Vigilante democracy: popular justice in contemporary South Africa

Introduction: Testifying in and to cultures of spectacular violence -- 1. 'Going to the dogs': 'humanity' in J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace, The lives of animals and South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission -- 2. The state of/and childhood: engendering adolescence in contemporary South Africa -- 3. Spectral presences: women, stigma and the performance of alienation -- 4. Men 'not feeling good': the dilemmas of hyper-masculinity in the era of HIV/AIDS -- Conclusion: constituting dishonour.

This chapter presents three case studies of, what the authors have termed, trauma care in contemporary South Africa. The case studies are not about psychosocial interventions in the traditional (counselling) sense, but they look rather at how migrant communities in South Africa have sought out ways to deal with the deeply dislocating effects of living as migrants in the complex political context of post-apartheid South Africa. They therefore present a range of activities which may not, at first glance, seem to be trauma interventions. Nevertheless, they were taken seriously as interventions precisely because of their frequent use by migrants and the absence of more mainstream psychosocial interventions for migrants in contemporary South Africa. The previous work that the authors had done on psychosocial interventions had made us realise that their use by migrant communities is not common and so we began from a different starting point. We began by asking what it is that migrants are already doing to deal with distress, trauma, and post-violence reconciliation, and how does this in turn connect to the ongoing process of peacebuilding, development, and social transformation both in South Africa and in their countries of origin. It is from this question that the three case studies presented here were selected. These three were chosen (from seven in total, see Palmary et al., Healing and change in the city of gold: Case studies of coping and support in Johannesburg, forthcoming) because they presented the diversity of what might be considered a trauma intervention, but also because they spoke of the need to consider how the context of political transition in so many African countries and associated attempts at peacebuilding, connects with the contemporary socio-economic injustices that characterise South Africa’s political transition in ways that refuse a distinction between the economic, social, and psychological.

This article is a study of democratic policing in contemporary South Africa. The attempt in this article is to offer a scholarly analysis on the nature of civil policing in South Africa. Empirically, our focus is on everyday observations and also public discourse shaped and transmitted within the civil and political realms of the broader South African community. We argue that civil policing and security in South Africa is typified by a paradox that destroys the civic virtue and rationale of policing. It is our argument also that this paradox has posed a significant challenge to democratic and civil policing in a new South Africa. The solution to this paradox, we will argue, lies in recognising policing and security as uniquely constituted ‘public goods’. We also argue for a rethink on the place of culture in the policing register and grammar of post-apartheid South Africa. In this article, our treatment of civil policing and its challenges in South Africa is informed by recent incidences that have shown an imbrication between violence and the repertoires of policing. Overall, we contend that policing in contemporary South Africa sits at the disjuncture between political liberation and the persistent use of physical force. In all the cases, we shall refer to in this article, we will attempt to show how policing has often been entirely extricated from the habitus of law.

ABSTRACTThis article focuses on the activities of a modest feminist initiative called “The Feminist Table.” Established in 2012, it is one of a number of initiatives trying to develop grassroots eco-feminist solidarity among black women in contemporary South Africa. It uses the Marxist feminist notion of social reproduction, i.e. the unpaid care work which these women do outside the market, both in their households and in their communities. This work is both essential to sustaining capitalism and has potential to contribute to its overcoming. By focusing on the legacy of colonialism and the apartheid, and by drawing on black women’s experiences of socially and ecologically destructive capitalism in contemporary South Africa, we aim to contribute to the literature on eco-socialist feminist struggles and resistance from a Southern perspective. This paper draws on informal conversations and key informant interviews, as well as on our experience of participation in various initiatives trying to develop eco-socialist feminism in South Africa during the last five years.

Globally, there have been significant changes in women’s reproductive behaviour that have had profound effects on population growth. Despite declining fertility in South Africa in recent years, population growth is yet to slow down. This study examined patterns of childbearing in contemporary South Africa. Specifically, it investigated the prevalence of fertility among women of different relationship status and its associated social, economic, and cultural factors. Cross-sectional survey data from 6,124 responses of women in the reproductive age (15–49 years old) to the 2016 South African Demographic and Health Survey were used to decompose fertility into its constituent parts and analysed using binary logistic regression techniques. The findings showed that both marital and nonmarital childbirths significantly contribute to the overall fertility levels in South Africa. Moreover, the results showed that race, ethnicity, household size, age at first sex and contraceptive use were risk factors for childbearing among South African women of childbearing age, while younger age, increased education and wealth were found to be protective factors against childbearing. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.

This chapter argues that urban shack settlements have become a paradigmatic site of anti-black necropolitics in contemporary South Africa. It explores the community of Cato Crest in Durban, where land occupations by shack dwellers have resulted in violent confrontation between members of the radical movement Abahlali baseMjondolo and the local state led by the African National Congress. Any attempt to grapple with the conditions of the urban political in contemporary South Africa will have to begin with the lived experience of shack dwellers like Nkululeko Gwala, who lost his life in a struggle for a second transition in South Africa. As such, the chapter argues for an expansion of the concept of precarity to include the forms of existential threat beyond the workplace facing urban shack communities. This conception of precarity must be coupled with an analysis of surplus exclusion from circuits of capital and with the enduring nature of anti-black violence.

This book explores the place of memory in post-apartheid South Africa by analysing state sanctioned-performances of the nation. It first explores how the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) archive was created, and what it means to contemporary South Africa. The book then explores creative responses to the TRC. It examines individual narratives that have become iconic; asking why these have been chosen to represent the experiences of the broader majority. It analyses how contemporary cultural practitioners are particularly exploring various non-realistic, highly performative forms in conjunction with verbatim narratives to reflect on diverse lived realities in South Africa. The inherited apartheid archives embody particular narratives of South Africa, especially those that defined separate cultural identities, with their relative worth and histories. The way these archives of memory were constructed and controlled is important, especially insofar as they affected the social structure of the nation, beyond apartheid legislation. The book looks at how at moments of political crisis or transition, specific narratives of history, from particular cultural perspectives, have been performed in public spaces to define national identities. It also explores how Mbeki used the South Africa-Mali project, within the context of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) to extend the imagined boundaries of the nation. Finally, the book explores contemporary popular performance and theatrical engagements with history and memory.

By international consensus, racism features as one of the major evils of our time. Unsurprisingly, therefore, no one wants to be branded a racist. There currently seems to be an epidemic of accusations of racism in South Africa, not altogether unlike the witch ‘craze’ of 16th and 17th century Europe. This paper draws on anthropological literature on witchcraft to shed light on racist accusations in contemporary South Africa. Referring to examples from the printed media, it argues that, like witchcraft, racism can, at least in certain senses, be viewed as the ‘personification of evil’, and is invoked as an ‘explanation of misfortune’. Rather than operating as a ‘mechanism for social control’, racist accusations both reflect and exacerbate existing conflicts and tensions. Finally, the paper emphasises that ‘racism’, like ‘race’ is a social construct and proposes further avenues for anthropological research on the topic.

This study aimed to gain in-depth understanding of the lived identity of black African adolescents in a contemporary South African setting. A purposive sample of 59 adolescents (females = 47%; Sesotho = 46%, Setswana = 36%, Other = 18%) from the Motheo district of the Free State, South Africa, participated in focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews. Thematic analysis suggested that black South African adolescents experience transitional identities characterised by contrasts and contradictions. Altruism, autonomy, religiosity and cultural experiences were important to their lived identities. The interplay between African rituals, Christian principles, Western values and the globalisation of cultures provided fertile ground for developing a nuanced and multi-dimensional identity as an adolescent living in contemporary South Africa.

The Gospel of Luke offers profound resonance with the pressing socio-economic realities confronting marginalised communities in contemporary South Africa. Although set in a vastly different historical and cultural context, Luke’s narrative portrays a society where a small elite controlled land and resources. At the same time, most of the population endured extreme poverty, debt, and a lack of access to productive land. This situation parallels the struggles of impoverished and landless individuals in contemporary South Africa, a country facing a complex interplay of governance issues. These include corruption, political interference, a lack of accountability and public participation, as well as structural challenges such as resource constraints, inadequate infrastructure, and capacity limitations. The enduring legacies of apartheid, urban-rural divides, and socio-economic inequalities continue to hinder development and service delivery, while obstructing the vision of a better life for all. This scenario is reminiscent of the 1st-century Roman Palestinian context, where a combination of political domination, economic oppression, and corrupt leadership marginalised ordinary citizens and perpetuated their poverty. Thus, the Gospel of Luke provides a valuable lens through which to examine both the legacies of colonial rule in 1st-century Palestine and the colonial and apartheid legacies left by the Dutch and British settlers in South Africa.Contribution: This article reflects on the legacies of colonialism in 1st-century Palestine, juxtaposing these legacies with those of post-colonial and post-1994 democratic South Africa, positing Luke’s Gospel as a hopeful text to the marginalised communities in both situations.

It is assumed that modernity is a factor inducing change in contemporary South Africa. This assumption is explained in terms of a characterisadon of recent social, political and economic changes. The theoretical perspective developed is based on the systems theory ofNiklas Luhmann but also incorporates a substantial critique of this theory by Ji.irgen Habermas. The societal significance of religion is considered in terms of three dimensions of religion in society. The focus of the article is the theoretical articulation of this three-dimensional model in terms of the possible societal significance of religion in contemporary South Africa.

This article investigates how the domestic worker sartorial trope is reflected and embodied in contemporary South African culture. Domestic work has received very little public or media attention from feminists, trade unionists, or even political activists broadly until the recent movement of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). This article observes how the South African political party, the EFF, use the domestic worker dress as a subversionary tactic in sociopolitical culture. By appropriating the archetypal domestic worker dress, the EFF demonstrate both identification with the domestic worker and a subversion of what the domestic worker dress has, for so long, inferred. In the context of post-apartheid South Africa, the author examines the domestic worker trope and the significance of dress. This article uses critical discourse analysis and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of habitus to explicate both the personal and political significance of the domestic worker dress in contemporary South Africa.

This article considers the concept of media and citizenship in relation to the politics of representation on the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s channel 2 (SABC2). It examines the ways in which a group of audience members negotiate and reflect upon issues of representation on SABC2’s flagship soap opera 7de Laan, which professes to be a multicultural soap opera, paying reverence to the diverse cultural, ethnic and linguistic make-up of South Africa. In previous work, I have argued that the soap opera presents a utopian view of community and citizenship in contemporary South Africa. Building on this observation, this article explores audience engagement with 7de Laan’s utopian construction of South African citizenship through a social networking site, Twitter. It examines the ways in which a group of audience members negotiate and reflect upon issues of representation on 7de Laan through the Twitter hashtag #7delaan, arguing that Twitter provides a platform for viewer fans engaged in a love/hate relationship with television to ‘bamboozle back’. My primary interest in the #7delaan community is therefore centred not only on what the community members tweet but more so on how their tweets frame the soap opera and their perceptions thereof, and to try to understand what these discourses might reveal about their perceptions of place, race and citizenship in contemporary South Africa.

The jury is out and the verdict is in, according to most leftist commentators on the African National Congress (ANC) government. The South African political leadership has forgotten its institution...

In this article, I express profound scepticism about recent theories that de-emphasise the centrality of procreation and shared blood in the determination of kinship. These theorists posit that in many ethnographic situations the incarnation of spirits, the sharing of names, coming of age in the same house, and joint consumption of certain foods may be more important criteria. Contra these theorists I suggest that these are more likely to be complementary than alternative modes of relatedness. The challenge is to conceptualise their coexistence. Ethnographically, I explore how blood, spirits and names interweave in the social biography of the Monareng family in the South African Lowveld. I show that while kinship was modelled on an ideology of descent and shared blood, connections were also forged through the reincarnation of ancestors within children and through naming. These spiritual modes of relatedness reinforced the credentials of marginal kin to lineage membership. I also highlight the salience of witchcraft as the ‘dark side of kinship’. Whereas the invocation of ancestors connected individuals to lineages, the accusation of in-marrying wives of witchcraft disconnected people and led to the segmentation of lineages. My analysis concludes by reconceptualising the concepts of the lineage. In contemporary South Africa, as elsewhere, it is more appropriate to conceptualise the lineage as a line on a map of social relations than as a corporate grouping.