The Foreign Service Journal, May 2004

event all sides would blame each other and call off negotiations. The outcome of this march toward a democratic government was still unknown. It was during these unsettled times that my husband and I arrived in South Africa. We had high hopes and some fears of what his tenure as the American ambassador would bring. The African National Congress, Mandela’s political party, did not harbor friendly feelings toward the United States. The U.S. had come to the anti- apartheid movement rather late and, in the ANC’s opinion, was still not giving it enough support. The white-ruled South African government, for its part, did not trust us because it felt we were too aligned with the forces intent on replacing it. By April 1993, conditions were not much improved. But fortunately, there were men like Nelson Mandela who were able to convince most black South Africans to give nonviolence a bit longer to prove itself. Another was Chris Hani, who, like Mandela, had great charisma and popularity. He was a dynamic young man with the ability to control the youth vigilantes, who were becoming dangerous. A Planned Excursion That’s how things stood one day as we, and the DCM and his wife, were sitting in our living room in Cape Town. We were waiting to hear that a visiting congressional delegation had boarded their bus and were on their way to see the Cape Flats townships. We were all exhausted from ensuring that the delega- tion was having a safe, informative trip, which we hoped would send them back to the U.S. with more determination to aid the South African struggle. Today the group had a full day planned, leaving the four of us free. This Sunday seemed made for hiking on the famous Table Mountain. Nature had blessed this part of the country by sur- rounding it with two oceans and then adding several magnificent mountain ranges and forests. It was relaxing to be in the presence of good friends with whom I could just be myself, sip my coffee, wear my old jeans, sink into a soft chair, anticipate the planned hike, and wait for the call that would sig- nal the end of our responsibilities for the visiting Americans. We felt we had earned this rare chance to be out of the spotlight and just enjoy ourselves the way other people did. When the phone rang, I eagerly reached for my backpack with no premonition of what was to come. Once I realized, from my husband’s part of the con- versation, that something had gone wrong, my disap- pointment was overwhelming. But the horror of what had happened quickly put all thoughts of beautiful, peaceful Table Mountain out of my head. Chris Hani had been assassinated and we knew immediately that the country had lost the very man, after Mandela, most capable of keeping order in the townships. We had lived through the American riots after the assassi- nation of Martin Luther King, and feared for the future of South Africa’s hope for a peaceful transition. Soon we learned of the ANC’s plans to have two memorial services for Chris Hani. One would be for the diplomatic community and would take place in Johannesburg, the major business city in the country. The other would take place a day earlier on a football field in Soweto, a teeming black township of five mil- lion people. My husband decided to attend both of these services. I objected on the grounds that the one in Soweto was sure to be dangerous; there had already been several reports of violence around the country. He insisted that he would be safe — so I insisted that, if it was not dangerous, I would go along. I thought that argument might keep him safely at home. But my plan backfired and, along with my husband, I found myself being driven to the football field accom- F O C U S 50 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 0 4 Helen Lyman accompanied her FSO husband Princeton Lyman on assignments to South Korea, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa. Her career went from teaching first grade to teaching computer skills at the State Depart- ment. Currently she is writing her memoirs and volun- teering at Common Cause and the Colorectal Cancer Network. Mandela was able to convince most black South Africans to give nonviolence a bit longer to prove itself.