Rethinking the Self within an African Philosophical Paradigm

The Self ◽

News Story ◽

Nelson Mandela ◽

Current Affairs ◽

Desmond Tutu ◽

A Current

This chapter explores the interconnected-Self manifesting within African Philosophy. Philosopher Michael Onyebuchi Eze suggests that ‘humanity is not embedded in my person solely as an individual . . . Humanity is a quality we owe to each other. We create each other and need to sustain this otherness creation.’ A current affairs news story about the parole of an apartheid-assassin, a poem, as well as the analyses of various concepts hallmarking South Africa’s move into full democracy, are the lenses through which this interconnected-Self is viewed. The exploration is underpinned by three areas: the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, texts of the /Xam (First People) and various utterances by Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.

Taking responsibility for reconciliation: a Christian response to the legacy and challenges of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)

In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi ◽

10.4102/ids.v43i2.228 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 43 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

S. Barry

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Healing Process ◽

Good News ◽

South Africans ◽

Christian Churches ◽

To Come ◽

At the conclusion of the TRC, Desmond Tutu stated that the Commission’s task was to promote, not to achieve, reconci- liation. Reconciliation, he maintained, is the responsibility of all South Africans, and expressed the hope that the Christian churches would be in the forefront of this healing process. This article explores how the Christian church can be in the forefront of binding up the wounds, facilitating the healing pro- cess, and living as a people and a sign of hope. The answers it seeks to offer fall under three interrelated themes, namely the church’s: • spirituality of reconciliation; • ministry and mission of reconciliation; and • resources for its ministry and mission of reconciliation. Cultivating a spirituality of reconciliation would mean making reconciliation a lifestyle, rather than a series of strategies, pro- grammes or initiatives, yet remaining concrete, practical, mea- surable and accountable. The church’s mission is primarily to proclaim the good news of God’s Kingdom that is already here, but not yet fully here and therefore still to come. This proclamation is the message of reconciliation between God, others and the self, and anticipates the unity of all creation in Jesus Christ. The resources given to the church to fulfil this apostolic ministry include prophecy, evangelism, pastoral care and teaching, as well as its liturgical and sacramental life, its ministry of pre- sence, its people and its commitment to social justice.

Deification, Demonization and Dispossession

International Journal of Public Theology ◽

10.1163/15697320-12341366 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 420-444 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Allan A. Boesak

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Collective Responsibility ◽

South Africans ◽

Nelson Mandela ◽

Primary Obstacle ◽

Reconciliation Project ◽

Reconciliation Process

Many regard South Africa’s reconciliation process as a model for a search for peace in and among nations. The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission played an admirable part in this. However, problems remain in continuing and completing this reconciliation project. For many the failure to secure social justice through reconciliation remains one challenge. At issue is also how South Africans deal with their fractured and painful past. This article revisits issues of culpability and responsibility by asking whether a primary obstacle towards reconciliation might be that South Africans, instead of taking personal and collective responsibility for reconciliation, have hidden behind two major and completely opposite South African figures: Nelson Mandela and Eugene De Kock. It is argued that the ‘deification’ of Mandela and the ‘demonization’ of De Kock pose an important obstacle for the acceptance of culpability and responsibility for addressing historic wrongs with a view to true reconciliation.

When the Landscape of the Face is Hidden from Us

Membrana Journal of Photography - Augmented ◽

10.47659/m2.068.art ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 68-71

Author(s):

Paula Horta

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Affective Quality ◽

The Face ◽

The Moment ◽

Ethical Response ◽

How do we respond to the vulnerability of the Other when we do not see his face? How do photographer and viewers position themselves ethically in relation to the (hi)story of suffering they are called to witness? These are the questions that steer my reflection about Jillian Edelstein’s unpublished photograph of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Taken shortly after the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) completed its work, the photograph evokes the moment during the TRC hearings when the Archbishop, Chairman of the commission, laid down his head and wept. Drawing on Emmanuel Levinas’s conceptualization of “the face”; I discuss how affect is produced within and through Edelstein’s photograph, and specifically how the affective quality of the photograph both contributes to an understanding of the experience of suffering within the context of the TRC and summons an ethical response from the viewer. Keywords: Desmund Tutu, Emmanuel Levinas, gesture and photography, Jillian Edelstein, photography portrait

Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone and Religious Mediation

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.844 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Lyn S. Graybill

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Sierra Leone ◽

Truth Commissions ◽

Religious Leader ◽

Religious Leaders ◽

Faith Based ◽

The civil war was a turning point in the life of the faith community in Sierra Leone, which previously had been politically complacent. With the establishment of the Inter-Religious Council (IRC), Christian and Muslim religious leaders joined together with a unified voice based on shared values to first, mediate the conflict and second, promote reconciliation through the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The efficacy of faith-based initiatives is attributed to many factors: the vast numbers of religious adherents, a far-reaching infrastructure of churches and mosques, close partnerships with international organizations, untainted reputation of clerics, and sacred texts that promote peace. Reconciliation is a dominant theme in both Christianity and Islam, giving religious leaders a powerful tool in bringing warring sides who share these faith commitments to the peace table, and, also, postconflict in encouraging restorative mechanisms, such as truth commissions that aim at reconciliation among enemies, over more retributive ones, such as courts. Like the earlier South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SATRC), which was headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Sierra Leone TRC was headed by a religious leader, Bishop Joseph Humper, then president of the Inter-Religious Council. Like the SATRC, it turned to religious notions of confession and redemption that resonated in a very religious society, where 60% of the population are Muslims and 30% are Christians. It was only partially successful, however, because of the existence of the Special Court for Sierra Leone operating contemporaneously, which was based on a punitive model of justice. Because of confusion about the two institutions’ different mandates, and fear of being prosecuted by the Court, even low-level perpetrators hesitated to testify at the TRC, limiting its ability to reconcile enemies. Unfortunately, the international community prioritizes justice over reconciliation, and is less supportive of restorative approaches that may resonate more deeply with religious people in postconflict societies.

Leadership for reconciliation: A Truth and Reconciliation Commission perspective

Verbum et Ecclesia ◽

10.4102/ve.v23i3.1235 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 23 (3) ◽

pp. 719-735 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

P. G. J. Meiring

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Authentic Leadership ◽

Clear Understanding ◽

Firm Commitment ◽

Economy And Education ◽

Sense Of Justice ◽

As important as the need for authentic leadership in the fields of politics, economy and education in Africa may be, the continent is also in dire need of leadership for reconciliation. Against the backdrop of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the author – who served on the Commission – discusses five characteristics of leaders for reconciliation. Leaders need to be: leaders with a clear understanding of the issues at stake; leaders with respect for the truth; leaders with a sense of justice; leaders with a comprehension of the dynamics of forgiveness; and leaders with a firm commitment. The insights and experiences of both the chairperson of the TRC, Desmond Tutu, and the deputy chair, Alex Boraine, form the backbone of the article.

Bonhoeffer and costly reconciliation in South Africa – through the lens of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Verbum et Ecclesia ◽

10.4102/ve.v38i3.1559 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (3) ◽

pp. 18-34

Author(s):

P. G.J. Meiring

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Nation Building ◽

Church Leaders ◽

Dietrich Bonhoeffer ◽

South Africans ◽

Dietrich Bonhoeffer never visited South Africa, and he probably did not know a great deal about the country. But the relevance of the German theologian for South Africa was never in doubt. In the struggle against apartheid his message and his theology served to guide theologians, church leaders as well as lay Christians alike. His life and his death served to inspire many during their darkest hours. Theologians, with John de Gruchy in the lead, studied his works extensively. Heroes from the struggle against apartheid, Beyers Naudé, Desmond Tutu and Steve Biko, among others, were hailed as latter-day Bonhoeffers. Nelson Mandela’s famous ‘Speech from the dock’ before his conviction and imprisonment at the Rivonia Trial was compared to Bonhoeffer’s essay on The structure of responsible life (1995). At ecumenical gatherings, his name and his teachings were often invoked, whenever protest was lodged against the injustices of apartheid. But it was especially in the aftermath of apartheid, when the very serious challenges of reconciliation and nation building, of healing and forgiveness, as well as of amnesty for perpetrators weighed against the demands of justice to the victims were at stake, that many turned to Bonhoeffer for guidance. The author who served with Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the TRC, discusses the prerequisites for reconciliation in South Africa against the backdrop of the TRC experience, emphasising the real need for South Africans, following in the footsteps of Bonhoeffer, to look for ‘costly reconciliation’.

‘The Young Wind Once Was a Man’

International Journal of Public Theology ◽

10.1163/15697320-12341364 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 373-392

Author(s):

Antjie Krog

Keyword(s):

Sense Of Self ◽

Comic Strip ◽

Just World ◽

South Africans ◽

Nelson Mandela ◽

The One ◽

Twenty years ago, the democratic vocabulary of tolerance and forgiveness was powerfully introduced to South Africans, especially by President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Both their words and actions were later broadened during the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. However, what remains neglected in studies around the transition is what the underpinnings of the words by these two gentlemen were. This article makes a case that a radically different ontology, different to the one made available by the Christian religion, informed them, an ontology that has its roots in the work of the First People. Comparing the sense of self as it appears in indigenous /Xam texts to the sense of self which comfortably misinterpret Mandela’s words in some comic strip frames, the article underlines how important a new sense of self is in redefining concepts desiring a more just world.

South Africa's morality tale for our time

Review of International Studies ◽

10.1017/s026021050000303x ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 303-309 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

ADRIAN GUELKE

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Final Report ◽

Nelson Mandela ◽

Public Hearings ◽

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report: Five Volumes, Basingstoke and Oxford, Macmillan, 1999On 29 October 1998 Archbishop Desmond Tutu presented the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to President Nelson Mandela. This massive report has now been published by Macmillan in a handsome, extensively illustrated five-volume set. The fine quality of the production would seem appropriate to what has been hailed as a document of lasting importance for South Africa. Indeed, it is evident that many foreign commentators see it as important not just for South Africa but for the whole world. That has been reflected in the interest shown in the TRC by commentators, such as Timothy Garton Ash and Michael Ignatieff, who have not previously written about South Africa. The report was the culmination of nearly three years of work by the TRC. President Mandela announced the names of the 17 commissioners (designating Desmond Tutu as chairperson and Alex Boraine as deputy chairperson) in November 1995. It began to function in December that year, while the first public hearings were held on 15 April 1996. However, while the report has been the most significant product of the TRC's endeavours, it is not the end of its work. In particular, the Committee on Amnesty will continue to function until it has reached decisions on all the outstanding applications for amnesty received by the deadline of 30 September 1997. When it has completed this task a further volume of the final report will be published.

Disappointed Remains: Trauma, Testimony, and Reconciliation in Post-apartheid South Africa

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195339550.013.0010 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Sean Field

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Real Life ◽

Trauma Survivors ◽

National Unity ◽

Apartheid Regime ◽

Democratic Elections

The apartheid regime in South Africa and the fight against the same, followed by the reconciliation is the crux of this article. The first democratic elections held on April 27, 1994, were surprisingly free of violence. Then, in one of its first pieces of legislation, the new democratic parliament passed the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act of 1995, which created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. At the outset, the South African TRC promised to “uncover the truth” about past atrocities, and forge reconciliation across a divided country. As oral historians, we should consider the oral testimonies that were given at the Human Rights Victim hearings and reflect on the reconciliation process and what it means to ask trauma survivors to forgive and reconcile with perpetrators. This article cites several real life examples to explain the trauma and testimony of apartheid and post-apartheid Africa with a hint on the still prevailing disappointments and blurred memories.

Truth and reconciliation in South Africa: Hindu experiences and concerns

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies ◽

10.4102/hts.v60i4.633 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 60 (4) ◽

Author(s):

P.G.J. Meiring

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Faith Communities ◽

The South ◽

Hindu Community ◽

The Way

The author who served on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), focuses on the Hindu experience in South Africa during the apartheid years. At a special TRC Hearing for Faith Communities (East London, 17-19 November 1997) two submissions by local Hindu leaders were tabled. Taking his cues from those submissions, the author discusses four issues: the way the Hindu community suffered during these years, the way in which some members of the Hindu community supported the system of apartheid, the role of Hindus in the struggle against apartheid, and finally the contribution of the Hindu community towards reconciliation in South Africa. In conclusion some notes on how Hindus and Christians may work together in th