scholarly journals Transformation in South Africa and the Kingdom of God

2006 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Vorster
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
African Context ◽  
Just Society ◽  
Black Christians

The concept of transformation is currently ill defined and often abused for political and ideological ends. This article attempts to provide a sound value base for the concept of transformation from the perspective of the Kingdom of God and to evaluate the current process from this perspective. The task of Christians is to obey the cosmic reign of Christ by disarming the oppressive powers of this world, and by serving the interests of the poor. In the South African context, this means that Christians must engage in the transformation process in order to establish a more just society. However, Christians can only fulfil their calling if they are spiritually transformed themselves. White Christians must realize that the Apartheid system was unjust and that transformation is necessary because the social and economic inequalities in South Africa are systemic in nature. Black Christians must refrain from abusing the transformation process for personal gain. Christians should participate in the transformation process in a critical manner, knowing that old ideologies can easily be replaced by new ideologies, and knowing that the only true Kingdom of Justice will be established by Godself in the coming dispensation.

scholarly journals Rural education: Reimagining the role of the church in transforming poverty in South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christo Thesnaar
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Education ◽  
South African ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Johann Baptist Metz ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Church

The desire to remember the plight of the poor in South Africa has reduced in the last 20 years after the transition from apartheid to freedom. To a large extent, Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) and the religious society at large have lost their ‘dangerous memory’ which keeps us mindful of those who suffered and whose plight is usually forgotten or suppressed. In this contribution the conditions of poor farm school children in multigrade rural education will be scrutinised by unpacking the contextual factors that cause us to forget their plight. This article will seek to reimagine the role of the church in poverty-stricken South Africa by engaging with the work of Talcott Parsons, the practical theologian Johannes A. Van der Ven, as well as the work of the political theologian Johann Baptist Metz in order to affirm the focus of Practical Theology to transform society and to contribute to the quest for justice and liberation for the poor in rural education. This reimagining discourse has a fundamental responsibility to challenge the social, political and economic realities that shape the lives of human beings within rural education, remembering the plight of the poor, and participating on their journey towards liberation and healing. It is proposed that if the church can activate its ‘dangerous memory’ it will be able to reimagine its role by transforming our poverty-stricken South African society, open new avenues for breaking the cycle of poverty and contribute to rural education.

scholarly journals God's household and the poor in contextual ecclesiology

2001 ◽  
Vol 57 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J.A. Vos
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Practice Experience ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mediterranean World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
African Context

As a consequence of the bipolar tension between theory and practice, experience (considered in the South African context) influences the church's reflection on Practical Theology. Insight into the economic system of the Mediterranean world helps us to understand the complexities involved in positioning poverty, as well as the role of the New Testament faith community in its interaction with the poor. The social system in the ancient world, within which poverty was encountered, cautions us against taking a simplistic view of the poor. We cannot duplicate social systems and impose them on current situations. The New Testament, which is set against a particular system, speaks of the Kingdom of God as a place where the poor must be cared for. The New Testament (especially the Gospel of John) lets us understand that a church, which has a family orientation as its basis, should provide a home for the poor.

scholarly journals Are we hearing the voices? Africanisation as part of community development

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marichen Van der Westhuizen ◽  
Thomas Greuel ◽  
Jacques W. Beukes
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Developmental Approach ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
African Context ◽  
Strategic Options ◽  
Just Society ◽  
And Training

The aim of the article is to report on research findings that could contribute to the development of decolonised academic material. Africanisation of curricula implies that education and training as well as praxis be informed by the reality of the South African context, the viewpoints of the people of South Africa and their descriptions of what is needed to build a just society. This is relevant to a variety of service professions. This article was presented from a trans-disciplinary framework, and the term ‘professional carers’, including the social service and theology professions, was used. The discussion explored how academia can approach the development of curricula that will inform praxis and which is relevant to the African context. The terms ‘Africanisation’, ‘decolonisation’ and ‘contextualisation’ were linked, whereafter a developmental approach to the development of the content and presentation of academic material was proposed. The article is concluded with recommended strategic options for the development of Africanised curricula.

scholarly journals A (South) African voice on youth ministry research: Powerful or powerless?

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shantelle Weber
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
South African ◽  
International Research ◽  
Youth Ministry ◽  
Faith Formation ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
The Social ◽  
African Context ◽  
African Perspective

Research on youth ministry in Africa and specifically South Africa traces its origin to much research conducted in America and Europe. Many African scholars also draw on research and practices within these international spheres. Empirical research on youth ministry in Africa is however of great importance. For this purpose, comparative analysis research provides a research methodology in the social sciences that aims to make comparisons across different countries or cultures. A major problem in comparative research is that the data sets in different countries may not use the same categories, or define categories differently. This article makes use of a faith formation case study conducted in South Africa to highlight the value of this methodology when reflecting on international research from an African perspective. The main argument of this article is that international research on youth ministry is valuable in an African context but this research needs to be culturally contextualised through using comparative analysis as a research tool. This will reflect that there are many similarities between international youth ministry and the African context but there are also many cross-cultural disparities. After comparison, differences that are unique to the African context are noted. The article focuses on South Africa as a reflection of youth ministry within the broader African context.

scholarly journals The poor in the Psalms and in Tsepo Tshola’s song Indlala: African liberationist remarks

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Ndikhokele N. Mtshiselwa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Black South Africans ◽  
African Context

This article sets out to investigate how an African liberationist paradigm could be used in South Africa as a theoretical framework that shapes an inquiry into the issue of poverty in the Book of Psalms. The poor in the Davidic collections of psalms (cf. Ps 10; 23, 72; 109) will therefore be examined within the South African context in order to probe the liberating possibilities that the psalms could offer to poor black South Africans, and most importantly when the text is read in dialogue with Tsepo Tshola’s liberationist song Indlala [Starvation]. Firstly, this article discusses an African liberationist paradigm with the view to anchor the reading of psalms within a theoretical framework. Secondly, within that framework, this article uses the song Indlala as a hermeneutical tool to unlock the reality of poverty in South Africa. Thirdly, guided by an African liberationist framework the article teases out th ecategories and voices of the poor in the psalms. In the end, this article argues that the reading of poor in the Psalms, particularly with an African liberationist lens could have liberating implications for poor black South Africans.

Accountability: The Debate in South Africa

1993 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Kollapen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Solid Base ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Just Society ◽  
To Come

The constitutional and political negotiations in South Africa have reached an advanced stage and elections for a government of national unity might take place within the next twelve months. For the millions of South Africans who have waited, fought, sacrificed and suffered the end appears to be in sight. While they will have every right to celebrate the results of their hard-fought battles to achieve a democratic and just society, they equally have a solemn duty to ensure that they proceed to build the future on a solid base, not only to guarantee the protection of democracy and justice but more importantly to ensure that no other South African is ever again the victim of the types of human rights abuses that have for the past decades become synonymous with the country. There will only be one opportunity to rebuild the nation. If it fails it will be a great disservice to South Africa's countrymen and women and to the generations that will follow. Even as a South African one has difficulty in fully comprehending the enormity of the social and human destruction caused in the name of apartheid. It has brutalized and dispossessed its people; robbed children of their youth and their innocence; widowed and orphaned thousands and destroyed the dreams and hopes of decent men and women. The 18 million people gaoled in terms of the pass laws and the 15.5 million people uprooted by forced removals bear testimony to the brutality and savagery with which apartheid was applied. The legacy of those policies will remain for many years to come.

scholarly journals The Emerging Role of the Constitutional Value of Ubuntu for Informal Social Security in South Africa

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clarence I. Tshoose
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Security ◽  
South African ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Family Solidarity ◽  
The Social ◽  
African Context

AbstractThis paper explores the significance of the African value of ubuntu within the context of social protection. The paper argues that ubuntu as a constitutional value plays a crucial role in supporting the existence of informal social security in South Africa. It concludes by reflecting the overarching potential that the traditional African value has for influencing the social protection and enhancing family solidarity in the South African context.

‘Limping, Yet Made to Climb a Mountain!’ Re-Reading the Vashti Character in the Hiv And Aids South African Context

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madipoane Masenya (Ngwan’A Mphahlele)
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
External Factor ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
African Women ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Land Grabbing ◽  
The Bible ◽  
History Of ◽  
African Context

The history of the Christian Bible’s reception in South Africa was part of a package that included among others, the importation of European patriarchy, land grabbing and its impoverishment of Africans and challenged masculinities of African men. The preceding factors, together with the history of the marginalization of African women in bible and theology, and how the Bible was and continues to be used in our HIV and AIDS contexts, have only made the proverbial limping animal to climb a mountain. Wa re o e bona a e hlotša, wa e nametša thaba (while limping, you still let it climb a mountain) simply means that a certain situation is being aggravated (by an external factor). In this chapter the preceding Northern Sotho proverb is used as a hermeneutical lens to present an HIV and AIDS gender sensitive re-reading of the Vashti character in the Hebrew Bible within the South African context.

Reimagining Intersectionality and Social Exclusion in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khosi Kubeka ◽  
Sharmla Rama
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Social Division ◽  
Common Reference ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
African Context

Combining the theories of intersectionality and social exclusion holds the potential for structural and nuanced interpretations of the workings of power, taking systemic issues seriously but interpreting them though social relations that appear in local contexts. An intersectional analysis of social exclusion demonstrates to what extent multiple axes of social division—be they race, age, gender, class, disability or citizenship—intersect to result in unequal and disparate experiences for groups of youth spatially located in particular communities and neighborhoods. A common reference point is therefore power and how it manifests at the intersection of the local and global. A South African case study is used to explore the subjective measures and qualitative experiences of intersectionality and social exclusion further. The unique ways that language intersects with space, neighborhood, and race in the South African context, enables opportunities in education and the labor market, with profound implications for forms of social exclusion.

scholarly journals Kerk en owerheid binne ’n regstaat. Die profetiese roeping van die kerk met betrekking tot die Suid-Afrikaanse owerheid

2000 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Vorster ◽  
J.H. Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
The South ◽  
African Government ◽  
Constitutional State ◽  
African Context ◽  
The Government ◽  
Just Society ◽  
The Church

Church and government within a constitutional state. The prophetic calling of the church towards the South-African government With the transition to a new political dispensation in South Africa, a constitutional state has been established. A typical characteristic of this new dispensation is that the government remains neutral while the executive powers are subject to the Bill of Human Rights. The question of how the church can realize its prophetic task towards the government within the context of a constitutional state is highlighted in this article. The central theoretical argument is that a constitutional state that acknowledges fundamental rights provides an excellent opportunity for the church to fulfil its prophetic calling within the South African context. The church can contribute to a just society by prophetic testimony within the perspective of the kingdom of God.

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