Indigenous Epistemologies, Sustainability and Schooling: The Case of South Africa

Abstract

The concern I want to raise in this chapter is related to the relationship between indigenous identities, knowledge systems and indigenous values and world views compared to world views found in South Africa’s new curricula after new dispensation. What are the values the indigenous pupils meet at home? Do they concur with those of the new curricula after 1994? The rationale for this focus is related to the question of whether the South African primary school is ‘their school’, i.e the school for the majority of South African children in terms of culture and knowledge. Moreover, does the epistemological basis of South African schools promote a sustainable future for the ‘new’ nation? The interest in and focus on indigenous identities and knowledge systems has been fuelled by the emergence of the African Renaissance rhetoric as proposed by Nelson Mandela and more consistently and frequently by former president Thabo Mbeki. Their focus is related to wishing to build a nation where African values, knowledges and African heritage are central. While the rhetoric around a new birth for Africa and African Renaissance is much older (Zeleza, 2009), in this chapter I am primarily concerned with the use of the concept in South Africa after the ‘liberation’ of South Africa in 1994. Already in 1994 Mandela referred to African renaissance at a summit of the Organization of African Unity in 1994: ‘‘Africa cries out for a new birth. We must, in action, say that there is no obstacle big enough to stop us from bringing about a new African renaissance” (Mandela, 1994).