scholarly journals APARTHEID NOSTALGIA: Personal security concerns in South African townships

Author(s):  
Gary Kynoch

Iconic images, such as the photograph of Hector Petersen, the thirteen year old boy shot by police in 1976 at the onset of the Soweto uprising, serve as powerful reminders of the brutality of apartheid. The National Party regime marked a time of great suffering for black South Africans. Televised images of white police beating and shooting black protestors exposed the racist violence of apartheid to the world. Steve Biko’s murder in police custody, popularised in the west by the movie Cry Freedom, was further emblematic of the apartheid regime. As a student in Canada at the time, the writer of this article was greatly influenced by these events and images, and subsequently spent several years in South Africa conducting research on crime, social conflict and policing. This article concentrates on the relationship between personal security and the concept of ‘apartheid nostalgia’, not among white diehards, but among residents of Soweto.

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elijah M. Baloyi

The apartheid regime used various strategies to ensure that South Africans formed a divided nation. It was through the differences between ethnic groups and tribes, among other things, that the government of the time managed to manipulate and entrench hatred and a lack of trust among most black South Africans. Tribalism, which existed even before apartheid, became instrumental in inflicting those divisions as perpetuated by the formation of homelands. The various ethnic groups had been turned against one other, and it had become a norm. Nepotism, which is part and parcel of the South African government, is just an extension of tribalism. It is the objective of this article to uncover how tribalism is still rearing its ugly head. From a practical theological perspective, it is important to deal with tribalism as a tool that plays a part in delaying tribal reconciliation, which was orchestrated by apartheid policies in South Africa.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-49
Author(s):  
Kitty B. Dumont ◽  
Sven Waldzus

The present research studied reparation demands of born-free Black South African adolescents as members of a former victimized group from a social psychological perspective. Two cross-sectional studies tested whether identification indirectly predicts reparation demands via assignment of collective guilt to White South Africans; and whether this indirect relation is moderated by cross-group friendship. The results support both hypotheses and show a stronger link between identification with the victimized group and collective guilt assignment in a segregated rather than a desegregated context (Study 1: N = 222) and for participants reporting lower levels of cross-group friendship (Study 2: N = 145). Reparation demands are important for strongly identified members of a victimized group in a postconflict situation. Their mediation by collective guilt assignment, mitigated by cross-group friendship, indicates that one major function is to insure recognition of the victims’ past suffering and to repair the relationship rather than ostracizing the transgressor group or gaining access to resources.


2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Burns

Fugard's identity as a playwright was firmly rooted in the struggle against apartheid. What happened to this identity when the post-apartheid ‘New’ South Africa emerged? Black South Africans have followed Nelson Mandela's lead in accomplishing their ‘Long Walk to Freedom’. Why is it so difficult for Fugard to find a role in this new country and put an end to his inner exile? Hilary Burns explores this question in the light of the development of Fugard's whole opus, and the relationship between form and content in plays where the content has tended to overshadow the form. Burns is a professional actor with a career-long commitment to theatre that seeks to challenge or develop issues relevant to today's society. She has worked extensively in small-scale touring theatre, the London fringe, and regional theatre, and has also made appearances in TV and film. In November 2000, she spent a month with the Market Theatre of Johannesburg which inspired her book, The Cultural Precinct, about South African theatre, in particular how the theatres born in the protest era have responded to the challenges of the new society. Her study of the Market Theatre yesterday and today will follow in NTQ72.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matwale Reon Matemane

Financial literacy has been identified in previous studies as an area that has not been researched extensively in South Africa. This is particularly true for the working class of black South Africans, who have been previously disadvantaged and were excluded from the mainstream economy and financial services under the apartheid regime. Lower savings and over-indebtedness in this group can be attributed to lower levels of financial literacy. The aim of this study is to examine financial literacy of black South Africans with a commerce tertiary qualification working in Pretoria and Johannesburg, based on descriptive research and structured questionnaires. In total, 171 participants who work in different sectors of the economy and who live in Gauteng were surveyed. The study found that although people with a commerce tertiary qualification are more financially literate than those with non-commerce tertiary qualification, black South Africans nevertheless are less financially literate than their coloured, Indian and white counterparts. Additionally, financial literacy is a significant predictor of individuals’ saving habits.


Crisis ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lourens Schlebusch ◽  
Naseema B.M. Vawda ◽  
Brenda A. Bosch

Summary: In the past suicidal behavior among Black South Africans has been largely underresearched. Earlier studies among the other main ethnic groups in the country showed suicidal behavior in those groups to be a serious problem. This article briefly reviews some of the more recent research on suicidal behavior in Black South Africans. The results indicate an apparent increase in suicidal behavior in this group. Several explanations are offered for the change in suicidal behavior in the reported clinical populations. This includes past difficulties for all South Africans to access health care facilities in the Apartheid (legal racial separation) era, and present difficulties of post-Apartheid transformation the South African society is undergoing, as the people struggle to come to terms with the deleterious effects of the former South African racial policies, related socio-cultural, socio-economic, and other pressures.


Author(s):  
Nicholas Grant

This chapter explores how trans-Atlantic travel provided an important avenue through which black activists related to one another’s struggles. It also demonstrates how the U.S. and South African governments worked to regulate and restrict transnational black travel during the early Cold War. Focusing in on the lesser-known transatlantic journeys of Canada Lee, Sidney Poitier, and Z. K. and Frieda Matthews, the chapter argues that these individuals acted as important cultural translators that physically connected the struggle against racism in both countries. Finally, by tracing the international opposition to the removal of Paul Robeson’s passport, the chapter shows how experiences of state repression could be negotiated in ways that further strengthened bonds of solidarity between African Americans and black South Africans.


2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magezi E. Baloyi

This article is a contribution to a project that congratulates from the work of George Lotter, a pastor, pastoral counsellor and academic who wrote much on matters relating to pastoral care and counselling. Elderliness and retirement can be understood as a period in the lives of elderly people that allows them to rest after a long life of activity and service. From another point of view, old age is also a time that offers pastoral caregivers an opportunity to care for people who have contributed to their families and society. Pastoral caregivers have an important role to play in the lives of elderly people. This applies particularly to elderly black South Africans, who often find themselves confronted by poverty and other related problems. This article investigates the challenges and problems affecting retired and elderly black South Africans with particular focus on the economic impact of aging and its influence on family relationships in the lives of elderly people. To conclude: it is the duty of pastoral caregivers to search for and establish guidelines for the roles the church can play in improving elderly people’s quality of life.’n Pastorale ondersoek na enkele van die uitdagings ten opsigte van veroudering en aftredein die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Hierdie artikel is ’n bydrae tot ’n projek wat voorspruit uit die werk van George Lotter, ’n pastor, pastorale berader en akademikus wat baie geskryf het oor kwessies wat met pastorale sorg en berading verband hou. Bejaardheid en aftrede kan verstaan word as ’n tyd in in ouer persone se lewe waartydens hulle kan rus ná ’n lang aktiewe en diensbare lewe. Bejaardheid kan ook gesien word as ’n tyd wat aan pastorale versorgers die geleentheid gee om na die mense wat bygedra het tot hulle families en die gemeenskap se versorging, om te sien. Pastorale versorgers speel ’n belangrike rol in die lewens van bejaardes. Dit is spesifiek van toepassing op bejaarde swart Suid-Afrikaners wat dikwels gekonfronteer word met armoede en aanverwante probleme. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die uitdagings en probleme waarmee bejaarde swart Suid-Afrikaanse afgetredenes te kampe het. Dit fokus spesifiek op die ekonomiese uitwerking van veroudering en die invloed wat dit op familieverhoudinge in die lewens van bejaardes het. Die slotsom word gemaak dat dit die plig van pastorale versorgers is om riglyne te soek en te bied vir die rol wat die kerk kan speel ter verbetering van die lewensomstandighede van die bejaardes.


1995 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. Dreyer ◽  
F. E. Mjwabe

Traditional belief Traditional belief is still very strong among black South Africans. Many Christians not only believe in Christ, but also in the spirits of the fore-fathers. The question arises as to how the  relationship between traditional belief and christian faith must be seen. It also poses problems to the church in South Africa, which is mainly orientated to the theology of Western Europe. Proclaiming the gospel in a traditional situation will only be effective if traditional beliefs are taken into consideration. This article uses oral tradition as a source of information.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 509-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan David Bakker ◽  
Christopher Parsons ◽  
Ferdinand Rauch

Abstract Although Africa has experienced rapid urbanization in recent decades, little is known about the process of urbanization across the continent. This paper exploits a natural experiment, the abolition of South African pass laws, to explore how exogenous population shocks affect the spatial distribution of economic activity. Under apartheid, black South Africans were severely restricted in their choice of location, and many were forced to live in homelands. Following the abolition of apartheid they were free to migrate. Given a migration cost in distance, a town nearer to the homelands will receive a larger inflow of people than a more distant town following the removal of mobility restrictions. Drawing upon this exogenous variation, this study examines the effect of migration on urbanization in South Africa. While it is found that on average there is no endogenous adjustment of population location to a positive population shock, there is heterogeneity in the results. Cities that start off larger do grow endogenously in the wake of a migration shock, while rural areas that start off small do not respond in the same way. This heterogeneity indicates that population shocks lead to an increase in urban relative to rural populations. Overall, the evidence suggests that exogenous migration shocks can foster urbanization in the medium run.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0241708
Author(s):  
Rephaim Mpofu ◽  
Kennedy Otwombe ◽  
Koleka Mlisana ◽  
Maphoshane Nchabeleng ◽  
Mary Allen ◽  
...  

Benign ethnic neutropenia (BEN) is defined as a neutrophil count of <1.5×109 cells/L in healthy individuals and is more common in populations of certain ethnicities, e.g. African or Middle Eastern ethnicity. Neutrophil values are commonly included in eligibility criteria for research participation, but little is known about the relationship between BEN, HIV acquisition, and the occurrence of adverse events during clinical trials. We investigated these relationships using data from an HIV vaccine efficacy trial of healthy adults from 5 South African sites. We analysed data from the double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial HVTN 503, and its follow-on study HVTN 503-S to assess the prevalence of BEN, its association with HIV infection, and adverse event reporting. These data were then compared with a time- and age-matched, non-pregnant cohort from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted between 2007–2008 in the United States (US). The 739 South African participants had a median age of 22.0 years (interquartile range = 20–26) and 56% (n = 412) were male. Amongst the US cohort of 845 participants, the median age was 26 (IQR: 21–30) and the majority (54%, 457/745) were also male. BEN was present at enrolment in 7.0% (n = 52) of South African participants (6% in the placebo group versus 8% in the vaccine group); 81% (n = 42) of those with BEN were male. Pretoria North had the highest prevalence of BEN (11.6%, 5/43), while Cape Town had the lowest (0.7%, 1/152). Participants with BEN had a lower median neutrophil count (1.3 vs. 3.2x109 cells/L; p<0.001) and BMI (20.8 vs. 22.3 kg/m2; p<0.001) when compared to those without BEN. A greater proportion of Black South Africans had neutrophil counts <1.5×109 cells/L compared to US non-Hispanic Whites from the NHANES cohort (7% [52/739] vs. 0.6% [3/540]; p<0.001). BEN did not increase the odds for HIV infection (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.364, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.625–2.976; p = 0.4351). However, female gender (aOR: 1.947, 95% CI: 1.265–2.996; p = 0.0025) and cannabis use (aOR: 2.192, 95% CI: 1.126–4.266; p = 0.0209) increased the odds of HIV acquisition. The incidence rates of adverse events were similar between participants in the placebo group with BEN, and those without: 12.1 (95% CI: 7.3–20.1) vs. 16.5 (95% CI: 14.6–18.7; p = 0.06) events per 100 person-years (py) were noted in the infections and infestations system organ class, respectively. The vaccine group had an event incidence rate of 19.7 (95% CI: 13.3–29.2) vs. 14.8 (95% CI: 13.0–16.8; p = 0.07) events per 100py in the group with, and without BEN, respectively. BEN is more prevalent in Black South Africans compared to US Non-Hispanic Whites. Our data do not support excluding populations from HIV vaccine trials because of BEN. BEN was not associated with increased risk for HIV infection or Adverse events on a vaccine trial. Predictors of HIV infection risk were females and cannabis use, underlying the continued importance of prevention programmes in focusing on these populations.


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