Memories, a monument and its meaning : the monument on the site of the Samora Machel plane crash

Abstract

The 1986 plane crash of former Mozambican president Samora Machel and the erection of a monument at Mbuzini have raised questions about the transformation of memory as a repository of oral tradition, its conversion into icon, and its role and symbolic meaning in post-apartheid South Africa. The memories of a number of Mbuzini residents are weighed against the agenda of the national government and questions are raised whether local expectations were met concurrently. Certain guidelines and suggestions are offered to save the Machel monument from potential memorial amnesia.

Die 1986 vliegtuigramp van die voormalige Mosambiekse president Samora Machel en die oprigting van 'n monument op die terrein te Mbuzini het die debat heropen en vrae laat ontstaan aangaande die transformasie van geheue as 'n bewaarplek van mondelinge oorlewering, die omskakeling daarvan tot ikoon en die rol daarvan en simboliese betekenis in post-apartheid Suid-Afrika. Die geheue van 'n aantal Mbuzini-inwoners word geweeg teen die agenda van die nasionale regering en vrae word gestel of plaaslike verwagtinge gelykertyd aan voldoen is. Sekere riglyne en voorstelle word aangebied ten einde die Machel-monument van potensiele amnesie van nagedagtenis te red.