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Welcome in Our Peace World, 1993 (wood,paint, wire, synthetic fibre) Segogela,

USA. Gift of Jerome L. and EllenStern/Bridgeman Images JohannesMashego (b.1936) / South African; Brooklyn Museumof Art, New York,

Changing the World

This is a photograph of an art display made of wood, paint, wire, and synthetic fiber created by
Johannes Mashego Segogela called Welcome in Our Peace World. According to the Brooklyn Museum,
the artwork “addresses the South African transition from the armed liberation struggle against whites-
only apartheid rule into the new democratic era, [and] suggests the need for South Africans to cast their
weapons into the furnace.”
What aspects of this image remind you of the struggle that Mandela describes in his speech?

of our country. We believed that South Africa would enable us to give concrete proof to our
depended to a large extent on foreign capital followers that we had adopted a stronger line and
and foreign trade. We felt that planned were fighting back against government violence.
destruction of power plants, and interference In addition, if mass action were successfully
with rail and telephone communications, would organised, and mass reprisals taken, we felt that
tend to scare away capital from the country, sympathy for our cause would be roused in other
make it more difficult for goods from the countries, and that greater pressure would be
industrial areas to reach the seaports on brought to bear on the South African government.
schedule, and would in the long run be a heavy This then was the plan. Umkhonto was to
drain on the economic life of the country, thus perform sabotage, and strict instructions were
compelling the voters of the country to given to its members right from the start, that on
reconsider their position. no account were they to injure or kill people in
Attacks on the economic life-lines of the planning or carrying out operations. [. . .]
country were to be linked with sabotage on Umkhonto had its first operation on 16
government buildings and other symbols of December 1961, when Government buildings in
apartheid. These attacks would serve as a source Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Durban were
of inspiration to our people. In addition, they attacked. The selection of targets is proof of the
would provide an outlet for those people who policy to which I have referred. Had we intended
were urging the adoption of violent methods and to attack life we would have selected targets
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Copyright © Bedford/St. Martin’s. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter.
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