(Cry) the beloved country: the rainbow nation of South Africa, past and present

Pictured are the speaker and member of the College History Department Simon Gent with some of the group who attended his talk on (Cry) the beloved country: the rainbow nation of South Africa, past and present.

Simon first visited South Africa in 1997 on an academic sabbatical and he has researched the history of the rainbow nation throughout his teaching career. In his talk, he explained some of the complex realities of 20th-century apartheid and its legacy since Nelson Mandela became president in 1994.

This event was part of the programme of a regular series of afternoon talks when we welcome friends from all parts of the Eastbournian Society's family into the College to hear speakers on a wide range of subjects, preceded by posh cake and tea. Pupils too are members of the ES and we were delighted to welcome some 40 of them, all of which made for a lively question-and-answer session at the end.