scholarly journals Humanism in the Autobiographies of Edward Said and Nelson Mandela: Memory as Action

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 93-99
Author(s):  
Jihan Zakarriya
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Black Male ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
The Political ◽  
Edward Said ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
Black South Africans ◽  
Binary Oppositions ◽  
Bear Witness

This paper focuses on the concept of memory as a form of humanist activism in the autobiographies of Nelson Mandela and Edward Said, namely The Long Walk to Freedom (1994) and After the Last Sky (1999), respectively. I have chosen Mandela and Said because they dedicated their lives and efforts to the service of the cause of freedom in South Africa and Palestine. Their engagement with the political causes of their countries turns into a concern with worldwide struggles for human rights and racial equality. While Mandela emerged as a vital force against apartheid in South Africa, Said was a well-known and influential Palestinian critic and intellectual whose writings tackle the Palestinian struggle for justice within the worldwide experience of imperialism and its binary oppositions of white/black, male/female, superior /inferior. I argue that their autobiographies bear witness to the plight of Black South Africans and Palestinians as both a shared memory resistant to erasure and as a call for justice. Mandela and Said use their personal memories and life stories to construct a public reading of the meanings of the events that shaped them. Both are concerned with the ways their people have been represented by others, and how they struggle to represent themselves.

South Africa at a Turning Point?

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elke Zuern
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Case Scenario ◽  
State Collapse ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Electricity Provision

South Africa is at a crossroads. The state has not adequately addressed dire human development needs, often failing to provide the services it constitutionally guarantees. As a result, citizens are expressing their frustrations in a variety of ways, at times including violence. These serious challenges are most readily apparent in poverty, inequality and unemployment statistics, but also in electricity provision, billing and affordability as well as a recent spate of racially motivated attacks which highlight the tension both among South Africans and between South Africans and darker skinned foreigners. The country has, however, been on the brink before and avoided the worst-case scenario of full-scale civil war and state collapse. Far too often South Africa's past successes have been attributed to the role of one man, Nelson Mandela. While Mandela was indeed an extraordinary human being who rightly deserved the international awards and accolades as well as the deep admiration of so many, South Africa's triumphs as a society and a state are the product of both cooperative and conflicting contributions by a wide range of actors. A central question at the present juncture is how well equipped domestic actors and institutions are to address the crisis. The following pages seek to provide some insights and through the perspectives of three authors to consider causes and possible responses.

scholarly journals Coercive agency in mission education at Lovedale Missionary Institution

2004 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham A. Duncan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Black People ◽  
Total Institution ◽  
New Model ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Black South Africans ◽  
Mission Education

Any society and its institutions are coercive. While acknowledging the invaluable contribution made by mission education towards the development of black South Africans, Lovedale Missionary Institution exemplifies the concept of a “total institution” susceptible to the problems of power relations. Those who studied there internalized its ethos. Coercive agency encouraged adaptation to missionary ideology. However, many Lovedale students rejected the mores of the religion and education they received as they challenged and resisted the effects of the coercive agency of internalization. Institutionalisation is, by nature, resistant to change as can be seen in the policies of the respective Principals of the Institution. Consequently, black people were alienated by a process of “exclusion”. The values of justice, love and peace are appropriate tools for a new model of education in South Africa.

scholarly journals Migration and Urbanization in Post-Apartheid South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 509-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan David Bakker ◽  
Christopher Parsons ◽  
Ferdinand Rauch
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Black South Africans ◽  
Migration Cost ◽  
Process Of Urbanization ◽  
Positive Population

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.

scholarly journals Tribalism: Thorny issue towards reconciliation in South Africa – A practical theological appraisal

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elijah M. Baloyi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
South African ◽  
African Government ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Black South Africans ◽  
Theological Perspective ◽  
The Government ◽  
Apartheid Regime ◽  
Practical Theological

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.

scholarly journals Employment Equity

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 69-83
Author(s):  
Barend Röges Odendaal
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
The Political ◽  
Employment Equity ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
The Past

The Employment Equity Act, 1998, Act 55 of 1998 was created in order to bring about a paradigm shift in South Africa’s labour relations, transforming it into a system based on equality. This change in the political life of all South Africans has brought about huge challenges to employers and employees alike. Seen as a threat to some, others view it as a positive beacon. If the Act was correctly implemented, South Africa will be heading towards a better competitive market and the workforce should be equally representative of the population. This paper aims to illustrate whether the Act has achieved its goals over the past 13 years by means of analysis and assessment of reports and statistical reviews. An overview is offered in the form of a literature review of the Act and defining the current legislation thereof in conjunction with management theory. The paper challenges the perceptions of all South Africans and finding possible solutions to areas in which the Act has failed. The paper further proposes action steps for the effective implementation of the legislation and for the process to follow to ensure that is fair in the sense that all employees can compete on equal terms.

scholarly journals “The RDP of the Soul”, geweld, vergelding, toleransie en Paulus se appèl om moed te hou

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 708-727
Author(s):  
A G Van Aarde
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Moral Leadership ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
King's College ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The University ◽  
Peace And Reconciliation ◽  
Thabo Mbeki ◽  
Public Lecture

“The RDP of the Soul”, violence, revenge, tolerance and Paul’s appeal for enduranceThis article links up with both the Fourth Nelson Mandela Commemorative Lecture presented by the previous President of the Republic of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, in 2006, titled the “RDP of the Soul” and with the book of Dr Richard Burridge (King’s College, University of London), Imitating Jesus, in which he shows how biblical ethics has shaped South Africans’ lives since colonialism, apartheid and post- and neo-colonialism. The article argues that moral leadership by the Christian faith community in South Africa which combats violence by rising up in compassion against injustice can counter-balance the spiralling out of retaliation through revenge. The article describes tolerance in terms of the Pauline concept of endurance and the internalisation of hope for the future. Perseverance despite suffering is seen as the contents of tolerance in the midst of aggressive opposition against the essence of life experienced in terms of an individual’s thinking, willing and feeling. The article is a reworked version of a bilingual commemorative public lecture in English and Afrikaans presented on the occasion of the University of Pretoria’s centenary celebration and is dedicated to Professor Dr P J G Meiring, a member of the Commission of Peace and Reconciliation in South Africa.

scholarly journals MARIKANA, A PAST NEVER TRULY ESCAPED: A CRITIQUE ON THE COMMODIFICATION OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM AND THE LAW AS AN INSTRUMENT OF JUSTICE IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaughn Rajah
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
African Society ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
South African Society ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Black South Africans ◽  
History Of

This article demonstrates that the Marikana tragedy was not a departure from the norm, but a continuation of state and corporate behaviour that has oppressed black South Africans for hundreds of years. This will be done through an analysis of the historically discriminatory socio-economic patterns of South African society, and how they subjugate the poor by limiting their access to legal and physical protection. These trends portray a history of commodification of the legal system. I discuss a notable documentary on the massacre, Miners Shot Down, and examine its depiction of the causes and effects of the events. The film provides no mention of the historical context of the killings, nor does it comment on many of the factors contributing to the massacre. Despite this, it succeeded in bringing the events to the attention of the broader public. I analyse the notions of justice, the rule of law and their application in South Africa as well as norms in the nation’s legal culture. Additionally, I examine the Farlam Commission, and how its procedures and conclusions hindered the course of justice in the context of our democracy. Ultimately, I demonstrate how the Marikana massacre was not a change in dynamic, but a reminder of a past we have never truly escaped.

Poverty and Inequality in South Africa: A History

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Bundy
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Black South Africans ◽  
Job Reservation

Contemporary South Africa exhibits widespread and persistent poverty and an extraordinarily high level of inequality. Historically, poverty and inequality were forged by forms of racial subordination and discrimination shaped successively by slavery, by colonial settlement and conquest, and by a mining-based industrial revolution in the last quarter of the 19th century. The explosive growth of capitalism and urbanization in a colonial context shaped a set of institutions and social relations—the “native reserves,” migrant labor, pass laws, job reservation, urban segregation, and the like—which reached their most stringent form under apartheid legislation, from 1948 on. The political, social, and economic system of apartheid entrenched white wealth and privilege and intensified the poverty of black South Africans, particularly in rural areas. By the 1970s, the apartheid project began to flounder and the National Party government launched a series of concessions intended to stimulate the economy and to win the support of black South Africans. A historic transition during the late apartheid years saw a shift from labor shortages to a labor surplus, generating structural unemployment on a massive scale. This was a problem that the African National Congress (ANC), in power since 1994, has been unable to solve and which has been a major factor in the levels of poverty and inequality during the democratic era. The ANC has made some advances in combating poverty, especially through the rapid expansion of welfare in the form of pensions and social grants. This has reduced ultra-poverty or destitution. In addition, the provision of housing, water, sanitation, and electricity to black townships has seen significant growth in assets and services to the poor. Yet since 1994, inequality has increased. South Africa has become a more unequal society and not a more equal one. Two factors have caused inequality to deepen: increasingly concentrated income and wealth, and a sharp rise of inequality within the African population. The ANC continues to commit itself to “pro-poor” policies; yet its ability to reduce poverty, and especially to achieve greater equality, appears to be substantially compromised by its failure to reverse or reform the structure, characteristics, and growth path of the economy.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Grant
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Cold War ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Racial Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Activism ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Black South Africans

This chapter provides an overview of racial politics in the United States and South Africa in the 1940s and 1950s. It traces how African Americans and black South Africans have historically configured their struggles as being interconnected, while documenting how anticommunism limited opportunities for transnational black activism between both countries during the early Cold War.

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