sometimes, in order to appreciate the song (or venue) being profiled, it is important to place it in the proper historical context. In this case, in order to understand why the Sun City Casino and Resort became a global lightning rod, you have to first understand a little about how South Africa became a white supremacist state under the banner of Christianity. While there is plenty to say about this, I will concern myself with how the policies of Apartheid worked to isolate Black South Africans onto small plots of land known as Bantustans. The laws of Apartheid were set in place for the benefit of the minority white population of South Africa. The laws were created by white people for the preservation of white culture and lifestyles. In the eyes of those making the laws, the essence of the humanity of the majority Black population was basically regarded as being subhuman and not worthy of their concern, except when it came to how best to control them as a threat. The plan that was arrived at was to forcibly clear all urban areas of Black people. These displaced people would then be forcibly relocated onto ancestral or tribal homelands. These homelands were known as Bantustans. There were over a dozen Bantustans created on land that the white-run government viewed as being expendable or undesirable. Once relocated onto their ancestral Bantustan, the black population would be forced to remain there. They were only allowed to leave their restricted area to work for white-owned businesses. When they did leave, they had to carry a passbook with them at all times. Other than for work, the entire black population was forced to feed themselves, care for their own sick, educate their children, etc., all on their own. Eventually, even those minimal rights were replaced by the National Party, with an easy example being laws passed that required all education be taught using the Afrikaans language, instead of the native tongue of the people in their own Bantustan.
For thirty years or so, the South African government was given free rein to function as they saw fit. In the global network of governments, they adopted the identity of being defenders of democracy and as being fiercely opposed to communism. At a time of Cold War tensions, this identity served the interests of western countries such as England and the United States, who, in turn, offered South Africa economic support in the form of foreign investment. That millions of Black South Africans were suffering for decades under this Apartheid regime meant nothing to the allies of South Africa. In the 1970s, two things happened at once that set the stage for what took place at Sun City Casino and Resort. The first thing was that organized resistance by Blacks against the government became more frequent. In reply, leaders such as Nelson Mandela were imprisoned, and other activists such as Steven Biko were actually killed. In the Western World, singer Peter Gabriel released a song about Biko’s death called simply “Biko”. (You can read a previously written post about that song here). That song was one of the first ways in which ordinary citizens (like me) became aware of what was happening in South Africa. Because of a rising tide of popular sentiment against the policies of Apartheid, western governments were forced to enforce economic sanctions against South Africa resulting in foreign investments being withdrawn and withheld.
To counteract the growing global opposition, the South African government engaged in a public relations move by formally granting independence to four of the Bantustans. While this sounded good on paper, in reality it meant that the white government was formally severing all ties with Black people in those Bantustans. Those confined to the “newly independent” Bantustans lost their South African citizenship. One of those new “countries” was called Bophuthatswana. One of the pragmatic reasons that the South African government created these four “new countries” was to create a loophole from the world economic sanctions that were having a negative effect on South Africa’s economy. Foreign investment was welcomed in these four “new countries” because, technically speaking, investing in Bophuthatswana was not the same as investing in South Africa anymore since Bophuthatswana was now its own country. In order to curry further favour with Western allies, Bophuthatswana was chosen as the site where a new casino and resort would be built. That resort ended up being called Sun City. In order to overcome the punitive nature of the economic sanctions, the owner of Sun City, a man named Sol Kerzner, offered to pay headlining music acts exorbitant amounts of money to perform there. By enticing A-list celebrities to stay and perform at Sun City, it would serve as a way of legitimizing the policies of South Africa in the eyes of the world. In the beginning, this tactic seemed to be proving its worth. Music stars such as Elton John, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, Queen and many others agreed to lend their credibility to Sun City in exchange for million dollar cheques. These appearances amounted to a circumvention of the economic and cultural embargo that had been called for by no less an organization than the United Nations.
In the early 1980s, as famine swept through much of the African continent, the age of the global charity music concert was born. Efforts such as the Band-Aid charity single in the UK and the corresponding charity singles from USA for Africa (“We Are the World”) and Northern Lights (“Tears Are Not Enough”) ushered in a cycle of attention upon Africa. As part of this cycle of attention, a campaign began to free imprisoned African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela from prison. As the intensity of these political/cultural protests grew, former member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Steven Van Zandt opted to launch a solo career. As part of creating songs for his new album, Van Zandt decided that he wanted to write about his disgust with those entertainers who he viewed as propping up the Apartheid regime in South Africa by appearing at the Sun City Resort and Casino. In talking about a song that he simply called “Sun City” with his record producer Arthur Baker, it was proposed by Baker that the song would garner more attention if it was presented from the point of view of a USA-for-Africa-type supergroup instead of simply by Steven Van Zandt himself. In the weeks that followed this discussion, Van Zandt approached many of his friends and acquaintances in the music world for help. In the end, over fifty people came together to form a supergroup known as Artists United Against Apartheid. Members of this group included Bruce Springtseen, Hall and Oates, Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, Hip Hop’s DJ Kool Herc, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Melle Mel, Peter Gabriel, Bono, Jackson Browne, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Kurtis Blow, Gil Scott-Heron, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Run DMC, Bonnie Raitt and many, many more superstar artists from a wide range of musical genres. Sales from the song “Sun City” by Artists United Against Apartheid raised over one million dollars which, in turn, was donated in its entirety to leaders of the African National Congress. Not long after the release of “Sun City” came the actual release from prison of Nelson Mandela. National elections were held soon afterward. The National Party was soundly thrashed at the polls. Nelson Mandela became President of South Africa and the end of Apartheid was at hand.
Through all of the dramatic changes to South African society that have taken place since those heady days when Mandela came to power, the Sun City Resort and Casino has continued to operate. The “country” of Bophuthatswana (which not one single foreign government had ever officially recognized anyway) was dissolved and its citizens given their South African citizenship papers back again. You can visit South Africa and make reservations at Sun City, if you are so inclined. I think that I will pass, thank you very much. To me, Sun City will always sit as a prime example of the corrupting influences of money and religion. In a perfect world, money would be used for the betterment of all and religion would be used to offer charity to those who need it, a safe harbour for those experiencing personal storms and a checklist of values for those seeking to live life while making a positive difference in the lives of others. For what it is worth, my worldview is not limited exclusively to those who look or love like I do. All good people are welcome to experience my version of salvation. Besides being completely safe and inclusive, I can promise you that the soundtrack of our salvation will be kicking, too.
The link to the video for the song “Sun City” by the group Artists United Against Apartheid can be found here. ***There does not appear to be a lyrics video for this song. Sorry.
The link to the official website for Artists United Against Apartheid can be found here.
The link to a video/documentary about the making of the song “Sun City” can be found here.
The link to the official website for the Sun City Resort and Casino can be found here for those who are curious.
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