DUOLOGUE / DIALOGUE

Rick Andrew and Richard Steele share their thoughts and experiences in Duologue / Dialogue in the St Clements: Mondays at Seven programme tomorrow night (November 28).

An extract from Buried in the Sky by Rick Andrew”

‘The small print on my call-up papers stated quite matter-of-factly that failure to report for duty would render the addressee liable for six years' imprisonment.

My situation became an interesting case study at the Hard Rock late night discussions. A young hippie couple whose father (on the girl's side) was paying for their passage to England said that I had no choice but to leave South Africa. To stay would mean prison. To go to the border with the SADF would be to side with the racist regime and to go against all that was moral and right.

However, it wasn't easy for me to leave the country. I had a wife and child to support and very little ready cash. Besides, I didn't want to leave my country. I wanted to live in it. Learn about it first hand. I wanted to play music. Find the stories and tunes to express the truth of our experiences. Despite the evil in the land, people were living here, and neither hope nor acts of human kindness ever ceased. I wanted to see change and beauty. I wanted to see my country bloom.”

After graduating with a BA and a teacher’s diploma from the University of Cape Town in 1979, Richard Steel refused to cooperate with compulsory military service on the grounds of pacifism and opposition to apartheid. He appeared before a military court in February 1980 and was sentenced to a year in military prison. After his release Richard, was an active member of the End Conscription Campaign until conscription was abolished in 1993. He was the caretaker at the Phoenix Settlement in Inanda (founded by Gandhi in 1894) 1984-85, then worked with his wife Anita Kromberg for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation office in Durban, conducting peace education and non-violent action training all over South Africa and further afield. In 1993, Richard enrolled as a fulltime student again, qualifying as a homeopath in 1999. He is now in private practice in Durban and is a part-time lecturer in homeopathy at the Durban University of Technology.

St Clements is situated at 191 Musgrave Road on the right-hand side a short way down Musgrave after the St Thomas Road intersection. Mondays at Seven run between 19h00 and 20h00. Booking is advised on 031 202 2511. There is no cover charge but there is a donations box to support presenters.

The Tanga Pasi Band from Zimbabwe, originally scheduled to appear on November 28, will now perform on December 5)