WorkerIzibongoand Ethnic Identities in Durban

Abstract

Summary Durban worker poetry is analysed and situated in contemporary debates around ethnicity and violence in Natal. It is argued that worker poetry can be seen as one example of the ANC and Cosatu's mobilisation of “traditional” cultural forms, commonly associated with Zulu‐ness and ethnic identities. The common association of Inkatha with Zulu nationalism and the ANC with non‐racialism is, therefore, challenged as misleading, being as it is primarily based on official discourse. An analysis of events where the poetry was performed, is used to suggest that “Zulu” cultural forms (and implicitly ethnic identities) have often been demanded and mobilised “from below”, by organisational membership. The apparent contradictions between this and the ANC's professed non‐racialism can only be explained by acknowledging the power and persistence of various forms of “ethnic consciousness”. The paper goes on to explore another widely held notion, that of the “militarism of Zulu culture”. Focusing again on worker poetry, it explores the role of popular culture in legitimising and/or authorising violence as a means of political contestation. In conclusion, the implications of the view of ethnicity that underpins the paper for the “architects” of a post‐apartheid order, are tentatively discussed.