scholarly journals The spiritual wellness of an intellectual, novelist, journalist and politician: The meaningful life of Sol Plaatje

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-232
Author(s):  
Crystal Welman ◽  
Paul J. P. Fouché ◽  
Pravani Naidoo ◽  
Roelf van Niekerk
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
South African ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Spiritual Wellness ◽  
South African Society ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Service To Others

The study investigates Sol Plaatje’s (1876–1932) spiritual wellness across his lifespan. He was purposively sampled due to his impact upon South African society. As an intellectual, novelist, journalist, and politician, Plaatje was also a founder member of the South African Native National Congress, which later became the African National Congress. His life history reflected a significant degree of spiritual wellness, which was uncovered through the systematic analysis of publicly available life-history materials, including primary and secondary sources. The Wheel of Wellness (WoW) model by Sweeney and Witmer was applied to interpret the biographical evidence of spirituality and meaning in his life. Spirituality, as the central life task of the WoW, and regarded as the most influential domain of a healthy individual, incorporates religious beliefs and other individualised aspects of meaning-making. Findings indicate that spirituality characterised Plaatje’s childhood years and continued to play a role throughout his adult years. His sense of meaning and purpose was personified in the promotion and preservation of human rights and dignity, which embraced inter-racial respect, compassion, and service to others.

The Freedom Charter and Ethnicity— towards a Communitarian South African Society

1989 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-115
Author(s):  
A. J. G. M. Sanders
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Joint Venture ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
International Level ◽  
African Society ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Society ◽  
National Congress ◽  
People’S Organisation

At national as well as international level the South African Freedom Charter has become a symbol of the long-standing struggle against apartheid. In this essay the emphasis will be on the charter's provisions relating to ethnicity. The question of ethnicity is a crucial one, for on its solution depends the outcome of the economic and other social problems which trouble South African society.The 1955 Freedom Charter, which was the outcome of a joint venture of the African National Congress (A.N.C.), the South African Indian Congress, the South African Coloured People's Organisation and the predominantly European South African Congress of Democrats, suggests a unitary, participatory welfare state, which will acccord equal rights to all “national groups and races”.For the A.N.C., the senior partner in the “Congress Alliance”, the reference in the charter to “national groups and races” soon became a major headache. Could it be said that the charter lent support to the creation of “four nations”? A number of people within the A.N.C. feared that much. Prominent among them were the “Africanists” who in April 1959 broke away from the A.N.C, and formed the Pan-Africanist Congress (P.A.C.) “Charterists” and “Africanists” are still at loggerheads, but the A.N.C.'s “Revolutionary Programme” of 1969 and its “Constitutional Guidelines for a Democratic

scholarly journals A Giant Steering the Ship: The Leadership Style of Oliver Tambo and the Lessons that can be Drawn

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren C. Marx
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Leadership Traits ◽  
African Society ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
South African Society ◽  
National Congress

Oliver Tambo dedicated most of his life to the liberation of South Africa from apartheid dominion, whereby he garnered international respect from his peers and contemporaries. He rose to prominence within the African National Congress (ANC) during a harrowing time in South Africa’s history by consistently demonstrating leadership and guidance. Tambo’s innate leadership skills originated through his unique mix of personality qualities that he steadfastly believed in his entire life. This tenacity and conviction allowed him to govern the leadership of the ANC—despite being in exile—in an efficient and systematic manner. The objective of this paper is to examine the different leadership traits Tambo possessed, which allowed him to steer his political party’s ship through the most turbulent of seas. Secondly, this paper examines the current political climate in South Africa with the aim of addressing leadership models required to mould and sculpt South African society into the Tambos of today. These two objectives will largely be pursued through oral testimonies of those who worked and interacted with Tambo closely over the years, as well as anecdotal stories which demonstrate the level of leadership Tambo always provided.

Knotted memories of a betrayed sacrifice: Rethinking trauma and hope in South Africa

2022 ◽  
pp. 175069802110665
Author(s):  
Kim Wale
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Shared Memory ◽  
Structural Violence ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
African Society ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
South African Society ◽  
National Congress

Different groups within South African society express disillusionment with the present through a discourse of betrayal in relation to the liberation movement-cum-governing-party of the African National Congress. This article focuses on a particular articulation of this discourse within two memory communities in the Western Cape (Bonteheuwel and Crossroads) who were embroiled in violence and political struggle during apartheid and continue to suffer conditions of structural violence in the post-apartheid era. It analyses the shared memory narrative of a ‘betrayed sacrifice’ to demonstrate a proposed theoretical concept of ‘knotted memories’ which describes the way in which past and present memories of suffering knot together to produce a lived affective condition of despair. It further considers what these everyday experiences of ‘knotted memories’ mean for re-thinking the nature of trauma and hope in relation to post-apartheid despair.

Stability and Governability the Benign Effects of Party Dominance in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-75
Author(s):  
Ainara Mancebo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
The Other ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
African Countries ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Independence Era ◽  
Party Dominance

A tripartite alliance formed by the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions has been ruling the country with wide parliamentarian majorities. The country remains more consensual and politically inclusive than any of the other African countries in the post-independence era. This article examines three performance’s aspects of the party dominance systems: legitimacy, stability and violence. As we are living in a period in which an unprecedented number of countries have completed democratic transitions, it is politically and conceptually important that we understand the specific tasks of crafting democratic consolidation.

Michael Harmel (1915-1974): A South African Communist and His Discourse

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Milan Oralek
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Core Beliefs ◽  
Literary Interpretation ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
Private Correspondence ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Actual Contribution

<p>This thesis explores the life and work of a South African journalist, editor, and activist Michael Alan Harmel (1915–1974), a political mentor and friend of Nelson Mandela. A resolute believer in racial equality and Marxism-Leninism, Harmel devoted his life to fighting, with “the pen” as well as “the sword”, segregation and apartheid, and promoting an alliance of communists with the African National Congress as a stepping stone to socialism in South Africa. Part 1, after tracing his Jewish-Lithuanian and Irish family roots, follows Harmel from his birth to 1940 when, having joined the Communist Party of South Africa, he got married and was elected secretary of the District Committee in Johannesburg. The focus is on factors germane to the formation of his political identity. The narrative section is accompanied by an analytical sketch. This, using tools of close literary interpretation, catalogues Harmel’s core beliefs as they inscribed themselves in his journalism, histories, a sci-fi novel, party memoranda, and private correspondence. The objective is to delineate his ideological outlook, put to the test the assessment of Harmel—undeniably a skilled publicist—as a “creative thinker” and “theorist”, and determine his actual contribution to the liberation discourse.</p>

Michael Harmel (1915-1974): A South African Communist and His Discourse

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Milan Oralek
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Core Beliefs ◽  
Literary Interpretation ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
Private Correspondence ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Actual Contribution

<p>This thesis explores the life and work of a South African journalist, editor, and activist Michael Alan Harmel (1915–1974), a political mentor and friend of Nelson Mandela. A resolute believer in racial equality and Marxism-Leninism, Harmel devoted his life to fighting, with “the pen” as well as “the sword”, segregation and apartheid, and promoting an alliance of communists with the African National Congress as a stepping stone to socialism in South Africa. Part 1, after tracing his Jewish-Lithuanian and Irish family roots, follows Harmel from his birth to 1940 when, having joined the Communist Party of South Africa, he got married and was elected secretary of the District Committee in Johannesburg. The focus is on factors germane to the formation of his political identity. The narrative section is accompanied by an analytical sketch. This, using tools of close literary interpretation, catalogues Harmel’s core beliefs as they inscribed themselves in his journalism, histories, a sci-fi novel, party memoranda, and private correspondence. The objective is to delineate his ideological outlook, put to the test the assessment of Harmel—undeniably a skilled publicist—as a “creative thinker” and “theorist”, and determine his actual contribution to the liberation discourse.</p>

scholarly journals Facilitation and Mediation in South Africa: Three Case Studies

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Van der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
South African ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
The South ◽  
National Congress

In this paper I discuss three case studies of facilitation and mediation in South Africa: 1) facilitation between the South African apartheid establishment and the African National Congress in exile from 1963 to 1989; 2) facilitation that eventually led to mediation between Inkatha and the United Democratic Front in Natal over 10 months from 1985 to 1986; and 3)mediation between the African National Congress and the Afrikaner Freedom Foundation (Afrikaner Vryheidstigting, also known as Avstig) over 18 months from 1991 to 1993.

Family Trees: Roots and Branches – The Dynasty and Legacy of the Reverend Tiyo Soga

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-37
Author(s):  
Joanne Davis
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Church Of Scotland ◽  
Presbyterian Church ◽  
Veterinary Surgeon ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Family Trees

The Reverend Tiyo Soga, ordained as a minister in the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in December 1856, is a remarkable figure in many ways. However, one area not yet commented on in the scholarly literature on Soga is the legacy of his family within the ministry. This paper examines the role of Soga's parents, ‘Old Soga’ and NoSuthu, in his conversion and introduces his wife, Janet Soga, and their seven surviving children, of whom two sons – William Anderson and John Henderson – were ordained ministers and missionaries, and two daughters – Isabelle McFarlane and Francis Maria Anne – worked in missions in the Eastern Cape. The three remaining Soga siblings, who did not go in for the ministry, nonetheless led full and interesting lives. Kirkland Allan was a pioneer of the now ruling African National Congress, Festiri Jotelo was the first South African veterinary surgeon, and Jessie Margaret was a pianist and music teacher in Scotland, where she looked after Janet Soga after they moved to Dollar following Soga's death. In addition, Soga's nephew and namesake, Tiyo Burnside Soga, became an ordained minister and a writer, and since then, several of Soga's great- and great-great-grandchildren have become ministers. This paper seeks to situate the Soga family as a powerful family in South African religious history and its intelligentsia.

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