International planning frameworks and strategies

Freedom Never Rests

Even though Freedom Never Rests is fictional, it is a very realistic book because it embraces actual events in South Africa after apartheid was ended. The plot of the book is built around the issue of water deliveries in South Africa. The protagonist is Monwabisi, whom author James Kilgore portrays as a trade union activist who has HIV and becomes distracted in several ways by his illness but maintains his defiance as much as he can.

Does he follow a single story or maintain an open mind?

The truth is Monwabisi does remain true to his fundamental beliefs and values but he has problems determining how exactly he fits into the new order of things after Mandela is elected and the democratic system is launched. Monwabisi is caught in the web of several issues. For one, with HIV he does not have the same relationship with his wife that he once enjoyed. Apparently when author Kilgore wrote this (from his prison cell in the United States) he knew full well that Africa (all over Africa) the HIV and AIDS pandemic was taking millions of lives, and so it was logical for him to create an HIV situation with his protagonist.

For another, Monwabisi can't decide whether to continue to serve the public interest and fight for democracy -- within his political party -- or whether to try something new. Clearly he is not the man he once was; his ego and his spirit have been noticeably depressed by his HIV condition. He and his wife touch their feet in bed, and that's all, which is a far, far cry from husband and wife in normal sensual / romantic intimacies. So there is the notion that he is still, as he said, a fighter: "I'm a man of the struggle," he told his wife, after seeing Mandela on television and saying to Constantia, "We love that old man but he's a bit too kind-hearted."

Monwabisi went on: "My mind and my body remain strong when I'm fighting oppression and exploitation," referring specifically to the water rationing and cut-offs of drinking water supplies by the government. "If I stay at home thinking about what that little virus is doing and letting my buttocks burn, I'll become sick after a few days." But what his wife was alluding to was not just his HIV but his drinking problems. Still, notwithstanding his consumption of alcohol, he shows through his dialogue that at least he is putting on a good front about keeping an open mind. As he takes two beers out of the fridge, he says, "I'm working full-time for the South African working class."

Showing that he did have his protest wits about him and that he was open to continuing his rule as an agitator for the public good, he protested loudly in discussions with his wife about prepaid subscriptions for adequate water. "There will be babies with no formula to drink, no clean napkins, grannies fainting from dehydration…"

When Monwabisi was a shop steward, he kept up with the publication Business Day, and he believed things were on the right track for change. But "where was the working class these days? They had gone quiet," Kilgore writes. But it is clear on page 251 that Monwabisi has not lost his rebelliousness when push comes to shove. The "shiny-headed man" pointed the gun at Monwabisi and Mrs. Mehlo but Monwabisi wasn't intimidated, which points to the fact that he does not follow a single story but rather rolls with the punches.