The causes and nature of the June 2016 protests in the city of Tshwane: A practical theological reflection

Mookgo S Kgatle

doi:10.4102/hts.v73i3.3845

Abstract

South Africa has recently experienced a series of public protests. The common element is that violence is becoming evident in these protests. This article uses the June 2016 protests in the city of Tshwane as an example to address the root causes of such protests. On 20 June 2016, the African National Congress (ANC) announced that the city of Tshwane mayoral candidate for the 3 August 2016 municipal elections in South Africa is the former public works minister and ANC National Executive Committee member, Thoko Didiza. Consequently, public protests in the city of Tshwane emerged immediately after this announcement. These public protests were very violent, such as protesters killed one another, burned buses, looted shops and barricaded roads. The root causes of these violent protests are identified as factionalism, tribalism, sexism, economic exclusion and patronage politics. The purpose of this article is a practical theological reflection on the root causes of June 2016 protests in the city of Tshwane. The main aim of this article is a practical theological solution to the general problem of violent protests.

Highlights

This article discusses the context, the causes and the nature of the June 2016 protests in the city of Tshwane
The purpose of this article is to examine whether the root causes of the June 2016 protests, identified as factionalism, tribalism, sexism, economic exclusion and patronage politics, can be addressed by practical theological reflection
The root causes of the June 2016 violent protests in Tshwane have been identified as factionalism, tribalism, sexism, economic exclusion and patronage politics

Summary

Introduction

This article discusses the context, the causes and the nature of the June 2016 protests in the city of Tshwane. The article discusses the nature of the aforementioned protests in the city of Tshwane. The purpose of this article is to examine whether the root causes of the June 2016 protests, identified as factionalism, tribalism, sexism, economic exclusion and patronage politics, can be addressed by practical theological reflection. This is done with a view to help the South African government to tackle the problem of public violent protests so that there is peace and harmony in the country

Objectives

Findings

Conclusion