History binds Indonesia, South Africa<\/p>\n
The South African government invited six Indonesian
\njournalists, including The Jakarta Post's Dwi Atmanta, for a
\npress tour in mid-February as part of efforts to promote the
\ncountry ahead of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Asia-
\nAfrica Summit in Bandung it is co-sponsoring in April. The
\nfollowing articles are the report on the visit.<\/p>\n
Foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda raised his eyebrows when he
\nrealized his office had no expert in South African studies, while
\nIndonesia was busy preparing the golden anniversary celebration
\nof the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung in April.<\/p>\n
This was good reason for an exchange of scholars Indonesia and
\nSouth Africa are set to sign an agreement on following the
\nhistorical celebration, Indonesian Ambassador to South Africa
\nAbdul Nasier recalled.<\/p>\n
For Nasier, the conference would serve as a blessing for
\nIndonesia and South Africa, as the exchange would help boost
\npeople-to-people contact, which the ambassador said the two
\ncountries were lacking so far.<\/p>\n
"People-to-people contact is what we are encouraging, before
\nwe can move to better cooperation in other fields, particularly
\neconomic," Nasier said.<\/p>\n
Ties between Indonesia and South Africa had stretched over
\ncenturies before they formalized diplomatic relations in 1994,
\nshortly after Nelson Mandela was elected president of the
\nRepublic of South Africa.<\/p>\n
The fact that pisang (banana), kantor (office), wortel
\n(carrot) are among the vocabulary of Indonesians and South
\nAfricans is only minuscule evidence of the long-standing ties
\nbetween the two nations.<\/p>\n
Old records say the relations between Indonesia and South
\nAfrica date back to the 17th century when the Dutch colonial
\ngovernment sent Indonesian political prisoners into exile in
\nSouth Africa.<\/p>\n
The Cape of Good Hope (now the city of Cape Town) was the
\nplace where the first unwilling migrants, mainly from colonies
\noccupied by the Dutch and the British, began to arrive and
\nsettle. The Cape then was a regular stopover for trading vessels
\nplying the Europe-East Indies route.<\/p>\n
A large number of the migrants were Muslims from Sri Lanka,
\nMadagascar, India and Indonesia, which was known as the Dutch
\nEast Indies back then.<\/p>\n
During the Dutch colonial period, the East Indies governor
\ngeneral in Batavia, or Jakarta today, oversaw the administration
\nin the Cape of Good Hope.<\/p>\n
The Dutch administration in South Africa took advantage of the
\npresence of political exiles from the East Indies by employing
\nthem as slaves. Many of them were skilled artisans, such as
\nsilversmiths, masons, milliners, cobblers, singers and tailors.
\nThey were resettled in Cape Malay, since despite their diverse
\norigins, they spoke Malay, which was the "traders' lingua
\nfranca".<\/p>\n
One prominent figure among the Cape Malay settlers who
\nresisted the Dutch occupation of the East Indies was Sheikh
\nYusuf, who came from Gowa in South Sulawesi. He was sent into
\nexile after supporting Sultan Ageng from Banten in his fight
\nagainst the Dutch. The Indonesian government named Yusuf a
\nnational hero in 1995.<\/p>\n
The South African government paid tribute to him for the
\ncultural link between South Africa and Indonesia he helped
\nestablish.<\/p>\n
The political relationship between South Africa and Indonesia
\nexisted long before they established diplomatic ties in 1994.
\nIndonesia supported the African National Congress (ANC) from the
\ntime the now majority party in South Africa's government was a
\nliberation movement, fighting the apartheid government under the
\nold National Party's rule.<\/p>\n
During his tenure, Mandela paid three visits to Indonesia both
\nas the South African president and the ANC president.<\/p>\n
As a leading developing democracy in Africa, South Africa
\nplays an important role in fostering closer South-South
\ncooperation Indonesia has also promoted. South Africa hosted the
\n1998 summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and succeeded
\nColombia as chair of the organization. Both South Africa and
\nIndonesia are also playing leading roles in cooperating in the
\npromotion of North-South dialog.<\/p>\n
Close cooperation between South Africa and Indonesia continued
\nwhen they co-chaired the Asian-African Sub-Regional Organizations
\nConference (AASROC) last year.<\/p>\n
Ambassador Nasier said the relationship between the two
\ncountries had been limited to government level, or the elite,
\nwhich would not benefit their people at large much.<\/p>\n
"South Africa has been complaining about the trade balance
\nbetween the two countries that is in favor of Indonesia. That
\nhappens because of lack of contacts between people, including
\nbusinessmen," he said.<\/p>\n
In the final year of his tenure as the Indonesian ambassador
\nto South Africa that will end in September, Nasier has been
\nworking to bridge communication and understanding between the two
\nnations which he says will lay a foundation for cooperation in
\nother fields.<\/p>\n
Following the Bandung Conference celebration, four Indonesian
\nuniversities and South African universities are scheduled to sign
\nan agreement on the exchange of scholars. The University of
\nIndonesia, Hasanuddin University in the South Sulawesi capital of
\nMakassar, Padjadjaran University and Parahyangan University, both
\nin Bandung, have been selected for the exchange program.<\/p>\n
Nasier said the exchange program would not only produce more
\nexperts in African studies, and Asian studies on South Africa's
\npart, but also intensive dialog between the people of the two
\nnations on the bilateral, regional and international challenges
\nthey are facing.<\/p>\n
"By learning from each other's culture and history, for
\nexample, we can expand contacts between people in other areas,
\nsuch as trade and tourism," he said.<\/p>\n
For Nasier the decision by Garuda Indonesia to terminate
\nservice to South Africa not only proves the Indonesian flag
\ncarrier's failure to optimize business opportunities there, but
\nthe lack of knowledge among Indonesians in general about the
\nAfrican country.<\/p>\n
In a bid to boost cooperation in the field of tourism, the
\nambassador is also helping prepare a cultural mission from
\nvarious towns in Indonesia to South Africa, including a visit of
\ndozens of Makassar figures to Cape Town later in March to
\nreestablish its historical link with the city.<\/p>\n
Noting that colonialism and other forms of human rights abuse
\nhave linked Indonesia with South Africa, both governments are co-
\nsponsoring a seminar on history and slavery that bind the two
\nnations. Indonesian Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra will be among
\nthe speakers.<\/p>\n
Prof. Dhiru V. Soni, who heads the Center for Asia-Africa
\nStudies at KwaZulu Natal University in Durban, agrees with
\nNasier, saying a lot of opportunities are on offer for South
\nAfrica and Indonesia to cooperate in the future.<\/p>\n
"The fact that both Indonesia and South Africa are leading
\ndeveloping nations should bring them closer together in promoting
\nSouth-South cooperation," Soni said, adding that the upcoming
\nAsia-Africa summit would help create a momentum that the two
\ncountries could benefit from.<\/p>\n
The center is providing a platform for dialog, exchange of
\ninformation and knowledge and to facilitate international student
\nand faculty exchange with particular emphasis on post-graduate
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
"There are golden opportunities for collaboration, knowledge
\nexchange and economic expansion," said Soni, who will visit
\nIndonesia ahead of the Asia-Africa summit.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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