Returning to South Africa
David Brokensha, UC Santa Barbara

When I retired in 1989, we moved to Britain, mainly because my late lifetime companion, Bernard Riley, who had been a lecturer at UCSB (Environmental Studies), had no medical aid.

Being British, Bernard was eligible for medical aid in UK. We spent a happy decade in the UK, alternating between an apartment in London, and a country home in Dorset. In the mid-1990s, UC allowed me to include Bernard in my Blue Cross plan. This was most opportune, first because Bernard's medical problems were increasing, and second because this enabled us to fulfill a long held hope, to return to my native South Africa.

We moved to Fish Hoek, near Cape Town, finding a splendid home, overlooking False Bay. We enjoyed the "buzz" of the new South Africa; the grand scenery; the weather, similar to Santa Barbara’s; the excellent medical facilities; the lively cultural scene; the friendliness of all, despite (for people of colour) the past humiliations of apartheid. The University of Cape Town made me an Honorary Professor in the lively department of Social Anthropology.

My day starts with an hour's walk on our lovely beach, at dawn. I have been writing, having just completed my autobiography (Brokie's Way); my next book project is a history of the Institute for Development Anthropology. I also write an occasional newsletter (“Fish Hoek Notes”).  I have brushed up on my rusty Afirkaans, and I hope to learn some isiXhosa, the African vernacular. I enjoy seeing my many friends, including many former UCSB colleagues and students; I have been traveling to Brazil, Zambia, and Tanzania, and last year I made a three-month trip around the world.

Despite worrying problems of crime, the highest rate of inequality in the world, an authoritarian president, and a shocking policy on AIDS, I have never regretted  returning to my homeland, after an absence of 52 years.

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