The Mfecane as Alibi: Thoughts on Dithakong and Mbolompo

1988 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Cobbing
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
British Army ◽  
The Core ◽  
Sugar Plantations ◽  
Procurement System ◽  
Characteristic Product

The ‘mfecane’ is a characteristic product of South African liberal history used by the apartheid state to legitimate South Africa's racially unequal land division. Some astonishingly selective use or actual invention of evidence produced the myth of an internally-induced process of black-on-black destruction centring on Shaka's Zulu. A re-examination of the ‘battles’ of Dithakong and Mbolompo suggests very different conclusions and enables us to decipher the motives of subsequent historiographical amnesias. After about 1810 the black peoples of southern Africa were caught between intensifying and converging imperialistic thrusts: one to supply the Cape Colony with labour; another, at Delagoa Bay, to supply slaves particularly to the Brazilian sugar plantations. The flight of the Ngwane from the Mzinyathi inland to the Caledon was, it is argued, a response to slaving. But they ran directly into the colonial raiding-grounds north of the Orange. The (missionary-led) raid on the still unidentified ‘Mantatees’ (not a reference to MaNtatisi) at Dithakong in 1823 was one of innumerable Griqua raids for slaves to counter an acute shortage of labour among Cape settlers after the British expansionist wars of 1811–20. Similar Griqua raids forced the Ngwane south from the Caledon into the Transkei. Here, at Mbolompo in 1828, the Ngwane were attacked yet again, this time by a British army seeking ‘free’ labour after the reorganisation of the Cape's labour-procurement system in July 1828. The British claim that they were parrying a Zulu invasion is exposed as propaganda, and the connexions between the campaign and the white-instigated murder of Shaka are shown. In short, African societies did not generate the regional violence on their own. Rather, caught within the European net, they were transformed over a lengthy period in reaction to the attentions of external plunderers. The core misrepresentations of ‘the mfecane’ are thereby revealed; the term, and the concept, should be abandoned.

Region of Birth and Child Mortality among Black Migrants to South Africa: Is there a foreign-born advantage?

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany L Green ◽  
Amos C Peters
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Child Mortality ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Black Immigrants ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Region Of Origin ◽  
Child Deaths

Much of the existing evidence for the healthy immigrant advantage comes from developed countries. We investigate whether an immigrant health advantage exists in South Africa, an important emerging economy.  Using the 2001 South African Census, this study examines differences in child mortality between native-born South African and immigrant blacks.  We find that accounting for region of origin is critical: immigrants from southern Africa are more likely to experience higher lifetime child mortality compared to the native-born population.  Further, immigrants from outside of southern Africa are less likely than both groups to experience child deaths.  Finally, in contrast to patterns observed in developed countries, we detect a strong relationship between schooling and child mortality among black immigrants.

The Final ‘Thank You’

Derrida Today ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-36
Author(s):  
Grant Farred
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Political Transition ◽  
The Other ◽  
World Cup ◽  
The Core ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
Black President ◽  
The Moment

‘The Final “Thank You”’ uses the work of Jacques Derrida and Friedrich Nietzsche to think the occasion of the 1995 rugby World Cup, hosted by the newly democratic South Africa. This paper deploys Nietzsche's Zarathustra to critique how a figure such as Nelson Mandela is understood as a ‘Superman’ or an ‘Overhuman’ in the moment of political transition. The philosophical focus of the paper, however, turns on the ‘thank yous’ exchanged by the white South African rugby captain, François Pienaar, and the black president at the event of the Springbok victory. It is the value, and the proximity and negation, of the ‘thank yous’ – the relation of one to the other – that constitutes the core of the article. 1

Summary judgment — Quo vadis?

2021 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-114
Author(s):  
Thino Bekker
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
High Court ◽  
The Core ◽  
Golden Opportunity ◽  
Quo Vadis ◽  
The Right ◽  
Summary Judgment ◽  
Made In

The summary judgment procedure in South African law provides for a speedy judgment in favour of a deserving plaintiff where it can be shown that the defendant does not have a triable defence. In 2019 the Rules Board made certain drastic amendments to the procedure of summary judgment in the high court. In this article the historical development of the procedure of summary judgment will be discussed, and the new amendments to rule 32 of the Uniform Rules of Court critically evaluated. It will be argued that the amendments to rule 32 were unnecessary and that it may diminish the right to access to justice in civil disputes. It will, however, also be argued that there are some merits in the critique raised by the Rules Board in relation to rule 32 and that the Rules Board missed a golden opportunity to overhaul the entire summary judgment procedure in a more sensible manner and in line with the core constitutional values of s 34 of the Constitution. It will be argued that rule 32 should be replaced in its entirety by a new, more streamlined procedure, and some recommendations for legal reform will be made in this regard.

Liebenberg, Ian, Jorge Risquet and Vladimir Shubin (eds), A Far-away War: Angola, 1975-1989. Stellenbosch: Sun Press 2015, 207 pp.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan F Mutton
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Deputy Director ◽  
Reference Book ◽  
40Th Anniversary ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
Military Studies ◽  
The Military ◽  
Extensive Bibliography

This publication, which consists of an Introduction and eight chapters by different authors, appeared at the time of the 40th anniversary of the entry of South Africa into the Angolan war. It is short but packed with useful information and well-documented with photos, geographical and combat maps, an extensive bibliography of 35 pages, political cartoons and posters,historical surveys and statistics. Edited by the South African Ian Liebenberg (Director of the Centre for Military Studies at the Military Academy in Stellenbosch), the Cuban Jorge Risquet (who participated in the 1988 Angolan peace talks), and the Russian Vladimir Shubin (former Deputy Director of the Institute for African Studies at the Russian Academy of Science), A Far-Away War sheds new light on this prolonged conflict, focusing on the involvement of South-Africa, Cuba, Russia and East-Germany.In doing so, it opens new perspectives and widens the understanding of the struggle for liberation in Southern Africa, not only for the average history and politics reader but also, as a very useful reference book, for the more advanced researcher and academic.

scholarly journals Serological survey of bovine viral diarrhoea virus in Namibian and South African kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) and eland (Taurotragus oryx)

2013 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence P. Scott ◽  
Eleanor Stylianides ◽  
Wanda Markotter ◽  
Louis Nel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Bovine Viral Diarrhoea ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Diarrhoea Virus ◽  
Central Regions ◽  
Tragelaphus Strepsiceros

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) is a pestivirus that affects members of the order Artiodactyla, including members of the subfamily Bovinae. Little is known about the seroprevalence of BVDV in southern Africa, especially the prevalence in wild ruminant populations such as kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros). A handful of random surveys suggested that seroprevalence ranged between 6% and 70% in southern African wild ruminants. The present study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of BVDV amongst kudu and eland (Taurotragus oryx) from Namibia and South Africa. A BVDV-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed on 50 serum samples from kudu and eland from South Africa and Namibia. The seroprevalence of BVDV in South African kudu was 71%, identical to that in Namibian kudu. The seroprevalence in Namibian eland was 40%. The kudu and cattle farming (free ranging) regions in Namibia predominantly overlap in the central regions, ensuring ample opportunity for cross-species transmission of BVDV. It is therefore important to determine the true prevalence of BVDV in southern Africa in both domesticated and wild animals. In addition, a potential link between BVDV incidence and a devastating rabies epidemic in Namibian kudu was proposed and such a notion could be supported or discredited by comparative prevalence data.

scholarly journals Core corporate governance dilemmas facing boards: a South African perspective

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-210
Author(s):  
Hyram Serretta ◽  
Mike Bendixen ◽  
Margie Sutherland
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
South African ◽  
Delphi Technique ◽  
Board Members ◽  
International Literature ◽  
The Core ◽  
Good Corporate Governance ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
Managing Complexity

Directors and boards face many challenges in terms of managing complexity. A key factor of success in practicing good corporate governance is the board’s ability to cope with paradox. The purpose of this research has been to explore the core corporate governance dilemmas facing boards. The investigation was qualitative in nature using the Delphi technique. Six core corporate governance dilemmas facing board members were identified one of which is not mentioned in the international literature. The findings should provide directors with an ability to identify the nature of the paradoxes they need to respond to.

scholarly journals Geomagnetic secular variation

1989 ◽  
Vol 329 (1606) ◽  
pp. 415-502 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Steady Flow ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Secular Variation ◽  
Static Field ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
The Core ◽  
Flow Maps ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Construct Maps ◽  
Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries

We analyse over 175000 magnetic observations from an interval spanning 1695-1980 to produce a sequence of maps of the magnetic field at the core-mantle boundary; we find that even the earlier data enable us to determine reliable maps. We produce these maps at approximately 60-year intervals through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and at 10-year intervals in the twentieth century. This span of maps is long enough to render straightforward the distinction between static and drifting features in the field: we observe that some features show no sign whatsoever of drift over the entire 285-year time interval, although others drift westwards. In particular, we observe that the secular variation is very low beneath the Pacific ocean, but beneath southern Africa and the South Atlantic ocean we observe rapid secular variation. We interpret the morphology of the static field in terms of a simple model of the dynamo, and conjecture that interactions between the core and the mantle are an important element of the process. As part of the static field we identify four main concentrations of flux, two in each hemisphere, at high latitudes: these features largely account for the Earth’s axial dipole moment. We find unequivocal evidence that magnetic flux has not remained frozen over the time span of our models; much of the diffusive behaviour that we identify is associated with the formation of a pair of flux spots (a ‘core spot’) beneath southern Africa, early in this century. Nevertheless, we are able to construct maps that satisfy a set of necessary conditions for frozen-flux, and use these maps to construct maps of the core surface fluid flow, based on the steady flow hypothesis. Although we find no strong evidence against the steady flow hypothesis, we do find some grounds on which to doubt the validity of the flow maps.

scholarly journals Verstedeliking: Vergelyking tussen Suid-Afrikaanse letterkundes en die kultuurteks

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-59
Author(s):  
Jacomien Van Niekerk
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Black People ◽  
Literary Historiography ◽  
Literary Histories

Despite many efforts to publish comprehensive literary histories of South or Southern Africa in recent years, few studies existin which a thorough comparative study is undertaken between two or more South African literatures. This article wants to provide a practical example of such a study by comparing the urbanisation of Afrikaners in Afrikaans literature with that of black people as seen in English and Zulu literature. The statement made by Ampie Coetzee that comparative studies should take place within the framework of discursive formations is one of the fundamental starting points of this study. Maaike Meijer’s concept of the “cultural text” is further employed as a theoretical instrument. The identification of repeating sets of representation is central to the demarcation of a “cultural text about urbanisation” in Afrikaans, English and Zulu literature respectively. The cultural text forms the basis from which a valid comparative study can be embarked upon, and the results of the research have important implications for further comparative studies but also literary historiography.

scholarly journals A Quarter Century of Democracy and the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leepo Johannes Modise
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Reformed Church ◽  
History Of ◽  
Measuring Tool ◽  
The Church

This paper focuses on the role of the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) in the South African society during the past 25 years of its services to God, one another and the world. Firstly, the paper provides a brief history of URCSA within 25 years of its existence. Secondly, the societal situation in democratic South Africa is highlighted in light of Article 4 of the Belhar Confession and the Church Order as a measuring tool for the role of the church. Thirdly, the thermometer-thermostat metaphor is applied in evaluating the role of URCSA in democratic South Africa. Furthermore, the 20 years of URCSA and democracy in South Africa are assessed in terms of Gutierrez’s threefold analysis of liberation. In conclusion, the paper proposes how URCSA can rise above the thermometer approach to the thermostat approach within the next 25 years of four general synods.

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