By Kyle J. Chapman

To some SIUC students, South Africa is a war-torn, racist country, but to one man it represents the horrors of reality that he and his family have endured for as long as he can remember.

Vusimuzi Ngubane, a Zulu tribesman and a junior in mechanical engineering, has not returned to South Africa to see his family for two years.

For the first time, the South African government will have all-race elections that may end white-supremacy rule. They are planned for April 27, but have been hampered by violence from black political groups who benefit from the Apartheid government, Ngubane said.

The rampant political violence has prompted speculation among diplomats and peace monitors that the election might have to be delayed to allow time to settle differences between Inkatha and the African National Congress.

Ngubane said when he watches the news about South Africa, he only sees what the media allows to be seen and not what actually is happening to his people.

The American media doesn’t show what’s really going on. People in the United States will learn very little about what’s going on in South Africa from the news. he said.

They don’t show the things that are happening in the homelands or in the smaller townships and most of the killing takes place in the homelands yet they usually only show Johannesburg, a central city in South Africa.

The Transitional Executive Council, a multi-racial commission overseeing the election, wants to postpone the ballot in Natal, South Africa.

The issue for blacks who resist the elections is that they fear that they will be forced out of the political arena, he said.

Groups like the Inkatha Freedom Party would like the separate political power so they can establish a separate state. The underlying factor for groups like this is political power.

Despite the chance for a delay, Ngubane said he looked forward to blacks winning the first-all race elections and controlling the political power of South Africa, but blacks own little land and there could be continued conflict.

Whites own 80 percent of the land in South Africa and their population is 4.5 million. Blacks own less that 15 percent of the land and there are 33 million of them, Ngubane said.

The new government will have to figure a way to redistribute the land to those who need it most.

Twenty people were killed and 200 injured March 28 in downtown Johannesburg during a gun battle between Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress and The Inkatha Freedom Party.

Ngubane said his family is safe but there always is the possibility of violence striking them.

Violence occurs day-in and day-out in South Africa and it changes a lot of things and it takes away the little things that South Africans have, he said.

For now, my family is safe from violence, but we are worried about my brother who is a worker in Johannesburg.

Despite the 350 years of white-supremacist government, all groups should have input in a majority-ruled government in all of South Africa, Ngubane said.

I would like to see violence stopped and people of all races living in harmony. I would also like to see the needs of black people being taken care of like education, housing and of course jobs or technical training, Ngubane said.

Most importantly I would like to see majority-rule without crushing the minority they should be able to have input too.

The 350-year-old Apartheid system of slavery may end on April 27 with its first all-race elections.