Analysing the impact of taxi violence on commuters in South Africa

Taxi violence in South Africa was the tool that the apartheid regime used to pursue their interest by dividing the people so that they could acquire what they needed (Sekhonyane and Dugard, 2004:15). Taxi violence is one of the most burning issues faced by Department of Transport, Police, commuters and taxi industry in South Africa. This industry plays a vital role in commuting people to and from work or different destinations, and in most cases it is caught in the wrong doing in terms of fighting for routes where many innocent lives are lost due to infighting. The inability by government to regulate taxi industry is a serious problem for taxi operators, taxi associations, commuters and society. The deregulation of taxi industry brought many problems such as conflict, violence and mafia type assassinations in South Africa. This article focus on preventive measures to curb taxi violence in South Africa. This article utilised qualitative, case study based approach and the approach is supported by analysis of primary and secondary sources. The article further draws on the findings from the world on taxi violence and formulate steps to counteract taxi violence in South Africa. The research based key steps leading to the prevention of taxi violence in South Africa. The first process related to regulation of taxi industry, awareness campaigns on taxi operations, the control of routes and multidisciplinary investigation team should be established to overcome taxi violence in South Africa.

Transformation of Historically Black Universities in South Africa to Provide Access to Information

South African universities were divided along racial lines of historically Black, White, and Afrikaans universities. Pieces of legislation such as the Bantu Education Act No. 47 of 1953 and the Extension of University Education Act No. 45 of 1959 were enacted by the apartheid regime to provide inferior education to Black communities. However, after the transition from apartheid to democracy, the National Commission on Higher Education was established in 1996 to develop a framework to transform higher education. The transformation of higher education led to the integration of information management systems. The governance structures, resources allocations, training and development of staff were pillars to transform higher education. The exclusion of information management implies poor administration and little access to information. Post-apartheid South Africa recognized the significance to access information for university internationalization.

Lydia’s silence: Representation of trauma from an ex-centric position in Achmat Dangor’s Bitter Fruit

South Africa, a place long caught in the crosshairs of hegemonic violence and racism, provides a fitting case study for the imbalance and marginalization of the traumatized individuals who lived through the fascist apartheid regime. Achmat Dangor’s celebrated novel Bitter Fruit (2001) is a tragic story of the coloured family of Silas Ali set during 1998; when Nelson Mandela’s presidency was gaining momentum in South Africa. It was a period when the violent and discriminatory apartheid regime was coming to an end and a fledgling democracy was still testing its wings in South Africa. The narrative of Bitter Fruit is centred around the silenced memory of Lydia’s rape, Silas’s wife, by a white security policeman called Francois du Boise. The novel begins with Lydia’s suppressed traumatic past erupting into the post-apartheid present when Silas accidentally encounters his wife’s rapist at a mall in Johannesburg thereby bringing back the traumatic memories of the past. Nineteen-year-old Mikey Ali, who is a child conceived in shame and terror, is the figurative ‘bitter fruit’ in the novel born of miscegenation and apartheid abuse. Lydia’s trauma haunts the family in complex ways ultimately leading to the disintegration of familial bonds. These personal experiences of trauma take place against the backdrop of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), a famous but controversial reparative model of justice. The proposed research article aims to understand trauma from the ex-centric position of a coloured woman who refuses to allow her personal experiences of trauma to be undermined and defined as merely wartime ‘collateral damage’. Lydia resists the reductionist approach that the members of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) had adopted while dealing with cases related to violence and human rights abuses. In the beginning, dialogue and discourses on trauma centred mainly around extremely unusual events but now trauma theories have infiltrated co

Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK): The ANC’s Armed Wing, 1961–1993

Launched in 1961 by leaders of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa and the South African Communist Party (SACP), Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) was the military wing of the ANC until its disbandment in 1993. The initial stage of MK’s armed struggle involved sabotage against government installations and other symbols of the apartheid regime by a small group of operatives. Under increasing repression by the apartheid state, and thanks to the support received from African and socialist countries, MK adopted a strategy of guerrilla warfare as armed struggle assumed an increasingly central role in the liberation struggle, although the military was understood as an extension of political work, that is, linked to the reinvigoration of political struggle and organizations. Geopolitical constraints prevented MK from waging a conventional guerrilla war, and from the 1970s MK adjusted its strategy by turning to armed propaganda and people’s war. While debates on the role of MK in South Africa’s liberation are often reduced to the relative success or failure of military strategy and action, the history of MK remains a sensitive topic post-apartheid, carrying significant weight both symbolically and in the lives of thousands of people who served in its ranks, including women, who joined and participated in MK throughout the three decades of its existence.

CORRUPTION IN LAND ADMINISTRATION AND GOVERNANCE: A HURDLE TO TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA?

The persistence of corruption in post-apartheid South Africa and the failure to control it adequately pose a significant threat to the country’s transitional justice project and transformation imperatives. This article provides a detailed account of the depth and impact of corruption in land administration and governance in South Africa. It relies on the documented evidence of corruption scandals to establish the emerging trends, scope and impact of land-related corruption. The article is premised on the notion that corruption (which has become an intrinsic political norm in South Africa) not only impedes development and exacerbates rife inequalities in land ownership and access as a result of the apartheid regime, but also strangles the aims and objectives of transitional justice, which are to alleviate those inequalities. A further premise is that land-related corruption is a direct manifestation of untrammeled political power, patronage and impunity. The article problematises the latter premise and tackles the former by attempting to understand the complex interfaces between land, human rights, corruption and women in South Africa. Women are singled out from vulnerable groups because land ownership has traditionally been, and arguably still is, a male privilege. Of concern is the scale and pace of corruption, which boosts this anomaly, allowing it to thrive exponentially in post-apartheid South Africa. The article also presents a brief overview of operational and institutional challenges facing various initiatives aimed at combatting corruption generally. It concludes by proposing some realistic options to consider for the way forward.

Implementation Challenges of Land Redistribution Programme in South Africa

Upon assuming political office, the ANC government instituted a land redistribution programme to address the land ownership injustice perpetrated during the apartheid regime whereby the non-white citizens owned only 7% of land in South Africa. However, the programme has not achieved the set target; thus, this study sought to understand the challenges curtailing the successful implementation of the programme. The study used a qualitative research approach. An in-depth interview was conducted with three purposefully selected senior officials from three Departments in Greater Kokstad Municipality involved in the land redistribution programme’s implementation. The findings indicate that the major issues curtailing the programme's implementation are land claim disputes and mediation process, reliance on the willing-seller-willing-buyer model, lack of institutional capacity, cumbersome beneficiary selection process, land beneficiary resettlement support, and inadequate programme’s monitoring and evaluation. There is an urgent need for the government to institute measures to address the challenges preventing the smooth implementation of the land redistribution programme in South Africa. These challenges prevent the programme’s beneficiaries from accessing the land, thus preventing them from experiencing socio-economic emancipation as promised.

Post-apartheid South Africa’s exacerbated inequality and the Covid-19 pandemic: intersectionality and the politics of power

Over the past fifteen years there has been an increase in the number of protest movements globally. In recent years and amid the global pandemic there have been hundreds of protests and demonstrations in South Africa. Consequently, in comparison to other parts of the globe, such protest action in South Africa is high. As a result, stable governance in the region has been impacted. Notably, during the resistance years in defiance of the apartheid regime, citizens in South Africa expressed their social discontent against exclusion and marginalisation through identities as radical and intersectional – this was also articulated in the recent protests that occurred in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Johannesburg in July 2021. This highlights the relevance of intersectionality within this region. Intersectionality can be seen to refer to the inequalities that exist beyond femininities and masculinities. Intersectional theory explores aspects of discrimination, oppression, exploitation and inequality across identity, gender, race, ethnicity and class. This study uses a qualitative research approach to conceptually analyse intersectional theory. Thereafter the study discusses the relevance of intersectional theory in a post-apartheid context by illustrating intersectionality through the unrest and protests that occurred, following the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma. The findings of the study suggest the need to unpack the legacies of African elitism and social relations, while implementing intersectional reform that promotes greater inclusivity of citizens in the state.

Climate Change Communication in South Africa

In South Africa, one of the world’s most carbon-intense economies and a society marked by gross social inequality, climate change is not a popular topic. As of 2018, more than half of the population had never heard of climate change and only one in five South Africans believed that human activities lead to global warming. The communication of climate change in South Africa is influenced by the notorious inequality that the country still suffers decades after the apartheid regime has ended. Few South Africans are able to live a life in prosperity and security on par with life in industrialized nations, more than half of the population are considered poor, almost a third of the population are chronically unemployed, and many work for carbon-intense industries. The country’s prevalent inequality and its economic dependency on coal influence the way climate change is communicated and interpreted. Environmental NGOs, journalists, and scientists frequently set communication cues on climate change. However, their messages are largely circulated in newspapers catering to an urban and educated readership and resonate less with people living in rural areas or those who rely on employment in the coal and mining sector. In South Africa, most people hear about climate change in mass media, but journalists frequently lack the resources and training necessary to investigate climate change stories or to interact with local scientists. Environmental NGOs, in contrast, provide easily comprehendible communication cues for unspecialized journalists and often share similar worldviews and demographic backgrounds with dedicated environmental reporters. However, because Black South Africans are underrepresented among environmental journalists and because many affordable local newspapers cannot afford to hire specialized reporters, climate change is covered mostly in high-quality English-language outlets to which most people have no access. Moreover, environmental NGOs are frequently accused of prioritizing abstract ecological concerns, like climate change, over the interests of the South Africans workers, a sentiment that is informed by the country’s history of racial injustice. Counterintuitively, living in a coal area is associated with higher climate change awareness and belief, likely because coal companies and trade unions conduct awareness-raising programs among their workers and because many residents experience the adverse impact of coal mining and combustion firsthand.

Shouting against Silence: André Brink's Voices of Truth

<p>This thesis investigates the notion of 'Truth' upheld by the South African writer André Brink and discusses his deconstruction of the processes of truth-making. I argue that Brink understands fixed narratives, or received 'truth', as constructed to the detriment of alternative narratives, resulting in their subjugation and eventual loss. In response to authoritative discourses, Brink advocates an ongoing and evolving series of challenging narratives which refuse the closure of narrative possibilities. He urges a constant process of un-forgetting and remembering, a contestational activity that undermines the truth-claims of any oppressive group. Three central texts have been chosen as exemplary of Brink's directive to contest fixed truth claims. The first of these, Devil's Valley, offers an opportunity to examine the novelistic (and often postmodernist) blurring of distinctions between binary oppositions such as 'fact' and 'fiction', 'past' and 'present', 'real' and 'unreal'. In undermining the ostensibly dichotomous nature of these pairings, Brink challenges the bases upon which prejudicial systems such as the Apartheid regime rely. In doing so, he reveals the constructions behind both prejudice and hegemonic discourses, and ultimately undermines these foundations. Similarly, Imaginings of Sand provides a means by which to further explore Brink's engagement with prejudice, and most specifically, with the patriarchal oppression of women. I suggest that Brink's female narratives, in which multiplicity and endless possibility are foregrounded, again contest the constraints imposed by a dominant discourse, offering alternative versions. My final textual examination focuses on A Chain of Voices, in which both the polyphonic narration and the thematic content exemplify the concerns discussed previously Brink's usage of various imagery related to oppressive relationships, I claim, provides metaphors for the manner in which binary relationships are co-dependent, rather than dichotomous, undercutting the justifications associated with privileging certain narratives over others. Brink's Truth, I argue, involves an ongoing contestational process of narratorial imagining, a revisionary project central to both the prejudicial environment of Apartheid South Africa, in which much of Brink's work was written, and also to the larger context of prejudice in all its forms and geographical locations.</p>

Shouting against Silence: André Brink's Voices of Truth

<p>This thesis investigates the notion of 'Truth' upheld by the South African writer André Brink and discusses his deconstruction of the processes of truth-making. I argue that Brink understands fixed narratives, or received 'truth', as constructed to the detriment of alternative narratives, resulting in their subjugation and eventual loss. In response to authoritative discourses, Brink advocates an ongoing and evolving series of challenging narratives which refuse the closure of narrative possibilities. He urges a constant process of un-forgetting and remembering, a contestational activity that undermines the truth-claims of any oppressive group. Three central texts have been chosen as exemplary of Brink's directive to contest fixed truth claims. The first of these, Devil's Valley, offers an opportunity to examine the novelistic (and often postmodernist) blurring of distinctions between binary oppositions such as 'fact' and 'fiction', 'past' and 'present', 'real' and 'unreal'. In undermining the ostensibly dichotomous nature of these pairings, Brink challenges the bases upon which prejudicial systems such as the Apartheid regime rely. In doing so, he reveals the constructions behind both prejudice and hegemonic discourses, and ultimately undermines these foundations. Similarly, Imaginings of Sand provides a means by which to further explore Brink's engagement with prejudice, and most specifically, with the patriarchal oppression of women. I suggest that Brink's female narratives, in which multiplicity and endless possibility are foregrounded, again contest the constraints imposed by a dominant discourse, offering alternative versions. My final textual examination focuses on A Chain of Voices, in which both the polyphonic narration and the thematic content exemplify the concerns discussed previously Brink's usage of various imagery related to oppressive relationships, I claim, provides metaphors for the manner in which binary relationships are co-dependent, rather than dichotomous, undercutting the justifications associated with privileging certain narratives over others. Brink's Truth, I argue, involves an ongoing contestational process of narratorial imagining, a revisionary project central to both the prejudicial environment of Apartheid South Africa, in which much of Brink's work was written, and also to the larger context of prejudice in all its forms and geographical locations.</p>