Trevor Noah proves that 'we've been having it'

I was so happy when Trevor Noah admitted on his debut The Daily Show in the US this week that growing up in Soweto, one dream he shared with many of his neighbours was that of an indoor toilet.

Yes, whenever Joburg guys came down to Durban when I was a kid growing up there, and they started playing big, we always reminded them that they were not unlike many of our rural cousins - because they did their smelly business outside the house, when many of our KwaZulu-Natal townships had toilets inside (with the exception of KwaMashu and others).

I was also ecstatic when Trevor pointed out that his Soweto had dusty streets. Our townships had tarred roads right from the outset.

And of course KwaZulu-Natal townships are famous for their love of trees. In Soweto it's as if they were told it was a crime to plant a blade of grass, let alone a tree or a flower bed.

If you are my age and you grew up in Soweto, you will recall that until the 1980s many of the streets in that beguiling metropolis remained unpaved.

But anyway, when Noah said these things about toilets and dusty roads I was reminded of that advert with the pay-off line: "We've been having it."

Now, stupid regional jokes aside, we have to take pride in that, taking the helm of The Daily Show, Noah has shown the world, once again, that South Africans "have been having it".

Give us a fair chance and we will show you the true meaning of democracy. We're not coming with a begging bowl. We've got the talent, the chutzpah, sophistication and, of course, an eye for business.

You only have to look at Lucas "Rhoo" Radebe, Anant Singh, Charlize Theron, Elon Musk, Mark Shuttleworth to mention just a few of our people who took the world by storm once the world opened up to us after years of isolation.

There were other heroes who made a mark over there long before the collapse of apartheid: Steve "Kalamazoo" Mokone, the legendary footballer and academic; Zakes Mokae (an unsung Hollywood hero if ever there was one), Es'kia Mphahlele (who inspired and guided the likes of Njabulo Ndebele and others).

But back to Noah. The US that he has settled in has always proclaimed a multicultural identity, but on its own terms.

If you speak with an accent they don't "get" or if you are Muslim or Chinese or Indian, eyebrows will be raised at whatever you do. Yet wherever Americans go, they want to be instantly understood. But that's power for you. It breeds entitlement and arrogance.

You can go to the US to clean their toilets, sweep their streets, but to take over an institution such as The Daily Show and you are playing with the family jewels.

The arts in general, and popular culture as represented by television and music, are guarded jealously over there. That's why I was nervous at Noah's reception. I am happy that the debut was generally well received.

The format of the show itself is fraught with danger for the host. Through The Daily Show, Jon Stewart spoke truth to power in a manner we have yet to do here in SA through the medium of TV.

I have always said that truth delivered on the platter of humour is a memorable dish. Stewart did this with aplomb and alacrity. It also helped that he was white and American.

Noah is a different proposition. Not only is he black, he also is not American. Not only is he not American, he is African.

As he pointed out in his opening gambit: "It feels like the family has a new stepdad, and he's black, which is not ideal."

Those Africans who have lived in the US are all too familiar with the prejudices that people over there have against Africans.

You have to prove yourself and do that as fast as you can - otherwise they immediately pigeonhole you into someone who, back home, lived in a tree, consorting with lions and so on.

I am of course generalising. But truth lies underneath layers of generalisations.

It's challenging to be black and African in the US. White Africans find it easier to insinuate themselves into American society. The general mindset favours whiteness.

They'll tolerate a white immigrant from Serbia with little education and no English at all, but they'll baulk at a professor from Africa who teaches English and philosophy at Harvard. He has to fight for the right to be heard. Only then will they grudgingly accede to his requests: be it at a public place such as a restaurant, airport or supermarket.

So, let us congratulate Noah and give him all the support we can because his success mirrors our determination as a people.

His success will hopefully go a long way towards paving the way for many South Africans, in different professional persuasions, to be given a fair and democratic hearing so they show what they have to offer the world.

- Comments: fredkhumalo@post.harvard.edu