Well, I think having been an officer in the army had something to do with it. A special kind of officer. I mean I wore my army pants almost every day. People around me knew I was ex-army so that gave me some kind of status. I was friendly with a few White policemen who knew of my relationships and they didn‟t hassle me at all. I walked freely with my women. We had children together and I walked with my children in the street. Nobody said anything. That‟s just how it was and they accepted it. In this relationship that I am in now [with a Coloured woman] it was easy even during apartheid. We lived in the Coloured area and you can see how I am [gesturing to his unkempt beard and matted hair].
They don‟t know if I‟m Coloured or White unless I tell them.180
outings to the beach. According to Jack Kent, even though all entertainment venues were strictly racially divided, there were many clandestine venues which they frequented. It was there that the couple met other inter-racial couples and were able to develop a strong support system. According to Jack Kent:
The Black community was our lifeline. Knowing that we were not alone in the struggle gave us hope and allowed us to imagine a better future and the end of apartheid. If we wanted a place to eat, there was a little Indian restaurant in Durban that we went to and we knew we were safe there. My sister-in-law lived with us and she would help my wife with the shopping and that so that I would not have to do those things and put the family at risk… Our car broke down once, just at the entrance to Edendale. A whole group of people who knew us but we did not know them, helped us fix it and go home before the police came along.
Our lives were filled every day with little gestures of support and love and care.183
Jack Kent maintained that the greatest threat came from the White population group:
Even if they were your friends, you had to think twice before you let them in on your secret. I remember this one chap from my work, he suspected something. We were cordial with each other but he used to drive by our home in Edendale every so often. We were very suspicious of him. Maybe he was shocked that I lived in the township but the lengths he would go to! He‟d come by late at night but we always had someone in the house stay awake so that they could keep an eye that we were safe, you see. This guy would come along, dressed in dark clothing, a cap, and just watch the house. He never said a word to me, but I knew it was him.184
Scott‟s claim that there is another realm of subordinate group politics, which necessitates disguise and anonymity, is useful in analysing the way in which Gail Govender was able
183 Jack Kent, telephonic interview conducted by Linda Naicker on 15 April 2011 in Pietermaritzburg.
184 Ibid.
to preserve her hidden transcript. According to Scott, it is here that subordinates are most vulnerable because if they fail to render plausible performances, there will be grave consequences to bear: “A convincing performance may require both the suppression and control of feelings that would spoil the performance and the simulation of emotions that are necessary to the performance. The performance… comprises not only speech acts but conformity in facial expression and gestures as well as practical obedience to commands that may be distasteful or humiliating”.185
For Gail Govender and Henry Smith, public appearances necessitated a set of performances and disguises that veiled their true identity. When shopping for school clothing or supplies, Henry Smith drove the family into town but parked in a secluded back street and waited in the car while the family shopped. If anyone asked about her light-skinned children, Gail told them that she was a maid and worked for the family. The family lived in seclusion for the most part but there were occasions when it was necessary for Gail to travel long distances with her children. Those were the times when the family was most at risk.
On one occasion, Gail‟s eldest son was very ill and had to be hospitalized in Pietermaritzburg. When her son was released, Gail went to board a train in order to return home. As she sat on a bench at the train station cradling her eight month old baby, she caught the attention of a group of policemen. In most countries of the world this would have perhaps been an odd picture. A dark skinned Indian woman carrying what looked like a White baby. People observing this scene would possibly have imagined several reasons to rationalize what they saw but the safety of mother and child would not have been compromised. In South Africa under apartheid, it had the appearance of a crime punishable by law and warranted closer investigation by the police.
Gail knew that she had to put on a performance that would ensure their safety, so she began mentally preparing her story as one of the policemen approached her. She had
185 Scott, C.J. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. Yale University Press, New Haven. 1990. p 19-29.
rehearsed this scene several times in her mind and knew that if she showed any fear or anxiety her “hidden transcript” would be exposed with dire consequences. Fortunately, her Coloured friend who had gone to the shop to buy food suddenly appeared and said,
“thank you for taking care of my baby. Did he give you any trouble?” The policemen, realizing that there was indeed a plausible explanation for the scene and believing that the law had not been contravened, turned and walked away.186
For Gail, the ordinary activity of travelling with her child in public was an endeavour that required a host of coded tactics. Community solidarity, language and performance were enlisted to preserve her hidden transcript. According to Gail, she seldom moved from one city to another without a friend who could provide a plausible pretext for her light- skinned children. Her small circle of light-skinned Coloured friends was a safeguard in the event of confrontation with police. The public performance of Gail and her friend displayed a mastery of facial expression and language that was designed to tactically reflect conformity. The two women had a mode of communication, a language that was spoken in the face of power, which served as a barrier that the dominant found impossible to penetrate.187 Yet Scott says that to call it “conformity” does not do justice to the skill and ingenuity of the dominated: “it is an art form in which one can take some pride in having successfully misrepresented oneself”.188
Maria Naidoo, Beryl Pillay, Dave Gray and Lorrain Green, said that they did not encounter problems in their respective communities. Maria Naidoo‟s tanned complexion gave the impression that she was Coloured and was therefore not under any threat from the authorities.189 Beryl Pillay said that her relationship with Nathan Pringle was kept a secret from the entire community.190 Dave Gray said that he blended in very well in the Coloured community in which he lived and that it was taken for granted that he was
186 Gail Govender, interview conducted by Linda Naicker on 11 December 2010 in Estcourt.
187 Scott, C.J. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. Yale University Press, New Haven. 1990. P 32.
188 Ibid. p 33.
189 Maria Naidoo, interview conducted by Linda Naicker on 12 March 2011 in Pietermaritzburg.
190 Beryl Pillay, interview conducted by Linda Naicker on 25 March 2011 in Pietermaritzburg.
Coloured.191 According to Lorrain Green, her relationship with Patrick Hood was short- lived and her daughter was born after both the Mixed Marriages- and Immorality Acts were repealed. She was therefore never in any danger.192