Reconsidering the Freedom Charter, the black theology of liberation and the African proverb about the locust’s head in the context of poverty in South Africa

Ndikho Mtshiselwa

doi:10.4102/hts.v72i1.2915

Abstract

While South Africa attained liberation from the apartheid rule in 1994, the legacy of colonialism and apartheid – in the form of poverty and economic inequality – continues to haunt black South Africans. The aim of this article is to make a case for the equitable sharing of South Africa’s mineral wealth amongst all its citizens with the view to alleviate poverty. Firstly, this article provides a reflection on the Freedom Charter and suggests that the values of the Charter, for instance, the sharing of resources and wealth, are relevant in South Africa today. Secondly, it is argued in the present article that the preferential option for the poor which is upheld in the black theology of liberation is equally relevant in post-apartheid South Africa where many black South Africans remain poor. Thirdly, this article argues that the African proverb, Bana ba motho ba ngwathelana hlogo ya tšie [The siblings share the head of a locust], also echoes the idea of equitable sharing of resources with a view to alleviate poverty. Lastly, the author submits that the idea of equitable sharing of resources and wealth that is echoed in the Freedom Charter, the black theology of liberation and the African wise saying support the equitable redistribution of the mineral wealth to the benefit of all South Africans.

Highlights

In 2015, South Africans celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Charter which was adopted at the Congress of the People on 26 June 1955 (South African Congress Alliance 1955)
The preferential option for the poor in the black theology of liberation which calls for the alleviation of poverty and redress of economic inequality and the demand: ‘the people shall share in the country’s wealth’ resonates with the tenor of equitable sharing of resources, implied in the Pedi proverb, Bana ba motho ba ngwathelana hlogo ya tšie [The siblings share the head of a locust]
Of significance here is the argument that the ideology behind the Freedom Charter, the black theology of liberation and the African proverb about the locust’s head could be tapped to address the issue of poverty and economic inequality in South Africa

Summary

Introduction

In 2015, South Africans celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Charter (hereafter referred to as the Charter) which was adopted at the Congress of the People on 26 June 1955 (South African Congress Alliance 1955). Masenya [ngwan’a Mphahlele] (2004:69) uses the term African-South Africans to refer to people who were initially labelled, ‘native’ and since 1921 labelled ‘Bantu’ and ‘black’, who are of African descent whose home language is Xhosa, Ndebele, Sotho, Tswana, Zulu, Venda, and so forth. The designation ‘black’ includes Indian and coloured persons in South Africa, it will be employed in this article to refer to persons of African descent whose home language is Xhosa, Ndebele, Sotho, Tswana, Zulu and Venda, among other indigenous languages in the country. The use of the phrase ‘black South Africans’ is motivated by the fact that it is germane to the present discourse of the black theology of liberation, the Charter and the African proverb under consideration. This study attempts to provide in part a reflection on the demand for the equitable sharing of the country’s wealth which is expressed in the well-known clause: The national wealth of our country, the heritage of all South Africans, shall be restored to the people; the mineral wealth beneath the soil, the Banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole; all other industry and trade shall be controlled to assist the wellbeing of the people; all people shall have equal rights to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and profession. (Davies 1986:85; South African Congress Alliance 1955)

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Conclusion