Values Of Ubuntu Research Articles

THE DEFENSIBILITY OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC RIGHTS IN A STATE OF DISASTER: A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

The drafting of the final Constitution was a deliberate act of imposing an obligation on the newly formed democratic South Africa to recognise socio-economic rights. This was an important step in the transformation process brought about due to the transformative nature of the Constitution (better known as transformative constitutionalism), in a country that had witnessed the gross violation of human rights and institutionalised discrimination that considerably led to many of its citizens living in dire poverty through social and economic exclusion. This discussion aims to explore the justifiability of these constitutionally protected rights. In doing so, an analysis of international standards will be considered in determining whether the socio-economic rights could be said to be justifiable, followed by the constitutional influence, along with other legislative sources and judicial precedents on the matter including the role propagated by the value of ubuntu.

Contextualizing Organizational Change Management in Africa: Incorporating the Core Values of Ubuntu

ABSTRACT Most of the business models and theories available to assist organizations in adapting their strategies to today’s dynamic business environment are based on the Anglo-Saxon worldview. Yet most scholars acknowledge that these theories have limited application in cultures outside of the Anglo-Saxon world. There is a dearth of research that infuses Western conceived theories of management with indigenous ontologies. To close this gap, this paper discusses managing change from an African perspective with specific reference to sub-Saharan Africa. It utilizes the philosophy Ubuntu that pervades the subcontinent as the bedrock on which change management can be anchored, asserting that embracing the Ubuntu values offers the best outcomes for managing organizations in Africa. Using Kurt Lewin’s change management model, the paper shows how incorporating the indigenous ontologies based on ubuntu in its execution can lead to sustainable change management in the sub-continent.

The Value of Ubuntu as a Framework for Leadership in Christian Ministry

In every moment of crisis, including the Covid pandemic, good leadership is essential for the survival of organisations. This is as true for the Church as it is for political and business organisations. Most of the leadership theories adopted by all these organisations are developed in the West. My article offers an alternative. I argue that African Ubuntu philosophy has the potential to become a ‘glocal’ phenomenon, one that contributes significantly to the practice of Christian leadership. I develop the meaning of Ubuntu, discuss values according to the Collective Fingers Theory, and suggest how they can be applied to leadership within a Christian context.

DE-LINKING UBUNTU: TOWARDS A UNIQUE SOUTH AFRICAN JURISPRUDENCE

The adoption in 1993 of the interim Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act (200 of 1993) as the supreme law of the Republic marked a watershed moment in the history of South Africa. It was a moment of transition for which the interim Constitution was to serve as a bridge. In the words of the post-amble: “This Constitution provides a historic bridge between the past of a deeply divided society characterized by strife, conflict, untold suffering and injustice, and a future founded on the recognition of human rights democracy and peaceful co-existence and development opportunities for all South Africans, irrespective of colour, race, class, belief or sex.” (Under the section titled: “National Unity and Reconciliation”.) Given the volatile political context within which South Africa’s transition was negotiated, the drafters of the Constitution saw fit to append a postamble in which they called for the “need for understanding but not for vengeance, a need for reparation but not for retaliation, a need for ubuntu but not for victimisation” (under the section titled: “National Unity and Reconciliation”). For a country where the traditional legal discourse has been the domain of Western liberal values, the inclusion of an African value of ubuntu in the Constitution was in itself “a historic bridge”. In the words ofEtienne Mureinik, if this bridge is to “span the open sewer of violent and contentious transition” those who are entrusted with its upkeep need to know where the bridge is from and where it is leading to. For Mureinik, the interim Constitution is a bridge away from a culture of authority to a culture of justification where every exercise of power must be justified.

Ubuntu in the Engineering Workplace: Paying it forward through Mentoring

Research reveals that South Africa is facing a critical skills shortage. Companies are struggling to source engineering professionals for their ongoing operational success. In order to retain critical engineering skills, young engineers should be provided with inspirational mentorship. Despite South Africa’s move to a democracy, its workplace is still mired by social inequalities. Organisations aiming to harness diversity should create a culture of respect and accessibility so that all employees can reach their full potential. While many studies focus on the importance of mentorship, little has been said about the value of Ubuntu in mentor-mentee relationships. The paper argues that for an inclusive workplace, the answer lies in Ubuntu. By practising Ubuntu, mentor engineers can contribute to the direly needed professional development of young engineers. Ubuntu is an African philosophy which acknowledges that one’s own humanity is interlinked with the dignity and humanity of others. Ubuntu is forgoing one’s personal interests for the benefit of people around you, while growing together as a community. The study aimed to establish that instead of looking at individualistic solutions, we should embrace mutual growth and empowerment. The author used questionnaires with closed and open-ended questions to collect data. Fifty engineering professionals in different fields and from different cities in South Africa participated in this case study. The data were analysed inductively as well as deductively. Mentorship was identified as an important aspect of Ubuntu. It was recommended that engineers practise Ubuntu in their workplace to cultivate an ethos of community and mutual respect.

Intersection of Ubuntu pedagogy and social justice: Transforming South African higher education

Background: Universities, globally, and in South Africa, continue to be confronted with demands for transformation, humanisation of pedagogical practices and to embrace social justice.Aim: In this article, we bring to the surface possibilities of Ubuntu pedagogy within a social justice framework. We intersect Collective Fingers Theory and Social Justice Theory to propose the notion of Ubuntu pedagogy, which draws from African philosophy of Ubuntu. We argue that Ubuntu pedagogy provides an alternation to the current pedagogies that draw from European theories for teaching and learning in the South African higher education context. We put forward that, Ubuntu pedagogy, when embraced with understanding and dignity it deserves, has the potential, firstly, of initiating students from other cultures other than African cultures to the values of Ubuntu and, secondly, of reconnecting students with their values and cultures, but it has a capacity to cultivate social justice values of equity, recognition and fair participation amongst students from diverse social backgrounds.Setting: South African Higher Education.Methodology: The authors draw from literature to position the article within Ubuntu philosophical framework and social justice lenses. Themes emerging from literature are as follows: Intersection of Ubuntu philosophy and social justice, Ubuntu pedagogy and transformation in higher education and guiding principles for possible implementation of Ubuntu pedagogy.Results: At the intersection of Ubuntu pedagogy and social justice, classroom practices are designed to respond to students’ cultural competencies and to embrace all linguistic repertoires that students bring to the classroom for learning. Students are treated equally and with dignity and respect regardless of their social backgrounds.Conclusion: We argue that higher education classrooms in post-apartheid South Africa should enable equal access, equity and inclusivity for all students. We therefore recommend Ubuntu pedagogy as a culturally and socially just pedagogy for transformative higher education classrooms. This article contributes to the continuing dialogues about transformative pedagogies, decolonisation and social justice in South African higher education.

Digital entrepreneurship and indigenous value systems: An Ubuntu perspective

AbstractThis paper investigates the embeddedness of digital entrepreneurship in the entrepreneurs' indigenous value system by examining the influence of ‘Ubuntu’ on digital entrepreneurship activities in the South African context. We do so through an interpretive field study of two innovation clusters in South Africa. Our findings reveal Ubuntu as the basis of a community orientation to digital entrepreneurship that offers an alternative to the prevalent heroic view in which digital entrepreneurship narratives are centred around the individual entrepreneur(s). They also highlight the tensions faced by digital entrepreneurs as they attempt to uphold the Ubuntu values of humility, reciprocity, and benevolence while operating in a competitive and fast‐paced environment. In addition, our study indicates that the way entrepreneurs draw on their indigenous value system is dynamic, giving rise to what we calldigital Ubuntu, reflecting a reworking of Ubuntu values into their increasingly digital reality. The concept of digital Ubuntu brings to light how indigenous values can become entangled with the capabilities of digital technologies and highlights the need for indigenous perspectives to advance our understanding of the diversity of digital phenomena, such as digital entrepreneurship, across cultural contexts.

Ubuntu and the Perceptions of Unethical Leader Conduct: A Case Study of Public Secondary School Leaders in Kenya

<p style="text-align:justify">This paper extends and complements previous research on unethical leader behavior by examining the social and cultural perspectives that inform the understanding of objectional conduct among secondary school leaders in Kenya. The study used a social constructivist theoretical framework, and qualitative case study, and semi-structured interviews with school boards of governors, principals, and heads of department and school bursars. The findings revealed that cultural beliefs underpinned by the ubuntu ethic informed the school leaders' perceptions of unethical leadership behavior in the Kenyan secondary school contexts. Four sub-themes highlight acts that contradict the ubuntu values of altruism, humanness, care, and solidarity. They include disregard for community interests, neglect of care for one's kin, disregard for harmony, and elders' respect. The study concluded that western universal perspectives and definitions could not solely be relied upon to describe unethical leadership behavior in schools in non-Euro western contexts. The study contributes to the literature on unethical and ethical leadership by proposing a potential benefit in recognizing and incorporating non-western perspectives in exploring and defining the unethical leadership construct.</p>

An African Relational Approach to Healthcare and Big Data Challenges.

Big Data has amplified some challenges in the healthcare context. One significant challenge is how to use healthcare big data (HBD) in ways that honor individual rights to informed consent or privacy. Careful analysis from diverse backgrounds will be vital in contributing ethical guidelines that can adequately address healthcare Big Data's growing complexities globally. Especially, the study argues that an under-explored African philosophy of Ubuntu can usefully influence big data practices in ways that address this challenge without undermining its benefits. Ubuntu emphasizes harmonious relationships. Harmonious relations entail identifying with one another and exhibiting solidarity to each other. One can identify or exhibit solidarity with others through psychological attitudes such as thinking of oneself as part of a “we” and acting in ways that will more likely improve the quality of life of others. The African relational philosophy of Ubuntu deserves to be given an audience not only for epistemic justice but also because the continued absence of African perspective in the discourse on ethical use of HBD science represents a missed opportunity to enrich ethical thinking about HBD from diverse backgrounds. Research is, however, required to provide greater specificity on how Ubuntu values may be integrated into HBD analytic techniques.

Reflecting on the Role and Impact of the Constitutional Value of uBuntu on the Concept of Contractual Freedom and Autonomy in South Africa

Private parties have the freedom and autonomy to enter into a contract. This autonomy is deeply rooted in their dignity and personal liberties. Private individuals, in furtherance of their autonomy and freedom to enter into a contract, have certain reasonable expectations, most fundamental of which is the desire that maximum respect is given to their legitimately concluded agreement. The concept of contractual freedom and autonomy connotes the idea that private individuals (natural and juristic) have the liberty to arrange their affairs in a manner that meets their economic interest without governmental inhibition, control and/or interference. However, the operative scope and the practical manifestations of the concept of contractual freedom are circumscribed in the constitutional, statutory, legislative and other socio-cultural orders of States. This article seeks to reflect on the role and influence of the constitutional value of ubuntu on the principle of contractual freedom and autonomy, and the naturally accompanying concepts of pacta sunt servanda and sanctity of contract in South Africa. The article provides an analysis of the judicial interpretation and views on the concept of contractual freedom and autonomy relative to other competing values that underlie the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Furthermore, the article appraises the impact of those judicial views on international commercial agreements. The article also discusses the extent to which communitarian values such as the concept of ubuntu have been infused into South African contract law and further reflects on the implication of infusing such communitarian values in both domestic and international contracts. The article concludes with a suggestion that the introduction of traditional African values in South African contract law fundamentally alters the theoretical foundations of the principle of contractual freedom and autonomy in both domestic and international contracts.

Atypical Black Leader Emergence: South African Self-Perceptions.

The research aimed to gain understanding of the self-perceptions of black professionals in relation to business leadership, and how these self-perceptions influenced their behaviors, aspirations and self-perceived abilities in leadership positions. The study was specifically focused on black South African professionals. Black professionals were found to exhibit signs of deep-rooted pain, anger and general emotional fatigue stemming from workplace-, socio-economic- and political triggers that evoked generational trauma and overall negative black lived experiences. The negative lived experiences could have led to racial identity dissonance and, in extreme cases, complete racial identity disassociation. Moreover, black professionals were found to display symptoms of ‘survivor guilt,’ stemming from the shared history of oppression amongst black people in South Africa. The ‘survivor guilt’ contributed toward a profound sense of shared responsibility and purpose to change the circumstances, experiences and overall perceptions about the capabilities of black professionals. Results showed that upbringing, determination, resilience, black support networks, and black leadership representation within organizational structures were important ingredients that positively contributed to the leadership aspirations and success of black professionals. The research discovered that, in some cases, black professionals leveraged white relationships to propel their careers forward, however, this practice reportedly resulted in the black professionals experiencing feelings of self-doubt in their own abilities. Self-doubt, also found to be a result of historical oppression, could have and have been shown to eventually lead to self-deselection, negatively impacting the aspirations and career advancement prospects of black professionals in organizational leadership. Furthermore, the research found that black leaders believed that their blackness, specifically, its unique texture of experiences and history in South Africa, provided them with superior empathetic leadership abilities toward other black employees. Black leaders frequently highlighted the distinctive values of ubuntu as the cornerstone of their leadership approach. In addition, it was found that black professionals also considered their blackness, particularly the shade of their skin, to detract from their leadership opportunities, as it reduced the odds of being authorized as natural leaders, thus fortifying a skewed self-perception of their own leadership capabilities.

Young children’s conceptions of morality in a South African context

The aim of the study was to explore children’s conceptions of morality, specifically the meanings children assigned to situations of morality. The participants were eight to eleven-year-old children (n = 8; female = 5, male = 3) who attended a primary school in KwaZulu-Natal. The children completed vignettes depicting moral dilemmas involving the following hypothetical scenarios: scenario 1 = seeking revenge; scenario 2 = breach of a contract. Thematic analysis of the data uncovered three themes: (i) sense of right or wrong; (ii) ethics of care; and (iii) ideas about fairness. Findings reveal that the young children had advanced conceptions of morality and understandings of justice, ethics of care, and notions of fairness. It emerged that their moral reasoning, moral judgements, moral attributions, and moral emotions are intersecting in nature and are underpinned by the African values of Ubuntu.

Decolonising curriculum change and implementation: Voices from Social Studies Zimbabwean Teachers

ABSTRACT In 1980, Zimbabwe inherited a Eurocentric education system from the British colony, aimed at the perpetuation of the subordination and silencing of the African child. When the government of Zimbabwe noticed the infestation of the colonial wound, demonstrated by the irrelevance and in-applicability of the inherited education system, it called for its reconstruction on a new curriculum, which was rolled out in 2015. However, Zimbabwean Social Studies teachers reported intractable inconsistencies in curriculum design and implementation between what is taught in the classroom and what is expected in the society, which they linked to lack of Ubuntu values and a decolonization perspective. Using the Social Studies curriculum as a case and the Ubuntu lens as a conceptual framework, this qualitative study investigates the strategies which can be used to reform the curriculum so that it speaks to the dictates of the Zimbabwean community in which it serves. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) from 12 purposefully sampled Social Studies teachers located in different school settings of Zimbabwe namely the rural, urban, growth points and farm areas. Findings indicated that the 'usable past' anchored in Ubuntu values as part of the decolonization agenda, though not given serious consideration in Zimbabwe, is fundamental to curriculum reform and implementation. Considering the findings, the study recommends the revisiting and extracting from the African past and its values to drive curriculum change to prepare the learner to lead an African life in the African continent. The study elucidates the need for a collective psyche in educational change in which curriculum planners practise cordial relations and engage the teachers in curriculum construction to perfect curriculum design and implementation. Keywords: Curriculum change; Curriculum implementation; Decolonisation; Social Studies; Ubuntu; 'Usable past'.

Application of the African Ontological Value of Ubuntu in Corporate Governance

Application of the African Ontological Value of Ubuntu in Corporate Governance

Sentencing Reform in Tanzania: Moving From Uhuru to Ubuntu?

The scholarly literature on sentencing reform has largely overlooked Africa. The paucity of legal scholarship is particularly striking with respect to Tanzania, one of Africa's largest and most populous countries. This article explores the first significant sentencing reform in Tanzania's history. In 2020, the Tanzanian judiciary issued a comprehensive set of sentencing guidelines for courts to follow. Until this point, sentencing was a highly discretionary stage of the criminal process. Courts had wide discretion, and the Tanzanian penal code offered very little guidance with respect to the exercise of that discretion. After providing a brief summary of the sentencing regime, we explore the innovative guidance contained in the reforms. At the conclusion we discuss the extent to which the Tanzanian reforms reflect core African values of Ubuntu, or more specifically in the case of Tanzania, Ujamaa, the philosophy promoted by Tanzania's first President, Julius Nyerere.

Implications of Ubuntu/Synergy for the Education System of Ethiopia

In most sub-Saharan African states, education was carried out by missionaries, which resulted in the incursion of foreign language and/or culture. As one of the sub-Saharan countries, Ethiopia has faced the same scenario apart from the changes accrued during regime changes. In line with these changes, the education philosophy, education policy, and its accompanying epistemology have shown marked changes. However, all of them fail to encompass the sociocultural facets of the country. As a result, the quality of education at all levels of the system has been a point of discussion for the last several years. The current initiative (Ethiopian Education Development Roadmap (2018-30)) is one of the offspring of a marked debate in the education sector. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide a more comprehensive picture of the education system in Ethiopia on top of philosophical scrutiny of past and current education reforms. In analyzing education reforms, the paper draws on indigenous philosophical orientation and the values of Ubuntu. The paper argues that the reforms introduced during regime changes are short of pledging an indigenous knowledge base. As indigenous education is based on sound philosophical foundations, the paper further argues that the proposed philosophical foundation can easily fit with the culture and lifestyle of the community being considered.

Praising the poor and blaming the rich: A panegyric reading of Luke 6:20–49 in Malawian context

The article presented a panegyric reading of the Sermon on the Plain (Lk 6:20–49) in the Malawian context. It observed that, unlike its Matthean counterpart (Mt 5–7), the Sermon holds an insignificant place in African hermeneutics. Based on the Sermon’s structure and content the article proposed the Greco-Roman panegyric, whose function was to inculcate commonly held values, as a framework for reading of the Sermon. It argued that when read in its original context as a Greco-Roman panegyric, the Sermon’s radical stance on poverty and riches had significant implications for African and Malawian socio-economic realities. It brought into light the complicated relationships between the poor and rich both among Luke’s original audience and the contemporary Malawian context. The panegyric reading of the Sermon also had a significant bearing on the application of the ubuntu philosophy in socio-economic interrelationships in Malawi. The article posited that the socio-economic inequalities in Malawi caused by corrupt, cronyism and nepotism not only challenge the majority Christian status of the nation but also the foundations of the African values of ubuntu . As a panegyric, the Sermon therefore challenges Malawian Christians to rethink their values and the relationship between the rich and the poor. Contribution: The article provides a new perspective to the interpretation of the Sermon on the Plain in African context. Against the background of its apparent neglect in African hermeneutics, the article underscores the relevance of the Sermon on the Plain to -socio-economic discourse in Malawi in particular and Africa in general.

CSR governance framework of South Africa, pre, during and post apartheid: a manifestation of ubuntu values

The paper examines whether and how ubuntu values were infused into the corporate social responsibility (CSR) governance framework of South Africa. It uses the CSR governance framework as an exemplar of how corporations, individuals and communities can exude ubuntu values in their daily operations. We adopted an historical cultural context approach to decipher how ubuntu principles were linked with social responsibility, pre, during and post-apartheid. We also identified dominant actors in the CSR arena and the discourses that sustained them. Our analyses revealed that ubuntu values converged with ethical values of other anti-apartheid actors during the crafting of the new CSR governance framework. We also note that the outcome of the interactions was an infusion of ubuntu values into pieces of legislation, ethics committees and industry charters. Our conclusion is that ubuntu principles are indeed manifested in South Africa's CSR governance framework whose goal is to create a caring society.

CSR governance framework of South Africa, pre, during and post-apartheid: a manifestation of <i>ubuntu</i> values

The paper examines whether and how ubuntu values were infused into the corporate social responsibility (CSR) governance framework of South Africa. It uses the CSR governance framework as an exemplar of how corporations, individuals and communities can exude ubuntu values in their daily operations. We adopted an historical cultural context approach to decipher how ubuntu principles were linked with social responsibility, pre, during and post-apartheid. We also identified dominant actors in the CSR arena and the discourses that sustained them. Our analyses revealed that ubuntu values converged with ethical values of other anti-apartheid actors during the crafting of the new CSR governance framework. We also note that the outcome of the interactions was an infusion of ubuntu values into pieces of legislation, ethics committees and industry charters. Our conclusion is that ubuntu principles are indeed manifested in South Africa's CSR governance framework whose goal is to create a caring society.

Problematizing Minor Transnational Identities And Patterns Of Othering In Meg Vandermerwe’s Zebra Crossing

Abstract In her debut novel, Zebra Crossing, Meg Vandermerwe privileges the voice of Chipo Nyamubaya, an albino girl from Zimbabwe, to capture the gripping and tragic experiences of African immigrants in South Africa. This article problematizes the notion of minor transnational identities by interrogating the relationships between South Africans and those they refer to as outsiders, and the relationship between the African immigrants themselves vis-à-vis culturally held beliefs about albinos and LGBTs. In the process, we demonstrate the patterns of the idea of Otherness brought about by racism, xenophobia, homophobic prejudice and insensitive discrimination. The article reveals how Othering debunks the ideology of African connectedness by bringing out the apparent contradictions in the values of Ubuntu.