Democratic South Africa Research Articles

Uneven Distribution of Wealth through Political Manipulation as Expressed in J. M. Magaisa’s Poetry: A Moral-Philosophical Perspective on the Politics of the New Era

Most Africans in the democratic South Africa face challenges of extreme poverty and are subject to laws that were created for them without proper consultation and relayed to them in the form of the Constitution. This is contrary to the ideologies proclaimed during the struggle for liberation from colonial rule as well as the promises made by the politicians when canvassing for elections. This article serves as a reminder to the politicians who use political manipulation to get into power, and then forget about their promises and the Constitution of South Africa. Using the moral-philosophical approach and the text analysis method to examine the protest poems by J. M. Magaisa in Xikolokolo nguvu ya Pitori (1987), the paper aims at demonstrating that true democracy is “government for the people by the people” and it helps its citizens alleviate poverty rather than voting and then remaining in dire conditions while politicians amass wealth. Different areas of disempowerment through uneven distribution of wealth will be illustrated. Only the stanzas relevant to the discussion will be analysed. The findings, recommendations and conclusions will be provided.

Otherness without boundaries: an autoethnographic perspective from an aboriginal South African survivor of local xenophobia

In this article, I interrogate the concept of othering by foregrounding xenophobia, which has been ‘trending’ since the dawn of democracy in South Africa. I use lived experiences to assert that xenophobia is not confined to tussles between ‘foreign’ nationals and South African ­citizens but also manifests as ‘local xenophobia’ where South African citizens from ‘elsewhere’ in the country are maligned by ‘locals’ in areas to which they migrate. To underscore the ubiquitous and multifaceted nature of othering, and because it resonates with literature on ­xenophobia, I discuss sobriquets/nicknames as one example among various manifestations of otherness. Furthermore, I contend that self-subjugation as an unconscious process is, possibly, the pillar of othering and, that every human is a tacit or overt otherer. In conclusion, I assert that Ubuntu as an architectonic capability should be redefined and used to drive collective human efforts towards addressing othering.

Israelvisie, die Nuwe Suid-Afrika en ‘Afrikaners’

Israel vision, the New South Africa and ‘Afrikaners’: There is a growing number of Caucasian Afrikaans-speaking believers who are exposed to and accept the teachings of the British Israelite or Israel Vision movement. Some of these believers take their leave of or quit their former places of worship, while others remain and spread the Israel Vision teachings among fellow church members. This article, inter alia, asserts that Caucasian Afrikaans-speaking South Africans are ascribing to Israel Vision teachings in their search for a new identity in a post-apartheid South Africa. It utilises a comparative literature analysis from a Pentecostal perspective. To gain insight into the movement, the article considers the origin, growth and teaching of British Israelism. It furthermore attempts to understand the cultural shifting that some Caucasian Afrikaans-speaking South Africans have experienced since the importation of democracy in 1994 and what types of identity correction could be expected from such a group. When comparing the traditional Afrikaner cultural themes in terms of the Israel Vision teachings, it emerges that, according to the teachings of Israel Vision (and British Israelism), the Caucasian people are what is referred to as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel – the covenantal descendants of Abraham. God has a specific plan for these tribes. Adherents of these teachings define their identity in these exclusive terms. This article attempts to define what the Bible teaches regarding the old and new covenant as well as exclusivity and inclusivity to evaluate the Israel Vision teachings. It concludes that it results in the rejection of Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Saviour along with an unacceptable exclusivism of people of colour considering Scripture by limiting salvation to the so-called Ten Lost Tribes. This article aims to inform church leaders and Christians as regards the main teachings of the movement and its theological and existential dangers to assist believers influenced by the Israel Vision teachings.Contribution: This research aims to contribute to the field of practical theology by determining that some white South Africans have attempted to restructure their culture after the forming of a democracy in South Africa (1994) by participation in ideological groups such as the Israel Vision movement and ascribing to British Israelism. The theological and ethical grounds on which these movements rest, pose a threat to the teachings of the traditional Christian denominations in South Africa due to the racist ideology that is inherent in these groups and aim to exclude the majority of South Africans from the faith community.

A Modern-Day Florestan: Fidelio on Robben Island and South Africa's Early Democratic Project

AbstractIn 2004, Cape Town Opera mounted a production of Beethoven's Fidelio at the former apartheid prison on Robben Island. Sponsored by Den Norske Opera, and endorsed by the South African government, the production was presented as a celebration of the country's tenth year of democracy. This article investigates the vision of democracy performed by Fidelio on Robben Island and asks how it interacts with the founding principles of the new South African political order. Situating the production within the context of contemporaneous debates about cultural identity and representation in a democratic South Africa, I argue that Fidelio on Robben Island performed a legitimizing function designed to endorse the validity of the state and of opera as a democratic cultural form.

Medical Students’ Experiences of Mistreatment by Clinicians and Academics at a South African University

Phenomenon: Tertiary education in post-apartheid South Africa has faced many challenges regarding class, language, and race. Even though previously white Afrikaans-rooted universities now have a diverse student population, recent student protests have highlighted the ongoing need for decolonization in higher education. In addition, the majority of public hospitals in the country function under significant staffing, infrastructure, and equipment shortages. Although the mistreatment of medical students has been well described internationally, to date no South African data exists. The aim of this study was to identify experiences of mistreatment of medical students by clinicians and academics at a South African university and to describe the type of mistreatment experienced, the perceived mental health effects, and the influence on academic performance, resilience, and students’ knowledge of current reporting systems. Approach: A cross-sectional study was conducted through a locally developed online survey of 443 medical students at a South African university in May to June 2018, comprising of both open and closed ended questions. Levels of psychological distress (K10) and resilience (CD-RISC -10) were measured. Chi-square and student t-tests were used for the analysis of associations, and linear regressions were used to assess predictors of psychological distress. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically using the approach described by Braun and Clarke. Findings: Of 800 eligible medical students at Stellenbosch University, 443 students (55.4%) completed the survey. Mistreatment, comprising of being ignored/excluded (83.4%), offensive gestures (75.0%), verbal abuse (65.1%) and discrimination (64.4%), was prevalent and pervasive, and was perpetrated mainly by registrars (46.7%) and other medical staff (43.8%). Mistreatment was associated with psychological distress, which was generally high and more severe for females. Resilience, which was higher for males, moderated the effects of gender and perpetrator type on distress. Only 15% of students who had experienced mistreatment, either directly or indirectly, reported it, of which more than half (52.8%) were not happy with the outcome. Most students (80.9%) were not aware of the systems in place to report mistreatment. Insights: Student mistreatment is more highly prevalent among medical students at a South African university compared with studies conducted internationally. Despite over 20 years of democracy in South Africa, high rates of racial and gender discrimination were reported and descriptions of racial, language and gender discrimination were particularly concerning. Since the findings of this study, an anti-bullying poster-campaign has been initiated at the university as well as an online reporting system.

Whites and Democracy in South Africa by Roger Southall (review)

Whites and Democracy in South Africa by Roger Southall (review)

Some Aspects of Seminal Historical Factors that led to the Redress Process in Old Testament Scholarship in South Africa

This article considers certain seminal historical markers of how South Africa arrived at the current state of Old Testament scholarship in South Africa. Taking a lead from Ramantswana’s recent denouement of the development of this discipline in South Africa, this article considers the tasks that lie ahead with due regard to Mosala’s (1986:119) recognition that for liberation theology to be effective, the lingering ideologies that confuse the issue need to be dismantled. Mosala saw the necessity for a methodological framework to undertake a “de-ideologising” hermeneutical project. For instance, the current political clamour for de-colonisation portrays the contribution of the missionaries as negative because, having arrived with colonialism, there is a perception that they colluded in the imperialist exploitation of the indigenous peoples of South Africa. One aspect of “de-ideologising” the lingering social damage is the re-assessment of the positive aspects of the missionary endeavour in the face of the Colonialist drive. Not only did the missionaries bring “knowledge of our high birth-right … We belong to the human family, and are heirs of eternal salvation”, but William Wilcox for instance, facilitated the resistance to the notion of racial and intellectual superiority. It was this resistance which eventually culminated in a peaceful transition to democracy in South Africa. Keywords: Old Testament Scholarship, Colonialism, American Board Missionaries, Congregational Church, John L. Dube, William Wilcox, Natal, ANC

Multilingual parallel corpus: An institutional resource for terminology development at the University of South Africa (Unisa)

The indigenous African languages of South Africa are not fully developed to provide for specialised terminology and were considered unsuitable for use as languages of tuition and research. This was used as a scapegoat for not utilising these languages in the South African education system. Since 1994, however, terminology development has been one of the key priorities of democratic South Africa. The institutions of Higher Learning have been mandated to develop and intellectualise the indigenous languages for teaching, learning and research. In line with this, this article aims to address the problem of unavailability of scientific or technical terms by illustrating how a multilingual corpus ––from which multilingual glossaries as resources for tuition and research–– can be compiled. Adopting a qualitative descriptive approach, suitable source texts in English and their translations in various African indigenous languages, namely, IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, IsiNdebele, SiSwati, Tshivenda, and Xitsonga were selected from the University study material for inclusion in the multilingual parallel corpus. ParaConc, a software that is suitable to query parallel texts, was used to align and extract terms from the corpus. The study demonstrates how parallel texts can be useful in developing scientific and technical terms. The University of South Africa can become the centre of corpus compilation for the intellectualisation of the official indigenous South African languages, since it is the only university in the country that caters for all these languages.

Jerusalema, a Heritage Day Song of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Musical activities, religious or spiritual, share much in common. They tend to evoke powerful emotional responses in participating individuals and have great significance at the personal, social and communal levels. Music and dance have always been strongly connected in South Africa. The songs of South Africa were prominent for the social and political role they played in the struggle against apartheid rule. Post-apartheid era songs were used to reconcile a nation that was deeply divided. Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika (God Bless Africa), became the national anthem of a democratic South Africa. Jerusalema music and dance was unofficially adopted as the Heritage Day song when President Cyril Ramaphosa encouraged the people to participate in the Jerusalemadancechallenge “to remember the loved ones lost to the COVID-19 disease and to quietly rejoice in the diverse heritage of our nation”. A qualitative study was conducted using webnography to find the meaning ascribed to Jerusalema music by the viewers of the video during the COVID-19 pandemic. While several themes emerged after the qualitative content analysis was performed, the focus of this article was on one of the themes that led the viewers of this music video to believe that Jerusalema brought the world together through music and dance during the COVID-19 hard lockdown. South Africans embraced it as the Heritage Day song.

Schreiner family narratives: Written and oral sources in biographical research

This article reflects on the research required in biographical studies. The biographical focus is on the role of three generations of the Schreiner family: W.P. Schreiner (one-time Prime Minister of the Cape Colony), Justice O.D. Schreiner (judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court) and Professor G.D.L. Schreiner (scientist, academic, liberal and early conceptualiser of alternative models to apartheid). All three were involved in developing, defending and sustaining liberal policies and values in South Africa from the late 19th century until the advent of democracy in 1994. The clarifications and contradictions within and between oral and written sources are examined, and individual cases are discussed in which they are highlighted. The research sources include family papers, official archives, publications and, crucially, oral testimony. The oral testimony includes formal and informal interviews. This study is a contribution to the history of a family, a university and a set of values. It covers a long period in South African history during which colonialism tightened into apartheid, resistance developed and the eventual vision of a democratic South Africa came to fruition.Contribution: The primary scientific contribution is the exploration of liberal policies and values in South African political and academic history through the prism of biography. Methodologically, the article discusses possible shortcomings with oral testimony when relied on as a sole source and examines how oral evidence can be utilised in conjunction with research based on archival and published sources to develop a fuller and more nuanced picture in biographical research.

Can the district development model deliver development in South African local governments?

With the advent of democracy in South Africa, local government was targeted for transformation to be more representative of and responsive to local communities’ needs. Boundaries were extended such that all areas in the country fell within a municipality. In addition to providing essential services such as water and sanitation, municipalities must promote social and economic development. They must also prepare an Integrated Development Plan that informs the municipality’s activities, budget and should ensure focussed and coordinated delivery of services.
 However, local government has been plagued with severe problems such as a lack of capacity and resources, poor governance and limited intergovernmental and intra-municipal coordination. President Ramaphosa (Current term 2018–2023) in his 2019 budget speech announced a District Development Model (DDM) intended to spatialise and coordinate government interventions and support municipalities in response to these issues. This paper describes the challenges facing local government and outlines the DDM concept and its rationale in the context of these challenges. We consider the potential of this model to improve the performance of local government, improve spatial governance and promote social and economic development. We conclude that the DDM may not be sucessful as it does not address the core problems of local government. A candid review of the current concept of local government, its powers, responsibilities, capacities and relationships is required.

Dilemmas of public participation in policymaking in South Africa

The effectiveness of representative democracy in South Africa is questionable, given the lack of confidence in the Parliament and the recurring service delivery protests, which indicate that citizens' opinions are unheard. Due to this, the Members of Parliament (MPs) devise strategies such as democratic innovation to involve citizens in policymaking as the platform for deliberation. Given this context, the paper discusses public participation in policymaking and how declining confidence in the Parliament necessitates democratic innovations as a panacea for increasing citizens' participation in Parliament activities. The paper also identifies dilemmas that occur in public involvement. Data was generated by interviews (with 16 MPs), observation of plenary debates, minutes of the Parliament, Hansard, minutes of Select and Standing Committees, and Parliamentary speeches. Findings suggest that despite the complexity of implementing public participation in South Africa, the Parliament has made significant progress since 1994 in widening democratic innovation to facilitate public participation. However, disadvantaged people continue to be marginalized from policymaking. The paper suggests that there is a need for political education and public participation in policymaking to strengthen democratic institutions in South Africa.

Nostalgia after Apartheid: Disillusionment, Youth, and Democracy in South Africa by Amber R.ReedNotre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2020. 226 pp.

Nostalgia after Apartheid: Disillusionment, Youth, and Democracy in South Africa by Amber R.ReedNotre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2020. 226 pp.

Setbacks and Partial Victories: Social Justice Struggles After 28 Years of Democracy in South Africa

Post-apartheid South Africa is ravaged by crises of extreme unemployment, poverty, and inequality. While the majority who were politically excluded by apartheid can now choose their government through democratic elections, social and economic justice continues to elude them. Neoliberal policies which seek to reduce state expenditure on social services and promote state policies that protect the interests of big businesses at the expense of working-class and poor communities, along with corruption and abuse of power, are the primary causes of poverty and unemployment. However, what is missing in the assessments of social justice since the pre-1994 democratic era is the recognition that social justice organisations have not simply disappeared, but have actually remained involved in social justice struggles. Based on information from in-depth interviews and internet sources, this article records some of the partial victories scored through these struggles, albeit in the context of generalised pauperisation of working-class and poor communities. These partial victories in the era of defeats show that these organisations, although weakened, have not given up the struggle for social justice.

GQ Style: coloniality and camp in fashion for men

The South African edition of the American men’s lifestyle magazine, Gentlemen’s Quarterly or GQ, launched in December 1999/January 2000. GQ Style, an aspirational supplementary magazine, sold separately to the parent publication, is evidence of the immense interest of GQ’s readers in sartorial distinction. The situatedness of this publication in a democratic South Africa tremendously sensitive to an intersectional politics has forced it to adapt. Through semiotic analyses of photographic tableaus, it becomes apparent how the magazine uses a Camp performance of masculinity as a marker of playful distinction for a new generation of almost exclusively Black readers. This article argues that in the current fantasy world of GQ Style, Afropolitanism implies a “remix” of the esthetic genealogies of Anglo-America. It also argues that GQ Style is complicit in the maintenance of epistemic coloniality.

PROTEST ACTION WITHIN THE AMBIT OF THE LABOUR RELATIONS ACT 66 OF 1995 COSATU v Business Unity of South Africa (2021) 42 ILJ 490 (LAC)

Protest action is not a new phenomenon in democratic South Africa. In the 1980s and 1990s, many stay-aways were used by workers to demonstrate opposition to government policy. However, the Industrial Court was disinclined to grant such actions protection and, as a result, they were deemed unlawful under the Labour Relations Act 28 of 1956 (1956 LRA). Unlike protest action, strike action was regulated and defined under the 1956 LRA. Nonetheless, the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Fact-Finding and Conciliation Commission on Freedom of Association criticised the narrow definition of “strike” in the 1956 LRA, stating that employees should be permitted to strike in protest against the government’s economic and social policies.Under the democratic dispensation, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution) clearly provides that everyone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions (s 17) and that employees have the right to strike (s 23(2)(c)). The term “assemble” in section 17 of the Constitution has been interpreted to cover meetings, pickets, protest marches and demonstrations that are aimed at expressing a common opinion. Based on these constitutional provisions, employees can therefore use economic power to support their various demands. In terms of section 1 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA), one of the aims of this Act is “to advance economic development, social justice, labour peace and the democratization of the workplace”. Among other measures, this is done through allowing employees and their organisations the right to engage in protest action. While a strike is focused on “matters of mutual interest” between employees and their employer, protest action is focused on the “socio-economic interests” of employees (s 213 of the LRA). Strike action is the most common and better understood of the two actions, while protest action is often misconstrued. Protest action assists employees, their trade unions and federations to play an important wider role in society. Through protest action, employees can influence policy decisions in society. Section 77 of the LRA gives effect to and regulates the right to engage in protest action.South Africa has experienced many protests and as a result, the country has been referred to as “the protest capital of the world”. Federations of trade unions such as the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) have over the years organised a number of protests, including those against labour broking and high tolls. Protests are used for various reasons, including those related to service delivery. However, the focus in this discussion is on protests regulated by the LRA. Given the number of protests that take place in South Africa, it is important that the concept of protest action, and the nature and scope of the right to engage in protest action as regulated by section 77 of the LRA, be properly understood. The discussion focuses on COSATU v Business Unity of South Africa ((2021) 42 ILJ 490 (LAC)), which deals with the interpretation of section 77 of the LRA.

Is it transformation or reform? The lived experiences of African women doctoral students in STEM disciplines in South African universities

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields have historically been disciplines dominated by white men. The colonial ideology designated Africans as subhuman, inferior intellectually, socially, and culturally to the white masculine norm in STEM disciplines. STEM education and careers were thus constructed to attract white, heterosexual, middle-to-upper class, Christian, able-bodied men. This positioning ensured that STEM environments remained inhospitable to anyone whose identity was outside the constructed somatic norm. The calls and imperatives to transform notwithstanding, the transformation process in STEM disciplines is moving at a snail-like pace. This article argues that what is occurring in STEM disciplines in South African universities is reform not transformation. It is underpinned by the intersectional theory within the qualitative paradigm. Seventy-three African doctoral and postdoctoral women students in STEM were interviewed from five South African universities. The findings highlighted how African women in STEM face challenges based on their racial and gendered identities and that what is presented as transformation is still oppressive to them. The study also found that equity through access to education in democratic South Africa does not equate to transformation. The argument presented is that despite existing policies and initiatives in South African universities to transform, the demographic inclusion of African, female staff and students does not necessarily equate to transforming the STEM environment. What needs to occur is a shift beyond reform and towards transformation through the use of strategic inventions which dismantle the racist, sexist, classist, and xenophobic ideology that permeates these environments.

Antigone [not quite/quiet]: adaptation, the anarchive and afterness

This article focuses, from an insider perspective, on a contemporary South African production that was a response to Sophocles’ Antigone, performed at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town in 2019. The production was titled: Antigone (not quite/quiet) and formed part of the Reimagining Tragedy in Africa and the Global South (ReTAGS) research project. The author is credited as the director of the production. The article provides a detailed discussion of the production dramaturgy and the strategy of adaptation used, and argues that this strategy is different from previous adaptations of ancient Greek tragedy that the author has produced since the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994. The article relates this strategy of adaptation to the anarchive following Jacques Derrida. It then goes on to discuss the production in relation to ideas of afterness and metamorphosis with reference to Ovid and Franz Kafka.

Outsourcing Governance: Local Government and the Future of Democracy in South Africa

This article analyses the decline and near collapse of local government in South Africa through a political and legal lens. Given the paralysis of constitutionally envisaged political accountability procedures in the post-Mbeki period, residents and local businesses have increasingly resorted to courts and chapter 9 institutions, in addition to local organisation, protest and a range of direct actions. Courts previously afforded municipalities a significant margin of discretion in dealing with local government affairs and stayed out of constitutionally mandated political oversight processes, but have, since 2016, become increasingly interventionist. Some recent judgements go as far as to bypass conventional accountability processes altogether and to endorse community self-help, thereby potentially signalling an evolution in judicial conceptions of civic responsibility. At a political level, however, the future of local government is treacherous, given the loss of faith among voters.

The unforgiving work environment of black African women domestic workers in a post-apartheid South Africa

ABSTRACT In democratic South Africa, many Black African women are still subjugated by being employed as domestic workers. Increasing evidence emerged amid the COVID-19 pandemic revealing unmistakable signs of modern-day slavery among South African Black domestic workers. This paper proposes a clinical model which examines how gender, class, and race intersections affect the ways in which specifically identified change agents offer new, transforming interventions via clinical intervention. Adopting a clinical approach augments identification of a specific social problem from a scientifically systematic applied approach built on applied theory. We report on the conditions facing vulnerable Black African women using a bricolage research approach. The resulting model explicitly identifies systemic inequalities and indicates how to reduce exploitation and protect workers. The bricolage approach aided the secondary qualitative analysis of complex bonded-labour intersections. The problem of Black African women living as bonded domestic labour is augmented by the girl children’s primary socialisation, Western patriarchal re-socialisation which sustains apartheid, and race, class, occupational, and gender inequalities.