tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/sharpville-massacre-36809/articlesSharpville Massacre – The Conversation2023-11-28T13:24:34Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2178282023-11-28T13:24:34Z2023-11-28T13:24:34ZSharpeville: new research on 1960 South African massacre shows the number of dead and injured was massively undercounted<p>On 21 March 1960 at 1.40 in the afternoon, apartheid South Africa’s police opened fire on a peaceful crowd of about 4,000 residents of Sharpeville, who were protesting against carrying <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/pass-laws-south-africa-1800-1994">identity documents</a> that restricted black people’s movement. The police minimised the number of victims by at least one third, and justified the shooting by claiming that the crowd was violent. This shocking story has been thus misrepresented for over 60 years.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003257806">new research</a> retells the story of Sharpeville, about 70km south of Johannesburg, from the viewpoint of the victims themselves. As experienced <a href="https://www.lsu.edu/hss/history/people/faculty/clark.php">historians</a> who have undertaken archival research in South Africa <a href="https://history.ucla.edu/faculty/william-worger">since the 1970s</a> we based our <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003257806">research</a> on interviews with survivors and investigation into government records in both the <a href="https://archive.nelsonmandela.org/index.php/south-african-police-museum-and-archives">police archives</a> and the <a href="https://www.gov.za/about-government/contact-directory/soe/soe/national-archives-south-africa-nasa">national archives</a> in Pretoria. Our work reveals the true number of victims and the exact role of the police in the massacre.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/sharpeville-massacre-21-march-1960">Sharpeville Massacre</a> ignited international outrage and the birth of the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/british-anti-apartheid-movement">Anti-Apartheid Movement</a> worldwide. It also led to renewed political protests inside South Africa. These were met with the total suppression of political movements that lasted for 30 years. Despite its historic importance, Sharpeville as a place and a community has remained unknown to the wider public and its residents anonymous. Yet they have a story to tell.</p>
<p>Even though the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/trc/">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a> chose the 1960 Sharpeville massacre as the formal beginning of its investigation of apartheid crimes, its examination of the massacre itself was perfunctory. Only three witnesses from the community were invited to testify during just part of one day (out of 2,000 witnesses during five years of hearings). </p>
<p>People in Sharpeville believe that the lack of attention to their plight since democracy in 1994 is because the original protest was organised by the rival <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/pan-africanist-congress-pac">Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania</a>, not the governing African National Congress (ANC).</p>
<h2>Changing the narrative</h2>
<p>Based on our research, the new book <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003257806">Voices of Sharpeville</a> traces the long residence of Africans in the greater Sharpeville area, as far as the <a href="https://www.maropeng.co.za/content/page/introduction-to-your-visit-to-the-cradle-of-humankind-world-heritage-site">Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site</a> 100km north. It also emphasises the crucial industrial importance of the greater <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/vaal-triangle-erupts-violence">Vaal Triangle</a> in which Sharpeville is located, from the 1930s onward.</p>
<p>Our work details the rich culture developed by urban Sharpeville residents in defiance of the attempts of <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/hendrik-frensch-verwoerd">Prime Minister HF Verwoerd’s</a> attempts to control African life. </p>
<p>Using the words of witnesses as recorded from their hospital beds within days of the shooting, and for weeks and months later, the events of 21 March 1960 are recounted in detail, increasing the number of victims to at least 91 dead, and 281 injured. The official police figures first published in 1960 and repeated endlessly ever since were 69 and 180 respectively. </p>
<p>The witness testimony places the responsibility for the shooting squarely with the police. </p>
<h2>New evidence</h2>
<p>The oral and documentary source material we used was previously off limits to researchers, insufficiently examined, or largely ignored. Access to many records held by the previous apartheid government was absolutely restricted prior to 1994, and since then many of the records have not been properly registered. This makes it challenging for researchers to find important documents.</p>
<p>But with the help of archivists and librarians, we were able to locate rare and even hidden records of Sharpeville and its history, and record the voices of many of the town’s residents.</p>
<h2>History of Sharpeville</h2>
<p>The first settlement in the Sharpeville area – <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/sharpeville-gauteng">Top Location</a> – was razed in the 1950s to make space for white people’s businesses and homes. Official records and aerial photographs reveal the previous existence of a large community on the now empty land. There is also an unmarked cemetery where about 3,500 residents were buried between around 1900 and 1938. </p>
<p>By the mid-20th century, apartheid officials began to plan a bigger settlement in the vicinity. Sharpeville and other places like it were designed in the 1950s to segregate Africans away from the cities, which were reserved for white people only. </p>
<p>Sharpeville’s housing construction became a “model” for the ubiquitous <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/House-types-NE-51-6-and-51-9_fig4_272164901">four-roomed NE 51/9 houses</a> in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43622104">black townships</a> throughout the country, none of which they could own outright but rent only.</p>
<p>In almost 300 witness statements taken by the police immediately following the shooting, many of the everyday details of life in Sharpeville were revealed. These statements were recorded immediately after arrest and under oath by the police to determine guilt or innocence against the charges of “public violence and incitement” brought against them. They were also provided voluntarily in 1961 and 1962, also under oath, by survivors and family members to establish a basis for the compensation the victims unsuccessfully requested.</p>
<p>Details of family life – numbers of children, occupations, wages, and health – were recorded, providing a wealth of information about Sharpeville’s residents. </p>
<p><strong>The massacre</strong>: Testimony, both from the official 1960 <a href="https://idep.library.ucla.edu/sharpeville-massacre#:%7E:text=A%20Commission%20of%20Enquiry%20was,officials%2C%20and%20residents%20of%20Sharpeville">commission of enquiry</a> into the massacre, and the criminal court trial of over 70 Sharpeville residents in 1960-1961, detailed the actions of both the crowd and the police.</p>
<p>The testimony by civilians and police alike, together with the claimants’ statements, provides a minute-by-minute narrative of the day. The testimonies of the residents, including all the Africans who worked for the municipality and as police officers in Sharpeville, unanimously attested to the fact that the crowd gathered peacefully to <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/pass-laws-south-africa">protest the pass law</a>. According to these witnesses, by the time of the shooting, almost 300 policemen had been moved into the township, including at least 13 white policemen armed with Sten machine guns. There were five Saracen armoured vehicles. </p>
<p>Police testimony makes it clear that the officer in charge gave the order to shoot, with the machine gunners firing directly into the crowd from a distance of no more than 3-5 metres. As one white official noted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It made me think of a wheat field, where a whirlwind had shaken it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The crowd was taken utterly by surprise by the police fusillade. Over three quarters of them, dead and injured alike, were shot in the back as they fled.</p>
<p><strong>The victims</strong>: Crucial to gaining an accurate understanding of the numbers of victims – their names, families, and injuries – were the autopsy and medical records detailing the exact causes of death and injury for the over 300 victims. These forms and narrative statements, filled out by the hospital physicians who treated the injured and performed autopsies on the dead, prove conclusively that the government under-counted the victims by at least one third. </p>
<p>This new information remained embargoed in police records throughout the apartheid years to 1994. Some of it was finally transferred to the national archives in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It details the injuries.</p>
<h2>Remembrance</h2>
<p>The people of Sharpeville wonder why the world has not listened to their stories even as they have told them from the day of the shooting to the present.</p>
<p>In 2023, residents were able to use the information uncovered in our research to update the Wall of <a href="https://www.freedompark.co.za/">Names Memorial</a> (which lists the name of every person who gave their life fighting for freedom in South Africa) at <a href="https://idep.library.ucla.edu/africa/about-freedom-park">Freedom Park</a> in Pretoria to reflect accurately the number of victims killed on 21 March 1960. But still they have received no compensation for their injuries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217828/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William H Worger receives funding from the University of California Office of the President.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nancy L Clark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite its historic importance, Sharpeville itself has remained unknown and its residents anonymous, yet they have a story to tell.Nancy L Clark, Dean and Professor Emeritus, Louisiana State University William H. Worger, Professor Emeritus of History, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1887772022-08-16T14:27:02Z2022-08-16T14:27:02ZSouth Africa’s Marikana 10 years on: survey shows knowledge of massacre is low<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479382/original/file-20220816-5614-dzeno6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman at a protest in support of victims of the Marikana massacre outside the South African parliament.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Nic Bothma</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>To explore the patterns of collective memory in South Africa after nearly three decades of democracy, we set out to establish how much of the country’s recent history people in the country still remember. </p>
<p>Close to 3,000 people over the age of 15 responded to the annual round of the <a href="https://hsrc.ac.za/news/latest-news/striking-pain-memory-trauma-and-restitution-a-decade-after-the-marikana-massacre/">South African Social Attitudes Survey (2021)</a> by the <a href="https://hsrc.ac.za/">Human Sciences Research Council</a>. The nationally representative data suggests that there is low public awareness in the country about key historical events. The <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/marikana-massacre-16-august-2012">Marikana massacre</a> – the killing of 34 striking miners by police on 16 August 2012 – is one of them.</p>
<p>Just over 40% of the survey respondents said they had heard of the massacre but knew very little about it, while 17% said that they were unaware of it. Only 40% reported knowing enough about Marikana to be able to explain it to a friend. </p>
<p>The findings seem to suggest that public awareness of the tragedy is relatively low among the South African public. This raises uncomfortable questions about collective memory in the country, implying a weak acknowledgement and appreciation of important turning points in its modern national history. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479399/original/file-20220816-9774-hiye6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479399/original/file-20220816-9774-hiye6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479399/original/file-20220816-9774-hiye6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479399/original/file-20220816-9774-hiye6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479399/original/file-20220816-9774-hiye6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479399/original/file-20220816-9774-hiye6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479399/original/file-20220816-9774-hiye6v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">South African Social Attitudes Survey, 2021.</span></span>
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<p>To put the finding in perspective, we compared the responses to the Marikana massacre with other big historical events in the country. These included the <a href="https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/south-africa-student-protests-explained/">#FeesMustFall Movement</a> (2015/16), the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/june-16-soweto-youth-uprising">1976 Soweto Uprising</a>, and the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/sharpeville-massacre-21-march-1960">Sharpeville massacre</a> (1960). </p>
<p>The results show that awareness of the Marikana massacre was very similar to knowledge about the #FeesMustFall Movement, with 16% having heard of it, 41% displaying limited knowledge, and 40% no awareness (Fig 2). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479400/original/file-20220816-26-6grk0p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479400/original/file-20220816-26-6grk0p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479400/original/file-20220816-26-6grk0p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479400/original/file-20220816-26-6grk0p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479400/original/file-20220816-26-6grk0p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479400/original/file-20220816-26-6grk0p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479400/original/file-20220816-26-6grk0p.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">South African Social Attitudes Survey, 2021</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Familiarity with the 1976 Soweto youth uprising against apartheid education was marginally lower. Awareness of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, in which 69 peaceful protesters against restrictions on the movement of black people were shot dead, was even lower. The share of respondents who were confident they would be able to describe the historical events to someone else ranged between 26% and 40%. </p>
<p>These findings suggest that awareness is likely to be event-specific. And that it’s influenced by how recently events have happened. But overall the level of knowledge about historical events remains generally quite shallow.</p>
<p>As the philosopher George Santayana once <a href="https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/those-who-do-not-learn-history-doomed-to-repeat-it-really/#:%7E:text='Those%20who%20do%20not%20learn,are%20condemned%20to%20repeat%20it.%E2%80%9D">said</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Skewed memory</h2>
<p>Women were slightly less knowledgeable about the Marikana massacre than men. A high percentage of young people – especially 16 to 19-year olds – as well as those over the age of 65 knew very little. The group that knew the most were aged between 35 and 49. </p>
<p>Less educated and rural adults displayed significantly lower awareness of the Sharpeville massacre. The influence of education is especially pronounced in shaping awareness. Access to information also has a bearing. People with a television at home or internet access displayed higher knowledge levels than those without. </p>
<p>Looking across all these attributes, more than a fifth of youth (16-24 years) and students, those with less than a high school level education, rural residents, and those living in North West, Northern Cape, Free State and Eastern Cape provinces reported not having heard of the Marikana massacre.</p>
<p>The most surprising finding was the relatively low awareness among those in North West province, where the massacre happened. This raises the question of whether this historic event is not adequately represented in the media platforms accessible to this community.</p>
<h2>A desire to remember?</h2>
<p>Apart from social and demographic characteristics, the survey also found that individual beliefs about the past and its relevance for the present had a strong influence on awareness of the Marikana massacre (Figure 3). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479401/original/file-20220816-8518-5u5jp5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479401/original/file-20220816-8518-5u5jp5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479401/original/file-20220816-8518-5u5jp5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479401/original/file-20220816-8518-5u5jp5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479401/original/file-20220816-8518-5u5jp5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479401/original/file-20220816-8518-5u5jp5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479401/original/file-20220816-8518-5u5jp5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p>Firstly, the extent to which people expressed interest in “the history and cultures of South Africa” was found to be a significant factor. Those who were very interested in local history and culture were nearly four times more likely to have high awareness of the massacre than those not at all interested (55% compared to 14%). </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/marikana-massacre-south-africa-needs-to-build-a-society-thats-decent-and-doesnt-humiliate-people-188534">Marikana massacre: South Africa needs to build a society that's decent and doesn't humiliate people</a>
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<p>A similar pattern was found based on the degree to which South Africans recognised the importance of the past for the present. Those who believed that historical events were very important were two-and-a-half times more likely to confidently explain the events of Marikana, relative to those who did not (55% versus 22%). </p>
<p>Finally, adults were less knowledgeable of the Marikana massacre (37% could explain the event) if they held the view that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>we should forget the past, move on and stop talking about apartheid.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Those challenging this viewpoint displayed a distinctly higher level of awareness (52%). </p>
<p>Given the importance of such beliefs, it is encouraging that many South Africans recognise the importance of the past for the present. Overall, 71% were interested in South African history and culture (38% very, 33% somewhat), while 78% said that historical events such as the Marikana massacre were very or somewhat important today (47% very, 32% somewhat). </p>
<p>More ambiguously, 45% agreed that South Africans should forget the past and move on, while 31% disagreed and 24% were neutral or uncertain. </p>
<h2>Commemoration, accountability and justice</h2>
<p>The tenth anniversary of the Marikana massacre raises many lingering and uncomfortable questions. These include issues of accountability and culpability, the nature of corporate power and state violence in democratic South Africa, and ultimately of social justice, restitution and healing.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/disconnect-between-business-and-state-contributed-to-marikana-massacre-121507">Disconnect between business and state contributed to Marikana massacre</a>
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<p>A failure to remember and address the issue of reparations will, as William Gumede, Associate Professor at the Wits School of Governance, has argued, pose the societal risk of <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2020-08-16-how-workplace-democracy-can-undo-many-of-apartheids-ills/">“many more Marikanas”</a>.</p>
<p>As former public protector Thuli Madonsela stated in a 2020 Marikana <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-14-remembering-and-renewal-thoughts-on-building-a-positive-future-for-the-marikana-region/">memorial lecture</a>,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Marikana happened because we forgot to remember. We forgot to remember our ugly, unjust past and the legacy it left us … We forgot to heal and we focused on renewal. A renewal without a foundation can’t work.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>Samela Mtyingizane, a doctoral researcher at the Human Sciences Research Council, contributed to the research and writing of this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188777/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Roberts receives funding from various government departments and non-government organisations for the fielding of commissioned content in the annual South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) series. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jare Struwig receives funding from various government and non-governmental organisations as part of a body of work connected to the South African Social Attitude Survey. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Gordon works for the Human Sciences Research Council as a senior research specialist. He is a member of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) research team. In addition, he is affiliated with the University of Johannesburg. </span></em></p>Individual beliefs about the past and its relevance to the present strongly influenced awareness of the Marikana tragedy.Benjamin Roberts, Acting Strategic Lead: Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES) research division, and Coordinator of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), Human Sciences Research CouncilJare Struwig, Chief Research Manager, Human Sciences Research CouncilSteven Gordon, Senior Research Specialist., Human Sciences Research CouncilLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1705962021-11-05T13:12:47Z2021-11-05T13:12:47ZSouth Africa’s liberation war veterans are angry: here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/429948/original/file-20211103-23-o3k8nm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Umkhonto we Sizwe army veterans stand to attention during the 75th birthday celebrations of the governing ANC in 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Cornell Turiki</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The late 1950s was an era of growing resistance to the apartheid’s state’s application of discriminatory laws in South Africa. The resistance, led by the African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), was met with harsh state suppression. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/sharpeville-massacre-21-march-1960">massacre in 1960</a> of 69 black people protesting against being forced to carry identity documents that restricted their movement, was a turning point for both the ANC and PAC. It precipitated their move away from passive non-violent resistance towards the armed struggle.</p>
<p>In 1961, the ANC formed its armed wing, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02582473.2018.1438882">Umkhonto we Sizwe</a> (MK) (Spear of the nation). And the PAC <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/trc/hrvtrans/submit/apla.htm">formed the Azanian People’ Liberation Army (APLA)</a>. The aim was to violently challenge white minority rule. Both embarked on campaigns of armed resistance against the state, including acts of sabotage and guerrilla warfare. </p>
<p>The most spectacular symbolic attacks on the apartheid state were the rocket attack on the fuels company, Sasol’s coal-to-oil refinery in Sasolburg; the Koeberg nuclear power station in 1982; and the South African Defence Force headquarters in Pretoria <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Umkhonto-Sizwe-ANCs-Armed-Struggle/dp/1770228411">in 1983</a>. </p>
<p>As state repression increased, especially after the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/june-16-soweto-youth-uprising">Soweto uprisings of 1976 of schoolchildren </a> many young black South Africans flocked to join the liberation movements and their armed wings in exile.</p>
<p>It is estimated that the membership of the ANC and PAC’s military wings in the 1990s stood at between 8000 and 10 000 members. These numbers swelled during the transition to democracy to 23 000 by 1994, and later to <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Military-Making-Modern-South-Africa-Annette-Seegers/9781850436898">33 000 members</a>. </p>
<p>This last-minute spike raised eyebrows at the time, and in fact can be blamed in part for the unhappiness ensued. The numbers went up because it was felt necessary to boost the relatively small number of liberation fighters, compared to the apartheid-era South African Defence Force which had a total of <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-33734-6">67 5000 active duty force and 360 000 in the citizen forces in 1993</a>. </p>
<p>But the large signups were controversial, and created tensions that have simmered down the decades.</p>
<p>On top of this, the dismantling of these armed forces and that of the apartheid state was, in retrospect, managed badly. The result is that it left in its wake thousands of angry veterans who felt betrayed. In recent years they have come out vociferously against the ruling ANC. Most recently <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/state-ponders-adding-terrorism-charges-to-53-people-who-allegedly-held-ministers-hostage-20211018">53 veterans were charged with taking government ministers hostage</a> in an attempt to get the government to fulfil promises they claim were broken.</p>
<p>For decades sociologists have warned that military veterans would <a href="https://www.projecttopics.org/journals/140158-the-social-integration-of-demobilised-soldiers-in-contemporary-south-africa.html">use their skills to cause instability</a> if their needs weren’t addressed. Lephophotho Mashike, who has researched the subject extensively called them a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21528586.2004.10419108">‘a ticking time bomb’</a>.</p>
<h2>Demobilisation and compensation</h2>
<p>The end of the armed hostilities following the end of apartheid in 1994 meant the establishment of a new united military – the <a href="http://www.csvr.org.za/docs/militarisation/fromsadftosandf.pdf">South African National Defence Force</a>. The former guerrillas and armies of the former nominally independent states of Venda, Bophuthatswana, Ciskei and Transkei, were either integrated into the new defence force or demobilised. </p>
<p>When the integration process was finalised in 2001, 44 143 names appeared on the collective Non-Statutory Force Certified Personnel Register. Of these, 15 805 were integrated into the South African National Defence Force, 9 771 demobilised and 13 117 neither integrated or demobilised. </p>
<p>Those who were demobilised weren’t considered fit to serve in the new integrated army due to ill-health or age. Each <a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/325/">received a gratuity</a> based on their years of service. They could choose to either receive a lump sum, or <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030337339">monthly pension pay-out</a>. </p>
<p>Military veterans complained that the payments were inadequate. Many have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10246029.2012.752396">remained destitute</a> due to poor education, lack of marketable skills, health problems and <a href="http://www.csvr.org.za/docs/militarisation/nowthatthewar.pdf">inability to reintegrate into society</a>.</p>
<p>A 2006 report titled <a href="https://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Only-Useful-Until-Democracy.pdf">“Only Useful Until Democracy”</a> found that 73% of the military veterans believed that South Africa’s post-apartheid leaders had forgotten them. Over 84% believed that their compensation was not <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/anti-apartheid-veterans-left-in-the-lurch-1.611906">adequate</a>, felt neglected and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10246029.2012.752396">abandoned by the ANC government</a>.</p>
<p>And a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10246029.2012.752396">study I conducted in 2012</a> with researcher Henrietta Bwalya found that military veterans were frustrated by slow payments. They were living in abject poverty, felt used, neglected and marginalised in the new political dispensation. </p>
<p>In 2007 they finally seemed to have attracted the earnest attention they had been seeking. This was at the ANC’s National Conference in Polokwane at which Jacob Zuma was elected President of the ANC.</p>
<p>The conference pledged to provide veterans with extensive welfare support, adopting <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/news/ramaphosa-blamed-for-military-vets-hostage-incident-54061ce5-71b7-4060-8ef8-43e7a646ee50">a resolution</a> that committed the ANC to taking direct interest in the welfare and reintegration of its former soldiers <a href="https://new.anc1912.org.za/resolutions-2/">into civilian life</a>. </p>
<p>Two years later, and after Zuma had become the president of the country, the <a href="http://www.dmv.gov.za/">Department of Military Veterans</a> was created. It was placed under the Department of Defence, with the remit of managing veterans’ affairs. </p>
<p>In 2011 the <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/military-veterans-act">Military Veterans Act</a> was promulgated. It obliged the state to provide military veterans access to healthcare, subsidised public transport, education, skills and job training as well as burial support. This was <a href="http://www.dmv.gov.za/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/The-Military-Veterans-Act-of-2011.pdf">subject to meeting a needs test</a>.</p>
<p>This raised the legitimate expectations of military veterans that they would now finally receive the benefits. But <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030337339">discontent remained – and even grew –</a> as the Department of Military Veterans proved unable to <a href="https://www.defenceweb.co.za/featured/ministerial-hostage-incident-seen-as-another-intelligence-failure/">roll out the benefits</a> or even spend its allocated budget.</p>
<p>This has been largely attributed to the lack of capacity and poor administration in the department. This was <a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/32465/">reflected in the deliberations</a> of Parliament’s Select Committee on Security and Justice, in March 2021.</p>
<p>The department has consistently under-performed in terms of meeting the needs of veterans. It’s plagued by mismanagement and corruption, including wasteful, <a href="https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-08-24-four-military-vets-department-managers-suspended-ahead-of-probe-into-r120m-irregular-expenditure/">irregular and fruitless expenditure</a>.</p>
<p>Discontent among military veterans took on an extreme turn in October. A group of them allegedly <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-10-15-military-vets-leader-who-took-two-ministers-and-a-deputy-minister-hostage-works-for-ethekwini-municipality/">held </a> two government ministers and a deputy minister hostage. They demanded government jobs, R4.2 million (US$285 000) compensation each, land for housing, and free <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/mabuza-to-meet-military-veterans-demanding-government-jobs-millions-in-gratuity-payments-20211014">education</a> for their dependants. </p>
<p>The group, calling itself the Liberation Struggle War Veterans, is made up of former members of Umkhonto we Sizwe, APLA and the Azanian National Liberation Army (Azanla) allied to the Black Consciousness Movement. This Azanian National Liberation Army was not officially disbanded during the negotiations to end apartheid as the Black Consciousness Movement boycotted the talks. They were therefore latecomers to the compensation process.</p>
<h2>What needs to be done</h2>
<p>Military veterans constitute a small but vocal constituency in the ANC and form a powerful political bloc <a href="https://irr.org.za/media/articles-authored-by-the-institute/the-dangerous-rise-of-jacob-zumas-private-army">that’s been closely aligned to Zuma</a>. </p>
<p>It’s neither sensible nor desirable that the maladministration that’s affected their lives is allowed to continue, as a recent <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/public-protector-finds-military-veterans-department-appointed-people-without-qualifications-and-experience-fccdcf81-73a1-45fc-89a4-8dee47fba21b">report by the public protector pointed out</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170596/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindy Heinecken does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The dismantling of the liberation armies and that of the apartheid state was managed badly. It left in its wake thousands of angry veterans who felt betrayed.Lindy Heinecken, Vice-Dean Research, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1606282021-05-11T14:39:35Z2021-05-11T14:39:35ZBook shows the folly of painting Mandela as either saint or sellout<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399734/original/file-20210510-5469-yc6x96.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nelson Mandela at the commemoration of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre in 1994.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Georges MERILLON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are two widely available views of <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/national-orders/recipient/nelson-rolihlahla-mandela">Nelson Mandela</a>, the first post-apartheid president of South Africa. The first is a reverential and uncritical celebration of his life and achievements. It resonated in the obituaries and eulogies when Mandela died <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-11-06-hundreds-remember-nelson-mandela-dying-in-the-1980s-inside-the-mandela-effect/">in December 2013</a>. </p>
<p>Madiba (his clan name) was <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=9VZmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=tony+o%27reilly,+Mandela+sent+by+God&source=bl&ots=GEkAd8llEn&sig=ACfU3U3AIuYiJ0svquYP9wCDYyZ3lleUtw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUtK6So8HwAhWVQhUIHZF8Aw4Q6AEwEnoECBIQAw#v=onepage&q=tony%20o'reilly%2C%20Mandela%20sent%20by%20God&f=false">“sent by God”</a>, said Irish newspaper magnate Tony O’Reilly, who’s said to have been a friend of Mandela’s. His purchase of South Africa’s then largest newspaper company, Argus Newspapers, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03064229508535962">was made possible by Mandela’s support</a>. Former American president Barack Obama <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/12/05/president-obama-delivers-statement-passing-nelson-mandela">declared that</a> Mandela</p>
<blockquote>
<p>changed the arc of history, transforming his country, the continent and the world.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A second prevailing view is hostile and dismissive. By 2015, a reputation that had appeared invincible was being shredded in some media outlets, on the streets and especially on university campuses across South Africa. The critique centred on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-1994-miracle-whats-left-159495">1994 negotiated settlement</a> that ended apartheid. It accused Mandela of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-south-africa-should-undo-mandelas-economic-deals-52767">betraying</a> the black majority to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-south-africa-should-undo-mandelas-economic-deals-52767">appease the economically powerful white minority</a>.</p>
<p>Both narratives – Mandela as secular saint or Mandela as sellout – are poor history. The suggestion that Mandela single-handedly achieved democracy is as intellectually threadbare as its mirror image: that he was responsible for the failure to transform social and economic relations after 1994.</p>
<p>Our edited collection, <em><a href="https://jacana.co.za/product/reassessing-mandela/">Reassessing Mandela</a></em>, provides a scholarly counterweight to the two polarised positions. It attempts to begin the task of revisiting the canonical biographies, rethinking aspects of Mandela’s life and his politics, and evaluating how he is and should be remembered.</p>
<h2>Reassessing Mandela</h2>
<p>The first aspect of Mandela’s life reassessed in the book is his family and its background, his childhood and youth, and his Thembu lineage. Two chapters – by the late <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/news/sources/alumni-news/2017/distinguished-historian-passes-away.html">Phil Bonner</a> and by <a href="https://sociology.columbian.gwu.edu/xolela-mangcu">Xolela Mangcu</a> – complement one another in intriguing ways. Both historians remind us that Mandela’s 1994 autobiography, <em><a href="https://www.exclusivebooks.co.za/product/9780349106533">Long Walk to Freedom</a></em>, is an unreliable text. Some of its flaws are replicated in the work of others. </p>
<p>Bonner’s archivally based chapter corrects some of the shaky chronology in <em>Long Walk</em>. It identifies Mandela’s father Gadla Mandela as “a significant if little recognised historical figure” but shows that Mandela’s own account of his father defying the white magistrate cannot be read as history. </p>
<p>Mangcu’s chapter challenges Mandela’s own account of his descent. He locates him within a history of the Thembu royal house’s “pragmatic co-operation” with colonial rule. Mandela did not mention this. </p>
<p>Mangcu emphasises the history of “African political modernity” in the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/place/transkei">Transkei</a>, a territory comprising a number of African kingdoms and chiefdoms annexed in the 19th century. He also considers Gadla’s role in the local administrative body (Bungha), where he is portrayed as resisting both missionary influence and colonial regulations.</p>
<p>Bonner and Mangcu underline the complexity of “indirect rule” in the Transkei. They correct the tendency to discuss Mandela’s early years through a lens of rural nostalgia.</p>
<h2>Mandela’s political activism</h2>
<p>A second broad area of reassessment emerges from three chapters which consider Mandela’s relationship with the South African Communist Party <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/south-african-communist-party-sacp">(SACP)</a>, his activism and especially his leadership in underground politics. <a href="https://www.ul.ie/research/prof-tom-lodge">Tom Lodge</a> produces a fine-grained account of Mandela’s “association with South Africa’s communist left”. His is a study of friendships and social networks, of left-wing readings and writings, and of political alliances and tactics.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.uj.ac.za/faculties/humanities/department-of-historical-studies/Pages/staff/Paul-Landau.aspx">Paul Landau</a>’s chapter focuses on the period between the 1960 <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/sharpeville-massacre-21-march-1960">Sharpeville massacre</a> of black protesters by apartheid police, and Mandela’s arrest <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324461604578191683590816070">in August 1962</a>. It traces the efforts to implement the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070.2020.1700663">M-Plan</a> – a template for an underground structure of the liberation movement, the African National Congress (ANC). </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399958/original/file-20210511-21-1bycvdt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399958/original/file-20210511-21-1bycvdt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=868&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399958/original/file-20210511-21-1bycvdt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=868&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399958/original/file-20210511-21-1bycvdt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=868&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399958/original/file-20210511-21-1bycvdt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1091&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399958/original/file-20210511-21-1bycvdt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1091&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399958/original/file-20210511-21-1bycvdt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1091&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mandela and a small group of like-minded colleagues sought to use the plan to transform the ANC into a militant vanguard movement willing to employ violence against the state.</p>
<p>Thula Simpson’s chapter reconsiders Mandela’s role as commander-in-chief of <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/umkhonto-wesizwe-mk">umKhonto we Sizwe</a>, (an armed wing set up by the ANC and SACP). He suggests that its campaign of urban sabotage was more effective than generally acknowledged. </p>
<p>Three other chapters cast new light on different aspects of Mandela’s life: his marriage to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela; his years in jail on Robben Island, and his role in the human rights discourse that shaped South Africa’s new <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf">constitution</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/people/shireen-hassim">Shireen Hassim</a> provides a compelling rereading of</p>
<blockquote>
<p>one of the most iconic political marriages in history. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>First, she establishes Mandela’s wife Winnie’s own political career and significance. She says it offered “a form of intimate political leadership” to young activists. Secondly, she explores the complex relationship between Winnie’s political trajectory and Nelson’s, and how a widening political divide accompanied the breakdown of the marriage.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cfms.uct.ac.za/fam/staff/evans">Martha Evans</a> examines four visits by journalists to Robben Island between 1964 and 1977, their interactions with Mandela and their published accounts. She discusses Mandela’s capacity to capitalise on brief contacts from an apparent position of weakness, and shows how incarceration enhanced his iconic status.</p>
<h2>Recalibrating Mandela</h2>
<p>These chapters are book-ended by Colin Bundy’s introduction and <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/find-an-expert/professor-elleke-boehmer">Elleke Boehmer</a>’s postscript. Boehmer explores how memories of Mandela are constructed and contested, and what fresh interpretations can teach us. </p>
<p>This collection treats Mandela not as an individual miracle-maker or traitor to the cause of transformation. It shows him as one political actor, alongside a multitude of others, within complex political and social forces. </p>
<p>It suggests that scholarship on Mandela will continue to explore and explain his politics and his ability to assert leadership. It will also continue to explore the contradictions and continuities of his personal makeup, and his determination over decades to bring people together. All this, while negotiating the corrugated terrain of race and identity in South Africa.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160628/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The suggestion that Mandela single-handedly achieved democracy is as intellectually threadbare as the charge that he was centrally responsible for the failure to transform South Africa.Colin Bundy, Honorary Fellow of Green Templeton College, University of OxfordWilliam Beinart, Professor, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1575132021-03-19T10:18:07Z2021-03-19T10:18:07ZSurvey shows ignorance about big moments in South Africa’s history – like the Sharpeville massacre<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390586/original/file-20210319-13-pwxbmo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The graves of the victims of the Sharpeville massacre tell a grim story.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Frank Trimbos/Gallo Images/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The yearly <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/human-rights-day-2021-19-oct-2020-1025#">Human Rights Day</a> public holiday in South Africa in late March commemorates the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/sharpeville-massacre-21-march-1960">Sharpeville Massacre</a>, when police opened fire on a crowd of unarmed black protesters outside the Sharpeville police station on 21 March 1960. An estimated 69 people were killed and 180 injured, many shot in the back as they fled the scene. </p>
<p>The protest, led by the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/sharpeville-massacre-21-march-1960">Pan Africanist Congress of Azania</a>, was against the hated identification document, known as a “<em><a href="https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/dompas">dompas</a></em>” (dumb pass), that the apartheid regime forced black people to carry, and which <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/project-event-details/2">controlled their movements</a>. </p>
<p>After the first democratic elections of 1994, President Mandela proclaimed 21 March a <a href="https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/foundation-remembers-sharpeville-massacre-victims">public holiday</a> as a way of remembering the egregious human rights abuses of apartheid symbolised by the 1960 massacre. </p>
<p>He made another significant symbolic gesture: he selected Sharpeville, about 70km to the south of Johannesburg, as the site where he signed the country’s constitution into law <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/mandela-signs-sa-constitution-law">on 10 December 1996</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, human rights abuses continue in democratic South Africa 27 years after the end of apartheid. Echoes of Sharpeville remain evident, particularly in the way in which <a href="https://www.saferspaces.org.za/understand/entry/police-brutality-in-south-africa">police behave</a> towards South Africans. </p>
<p>In this article, we draw on <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/departments/sasas">survey data</a> to profile awareness of the Sharpeville massacre, and views on the general importance of remembering a painful past. </p>
<p>We believe this is important because the way people understand the past is likely to have a clear bearing on levels of support for a social compact, and associated policies to address the challenges facing the country. At the top of the list are poverty, inequality and unemployment. </p>
<h2>Who remembers what</h2>
<p>To explore the patterns of collective memory in the country, the Human Sciences Research Council designed questions for inclusion in its annual round of the <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/departments/sasas">South African Social Attitudes Survey</a>. The survey, conducted between March 2020 and February 2021, consisted of 2,844 respondents older than 15.</p>
<p>The results suggest that basic public awareness of key historical events in the country is low. Nevertheless, those who were surveyed recognised the importance of remembering the past.</p>
<p>The survey asked respondents: “How familiar are you with the following historical events? Sharpeville Massacre 1960”. Two-fifths (39%) had not heard of this event before (Figure 1). A further 58% said they had heard of it, of which 39% knew little or nothing about it. A mere 19% knew enough about it to describe it to a friend. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390576/original/file-20210319-15-9y4hx1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390576/original/file-20210319-15-9y4hx1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390576/original/file-20210319-15-9y4hx1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390576/original/file-20210319-15-9y4hx1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390576/original/file-20210319-15-9y4hx1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390576/original/file-20210319-15-9y4hx1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390576/original/file-20210319-15-9y4hx1.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 1: Level of awareness of the Sharpeville Massacre (1960) (%)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Source: HSRC South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), Round 17 (2020/21)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many will be shocked by the limited public knowledge of a key event in modern South African history. To gain some perspective, we compared findings on knowledge of the Sharpeville massacre to knowledge of both the <a href="https://scnc.ukzn.ac.za/doc/HIST/freedomchart/freedomch.html">1955 Freedom Charter</a> and the 1976 <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/june-16-soweto-youth-uprising">Soweto Uprising</a>.</p>
<p>The Freedom Charter is the statement of core principles that guided the African National Congress and allied organisations in the fight against apartheid, after it was adopted on <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-legacy-of-south-africas-freedom-charter-60-years-later-43647">26 June 1955</a> at the “Congress of the People” in Kliptown, Johannesburg. The <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/june-16-soweto-youth-uprising">1976 Soweto Uprising</a> was sparked by the introduction of Afrikaans as the language of instruction for some subjects for African high school students in that year. The marching students were met by armed policemen, who opened fired on them, killing several. This prompted countrywide resistance for several months thereafter. </p>
<p>In the survey, awareness of the Freedom Charter was similar to that of the Sharpeville massacre, with 57% having heard of it and 40% not. Basic familiarity with the 1976 Soweto youth uprising was higher at 71%, with 27% reporting no knowledge of it. </p>
<p>In all three instances, the share of respondents who were confident they would be able to describe these historical events to someone else ranged only between 18% and 29%. </p>
<p>These findings suggest that levels of knowledge about specific events remain quite shallow. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390582/original/file-20210319-21-1ubroq9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390582/original/file-20210319-21-1ubroq9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390582/original/file-20210319-21-1ubroq9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390582/original/file-20210319-21-1ubroq9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390582/original/file-20210319-21-1ubroq9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390582/original/file-20210319-21-1ubroq9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390582/original/file-20210319-21-1ubroq9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Source: HSRC South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), Round 17 (2020/21)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Differences</h2>
<p>Another striking finding was the wide variation in awareness levels. A strong generational difference in awareness of the Sharpeville massacre is evident, with 60% of those aged 16-24 never having heard of this important event. </p>
<p>There was also a strong class gradient. For example, poor and rural adults displayed lower levels of awareness. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390608/original/file-20210319-21-xe2en4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Table with massacre info" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390608/original/file-20210319-21-xe2en4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390608/original/file-20210319-21-xe2en4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390608/original/file-20210319-21-xe2en4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390608/original/file-20210319-21-xe2en4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390608/original/file-20210319-21-xe2en4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390608/original/file-20210319-21-xe2en4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390608/original/file-20210319-21-xe2en4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 1: Level of awareness of the Sharpeville Massacre (1960) (%)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">HSRC South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), Round 17 (2020/21)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The influence of education was especially pronounced in shaping awareness. The more educated an individual, the more likely they were to be aware of the Sharpeville massacre. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>When asked “in your view, how important or unimportant do you think historical events such as the Sharpeville Massacre and Freedom Charter are for people living in South Africa today?”, 74% answered that this was “very” or “somewhat” important. Only 14% said that remembering the past was “not very” or “not at all” important, while 12% were uncertain. </p>
<p>This view is common among large numbers of the public, irrespective of personal socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Across a range of variables, the share of respondents believing in the importance of historical events does not fall below 60%, and ranges up to around the 85% mark. </p>
<p>Those with more knowledge of events such as the Sharpeville massacre showed a keener sense of the importance of collective memory than those who lacked awareness. </p>
<p>The manner in which Germany has approached its traumatic Nazi history offers a good illustration of how a society can reckon with <a href="https://www.berghahnjournals.com/view/journals/gps/28/1/gps280104.xml">its past</a>. The country is recognised as having developed an acute historical sensitivity, preserving an understanding of the past through <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/collective-memory-and-holocaust/">sustained effort</a> to educate and inform. </p>
<h2>Lest we forget</h2>
<p>The low levels of familiarity with key historical events indicate that there are serious shortcomings in the development of national collective memory in South Africa. </p>
<p>A national collective memory is crucial for the achievement of a national identity, since identities are closely linked to the common memories, including values, that a group holds. In the case of South Africa, a collective national identity would go a long way in building the social compact required to address the many challenges that the country faces. </p>
<p>South Africa could perhaps look to Guatemala. An attempt was made to use education to promote national unity in Guatemala when a <a href="https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/109393/Whose%20past%20whose%20present%20TO%20PRESS.pdf?sequence=">peace accord was signed in 1996</a> at the end of violent conflict in that country. The country shifted towards human rights education in an effort to emphasise the diversity of its population and a culture of peace.</p>
<p>A key focus was the rights of children, women and indigenous populations. Unlike South Africa, Guatemala failed to include the history of the conflict in its national history curriculum. But, like South Africa, there was a failure to develop a collective memory based on a history that emphasises historical events that can foster national unity.</p>
<p>Our survey results show that more needs to be done to ensure the public is well-informed of key events in South African history, and the relevance they have for contemporary issues. </p>
<p>In part, this must include a review of the place of history in school and university curricula, and recognition of the need for further investment in civic and democracy education. Countries such as the United States are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/02/our-democracy-is-ailing-civics-education-has-be-part-cure/">investing in civics education and learning</a> as a way of addressing hard histories and mounting challenges to democracy. Perhaps it is time to place this more firmly on the South African agenda.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157513/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Roberts receives funding from a range of different government departments, non-governmental bodies and grant-making institutions for activities associated with the annual fielding of the South African Social Attitudes Survey. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:ghouston@hsrc.ac.za">ghouston@hsrc.ac.za</a> is affiliated with the Human Sciences Research Council
. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jare Struwig receives funding from receives funding from a range of different government departments, non-governmental bodies and grant-making institutions for activities associated with the annual fielding of the South African Social Attitudes Survey </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Gordon is affiliated with the Human Sciences Research Council. as a Senior Research Specialist. He has received funding from a number of sources including government, research councils and non-government organizations. </span></em></p>The low levels of familiarity with key historical events indicate that there are serious shortcomings in the development of national collective memory in South Africa.Benjamin Roberts, Research Director: Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES) research division, and Coordinator of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), Human Sciences Research CouncilGregory Houston, Chief Research Specialist, Human Sciences Research CouncilJare Struwig, Chief Research Manager, Human Sciences Research CouncilSteven Gordon, Senior research specialist, Human Sciences Research CouncilLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1124392019-03-04T13:33:49Z2019-03-04T13:33:49ZLetters reveal Africanist hero Robert Sobukwe’s moral courage, and pain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262378/original/file-20190306-48438-1ny6tjw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Between 1963 and 1969 Robert Sobukwe spent six years of near-complete solitary confinement on Robben Island.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Book cover</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>On 21 March 1960 the apartheid police <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/sharpeville-massacre-21-march-1960">opened fire on unarmed marchers</a> protesting against a law that forced black people to carry identity documents. Over 200 were injured and 69 killed. The following edited excerpt is from a new book featuring the prison letters of Robert Sobukwe, who organised and led the march.</em></p>
<p>In a letter of condolence written on 5 August 1974 to Nell Marquard, a friend who he had been corresponding with since his time on Robben Island, South African pan-Africanist leader <a href="https://theconversation.com/sobukwes-pan-africanist-dream-an-elusive-idea-that-refuses-to-die-52601">Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe</a> made a telling observation:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I learnt some time ago that one cannot put oneself in another’s position. We may express sympathy, feel it and even imagine the pain. But we cannot feel it as the one who suffers it. They have a saying in Xhosa that the toothache is felt by the one whose tooth is aching.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Sobukwe, who clearly knew about suffering, loneliness and the impossibility of ever fully communicating one’s pain to another, was writing just after the death of Nell’s husband, the noted Cape liberal, author and historian, Leo Marquard. Given that Leo was a prominent liberal, and that white liberals had not always been friendly to the aims and agendas of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) – the organisation that Sobukwe led from 1959 until his arrest in 1960 – one might have expected coolness from Sobukwe. Not at all. He, as always, was gracious:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am thankful that I was able to talk to you two years before Leo’s death and more thankful that he died knowing how much his contribution had been appreciated.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Touching as this acknowledgement of his contribution would have been for Marquard, the real poignancy of Sobukwe’s letter comes a little further on, when he starts speaking of the myriad difficulties he has faced since leaving <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/916">Robben Island</a>, where most of South Africa’s liberation struggle leaders were jailed. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It has not been a good year for me. I had planned to leave [from Kimberley] … by car on the 31st May and make straight for Cape Town. But these boys [apartheid security police] beat me to it. They came on the 30th May, 1974 to serve the fresh lot of bureaucratic output. Well it’s good to know that our security is entrusted to such alert people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite the fact that he makes light of it, one senses in Sobukwe’s letter that the constant surveillance and harassment of the security police was taking its toll. Behind the ironic salute to the astuteness of the police, there is also a disturbing foreshadowing. <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/stephen-bantu-biko">Steve Biko</a>, in many respects Sobukwe’s most direct political heir, would be stopped and arrested on a not dissimilar road trip from Cape Town four years later, an event which would lead directly to his death at the hands of the Security Police. Sobukwe continues: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Veronica (Sobukwe’s wife) has had a major operation as you probably read in the papers. She should have had this operation last year, but did not and the condition got worse. She has made a remarkable recovery, thanks to my very efficient and tender nursing, and has now gone back to Joh’burg for a check up. From there she will be in Durban to spend a week or so with her sister before proceeding to Swaziland to see the children.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261212/original/file-20190227-150728-13uhl5s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261212/original/file-20190227-150728-13uhl5s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261212/original/file-20190227-150728-13uhl5s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261212/original/file-20190227-150728-13uhl5s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261212/original/file-20190227-150728-13uhl5s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261212/original/file-20190227-150728-13uhl5s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261212/original/file-20190227-150728-13uhl5s.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1139&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Between May 1963 and May 1969 Sobukwe was to spend six years of near-complete solitary confinement on Robben Island.</p>
<p>These circumstances had their origins in a momentous historical event organised by Sobukwe himself. On 21 March 1960, he had led the Pan Africanist Congress in what he called a “positive action” campaign, protesting against the oppressive pass laws that governed the movements – and indeed the lives – of black South Africans. </p>
<p>This mass action resulted in the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/sharpeville-massacre-21-march-1960">Sharpeville massacre</a> later that same day, in which at least 69 people were killed when the South African police opened fire on a crowd of protesters. This event, which drew international attention to the injustices and brutality of apartheid, was a watershed moment in the history of South Africa. It led to a three-year jail sentence for Sobukwe for inciting people to protest against the laws of the country.</p>
<p>Not content that by 3 May 1963 Sobukwe would have served his sentence, the apartheid government passed an amendment to the General Law Amendment Act, the notorious <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/robert-mangaliso-sobukwe">“Sobukwe Clause”</a>, which enabled the Minister of Justice to prolong the detention of any political prisoner year after year.</p>
<p>He was then relocated to Robben Island, and kept apart from other prisoners, where he remained for six years. The clause – never used to detain anyone else – was renewed annually by the Minister of Justice.</p>
<p>Sobukwe, in a very significant sense, was never a free man again after his 1960 imprisonment. The apartheid government unleashed a series of bureaucratic cruelties upon him after his May 1969 release from Robben Island. They forced him to live in the geographically remote town of Kimberley – far removed from any friends, family or associates. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261245/original/file-20190227-150705-uun26y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261245/original/file-20190227-150705-uun26y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261245/original/file-20190227-150705-uun26y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261245/original/file-20190227-150705-uun26y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261245/original/file-20190227-150705-uun26y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261245/original/file-20190227-150705-uun26y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261245/original/file-20190227-150705-uun26y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The house where Sobukwe was held on Robben Island .</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flcker/Daniel Mouton</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They insisted he take on a low-ranking job that would have made him complicit in the apartheid policies that he went to jail protesting. He refused. They repeatedly refused to allow him to leave the country to take up job offers he had received from the United States; and they obstructed his attempts to get the medical treatments that he needed, and that would have extended his life (he died of lung cancer on 27 February 1978).</p>
<p>This then is the background to the consolations that Sobukwe sought to offer Nell Marquard in his 1974 letter. It’s only on the last page of that letter that he seemed to finally find the words that suited both his emotions and the note of commiseration that he wished to convey to Nell:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Xhosa have standard words of condolence. They say
<em>Akuhlanga lungehlanga lala ngenxeba</em> (There has not occurred what has not occurred before … lie on your wound).
God bless you. Affectionately, Robert.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This resonant phrase – which also appears in Sobukwe’s letters to his friend Benjamin Pogrund – applies equally, if not more so, to Sobukwe himself. “Lie on your wound(s)” is a call to bide one’s time, to heal, and to reconstitute one’s self despite evident suffering. It is a call to have courage, to bear the moral burden of pain, and it provides an apt title for what was the most difficult period of Sobukwe’s life, namely his time on Robben Island, which the selection of letters collected in this <a href="http://witspress.co.za/catalogue/lie-on-your-wounds-2/">book</a>, published by Wits <a href="http://witspress.co.za/">University Press</a>, represents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112439/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Derek Hook does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A collection of prison letters provides a peek into the suffering of South African liberation hero, Robert Sobukwe.Derek Hook, Associate professor of Psychology, Duquesne University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/858382017-10-25T12:18:10Z2017-10-25T12:18:10ZSouth Africa’s ANC is celebrating the year of OR Tambo. Who was he?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190606/original/file-20171017-30390-1bx309e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Oliver Reginald Tambo served as ANC president from 1967 to 1991.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2538380.Oliver_Tambo">Oliver Tambo’s</a> name and reputation are <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781770100756">lauded</a>, not least because he succeeded, remarkably, in keeping the African National Congress <a href="http://www.anc.org.za">(ANC)</a> together as a liberation movement during an <a href="http://www.whyjoburg.com/oliver-tambo.html">exile lasting 30 years</a>. Despite this legacy, the ANC, now South Africa’s governing party, has seen a year culminating in what is, arguably, its greatest crisis. Today, factions within the ANC nostalgically point to the <a href="http://www.sabc.co.za/wps/portal/news/main/tag?tag=OR%20Tambo%20Memorial%20Lecture">example of Oliver Reginald Tambo</a> , or OR as he was affectionately known in party circles.</p>
<p>Evidence of <a href="https://www.enca.com/south-africa/the-race-corruption-a-big-problem-for-anc">systemic corruption</a> and <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2017/09/04/mkhize-we-must-face-up-to-the-problems-of-factions-inside-anc">factionalism</a> for personal gain within the ANC are blamed for the failure to deliver improved living conditions to the poorest communities. The loss of three major metropolitan municipal councils in the industrial heartland testifies to diminished <a href="https://theconversation.com/sharp-tongued-south-african-voters-give-ruling-anc-a-stiff-rebuke-63606">confidence in the ANC</a>.</p>
<p>By contrast, in the year of his <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/splash/index">centenary</a>, Oliver Tambo is held as an exemplar of integrity, personifying the ideal of a leader who for 50 years selflessly served the movement, consistently holding up the goals of a humane and caring society.</p>
<p>But who was this much talked about Tambo? And what lessons can be learnt from his leadership?</p>
<h2>Exile</h2>
<p>In 1960, after the <a href="http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/multimedia.php?id=65-259-E">Sharpeville massacre</a>, then ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli instructed Tambo to leave South Africa as an international <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2538380.Oliver_Tambo">diplomat of the ANC</a>. His task was to mobilise a worldwide economic boycott.</p>
<p>With hindsight it was a prescient judgement call. The military wing of the ANC <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/umkhonto-wesizwe-mk">Umkhonto we Sizwe</a> was launched a year later and within two years leaders of the ANC were facing charges of treason in the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/rivonia-trial-1963-1964">Rivonia Trial</a>. The trial, which stretched through 1963-1964, led to life sentences for the leaders of Umkhonto we Sizwe, which included <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/walter-ulyate-sisulu">Walter Sisulu</a>, <a href="https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography">Nelson Mandela</a>, <a href="http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=2360">Govan Mbeki</a> and <a href="https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/mr-ahmed-kathrada">Ahmed Kathrada</a>.</p>
<p>Tambo’s task was to alert the world to the horrors of apartheid South Africa, and to seek assistance and support from newly independent states in Africa. It was to be more than 30 years before he returned home in <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/oliver-tambo-returns-exile">December 1990</a>. During this time, his integrity combined with his keen intellect and natural warmth impressed many people in diverse countries around the world.</p>
<h2>Consensus seeker</h2>
<p>Tambo was a careful and astute listener. He followed the indigenous African consensus system of decision making, crafting a conclusion that included at least some of the opinions of all participants.</p>
<p>He believed that the ANC should maintain the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2538380.Oliver_Tambo">“high moral ground”</a> and that it should be a broad umbrella under which all enemies of apartheid could shelter and enrich the movement, irrespective of their political beliefs. He was also cautious, likening the challenge of the liberation struggle to the traditional <em>“indima”</em> method of ploughing a very large piece of land. He <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2538380.Oliver_Tambo">explained</a> at a Sophiatown meeting in 1953.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There’s a point where you must start. You can’t plough it all at once – you have to tackle it acre by acre…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of Tambo’s strengths was his constructive and creative response to criticism. In 1967, for example, following the failure of Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres to reach the borders of South Africa after a battle at <a href="http://www.sadet.co.za/docs/rtd/vol1/sadet1_chap12.pdf">Wankie in “Rhodesia”</a> (now Zimbabwe), Chris Hani and others, disillusioned with the leaders’ lethargy, released an <a href="http://www.loot.co.za/product/hugh-macmillan-chris-hani/pyjg-2664-g860?referrer=bookslive">angry memorandum</a>. In an interview I did with Hani in Johannesburg in 1993 he admitted: “We blew our tops.” They accused the leadership of Umkhonto we Sizwe and the ANC of getting too comfortable and losing their appetite to return home – they had become “men in suits, clutching passports”.</p>
<p>The response by the leadership was outrage – the Secretary-General Alfred Nzo called for Hani’s execution for treason. But Tambo immediately began organising a conference of elected representatives of the branches around the world. A message was sent to Robben Island to inform ANC leaders jailed there, including Nelson Mandela, of this development.</p>
<p>It was time for frank conversation and a comprehensive, considered assessment. The outcome was the historic and constructive conference at <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/content/morogoro-conference">Morogoro in Tanzania</a>. The conference took on a more inclusive and democratic direction for the ANC, foregrounding the political aims over the military, and identifying the importance of mobilising workers at home.</p>
<h2>Challenging 1980s</h2>
<p>In the 1980s Tambo was faced with a more serious challenge. International attention against apartheid was growing; he was travelling extensively, persuading ordinary people to undermine apartheid by boycotting its products and banks and denying it arms. Alarmed, the apartheid regime sent spies into ANC camps on the continent, infiltrating top committees in Lusaka and other ANC structures.</p>
<p>The panic that ensued turned the spotlight on the flaws of the Umkhonto we Sizwe leadership. Human rights abuses of suspected spies and “ill-disciplined cadres” led to <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media%5C1996%5C9608/s960822l.htm">unlawful deaths and executions</a>.</p>
<p>Tambo’s <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02582473.2012.675813">cautious response</a> was criticised by the leadership of both ANC intelligence and Umkhonto we Sizwe for “impeding investigation” into the spies, owing to “his sense of democracy”. The chief culprits of these human rights abuses were formerly trusted peers of Tambo. He faced the dilemma of blowing the ANC wide apart if he challenged them. Instead, he resorted to the compromising strategy of redeploying them to other sections of the movement, such as education – perhaps leaving an unfortunate legacy for today’s ANC.</p>
<h2>Enduring legacy</h2>
<p>Tambo was to set in motion a process that culminated in South Africa’s democratic constitution. He:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>subscribed Umkhonto we Sizwe and the ANC to the Geneva Convention, which imposed a strict adherence to human rights.</p></li>
<li><p>set up a <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/content/stuart-commission-report">commission</a> of trusted senior comrades to look into the conditions in the ANC’s camps in Africa as well as abuses. The commission’s report was highly critical.</p></li>
<li><p>summoned an consultative conference in Kabwe in 1985 that reaffirmed ANC’s humanist values, addressed gender inequalities and formally accepted whites in official positions.</p></li>
<li><p>appointed the movement’s top legal minds to research and craft a constitution for the ANC; it was inspired by the <a href="http://scnc.ukzn.ac.za/doc/HIST/freedomchart/freedomch.html">Freedom Charter</a>, which had been drawn up in 1956 after extensive consultation with ordinary people. It opened with the ringing words:</p></li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>South Africa belongs to all who live in it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>South Africa’s new democracy essentially incorporated many of the clauses in the charter’s the path-breaking <a href="https://www.gov.za/DOCUMENTS/CONSTITUTION/constitution-republic-south-africa-1996-1">1996</a> constitution.</p>
<h2>Tambo’s insights remain relevant</h2>
<p>Reporting to his first conference inside South Africa in December 1990 after the unbanning of the ANC, <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/content/president-or-tambos-opening-address-ancs-48th-national-conference">Tambo warned that </a> “suspicions will not disappear overnight, the building of the South African nation is a national ask of paramount importance. </p>
<p>And he warned:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The struggle is far from over: if anything, it has become more complex and therefore more difficult. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>He also reflected that "we were always ready to accept our mistakes and correct them.”</p>
<p>Faced by crises in the ANC, Tambo had always been ready to listen, responding constructively and creatively with new policies to meet the challenges of the time. </p>
<p>This is the enduring legacy of Oliver Tambo: many seasons later, many continue to gain insights and learn relevant lessons from his responses to the universal, human condition of our time. But whether they heeded this call is a moot point:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have devotedly watched over the organisation all these years. I now hand it back to you, bigger, stronger - intact. Guard our precious movement.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luli Callinicos is author of Oliver Tambo: Beyond The Engeli Mountains published by David Philip Publishersin 2004. She received a Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Grant (1993), Ford Foundation (2000) towards writing the biography of Oliver Tambo. She serves on the MISTRA Council of Advisers, National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciens Board member, also on Council of Robben Island Museum.</span></em></p>Factions within South Africa’s ANC nostalgically point to the example of Oliver Reginald Tambo whose seen as an exemplar of integrity, personifying an ideal leader who served the party selflessly.Luli Callinicos, Researcher and founder member of the History Workshop, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/745712017-03-16T17:47:47Z2017-03-16T17:47:47ZNamibia: grown up after a generation into independence, but not yet mature<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161143/original/image-20170316-10918-5kmawv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Swapo supporters celebrated victory in the UN supervised November 1989 election.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Henning Melber</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Visitors to “the land of wide open spaces”, as Namibia is successfully promoted to tourists, will be <a href="https://vimeo.com/2388758">impressed by what they see</a>. Besides the beauty of the nature and abundant wildlife, the urban face of inner cities appeals to foreigners who treasure security and comfort amid the wilderness. </p>
<p>Namibia contributes a positive image to Africa. It ranks among the continent’s <a href="http://s.mo.ibrahim.foundation/u/2017/03/08200254/Namibia-Insights-2016-IIAG.pdf?_ga=1.268531313.1851805696.1489660081">top five in governance</a> and other performance related surveys. But beyond the surface of the success story looms a different reality for most of the country’s 2.3 million people, as it marks 27 years of independence. </p>
<p>Independence was finally achieved on March 21, 1990 after a long and violent <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/namibia-gains-independence">anti-colonial struggle</a>. Since then, Namibia has shown remarkable signs of political stability. The former liberation movement <a href="http://www.swapoparty.org/">Swapo</a> governs with an ever-increasing majority.</p>
<p>It secured 80% of votes in the last <a href="http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2225_89.htm">parliamentary elections</a>. The directly elected party candidate for head of state, Hage Geingob, scored <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30285987">almost 87%</a>. Still representing the first generation of the liberation struggle, he personifies the smooth succession of three post-independence state presidents with far reaching executive powers. </p>
<p>Catchwords attributed to them by party propaganda include reconciliation (Sam Nujoma, 1990-2005), consolidation (Hifikepunye Pohamba, 2005-2015) and prosperity (Hage Geingob, <a href="http://namibian-studies.com/index.php/JNS/article/view/423">since 2015</a>. Geingob is the party’s vice-president and became acting president in April 2015.</p>
<p>But under his presidency the promised prosperity has remained the privilege of few. Namibia is a <a href="http://vivaworkers.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Inequality-in-Namibia-2009.pdf">rich country with poor people</a>. Redistribution of wealth is mainly limited to beneficiaries within a new black elite. These are office bearers, party stalwarts and those with close ties to the new inner circles of governance. They thrive through a policy of so-called affirmative action and <a href="http://www.opm.gov.na/neeef">black economic empowerment</a>. </p>
<p>A new terminology refers to <a href="https://www.diis.dk/en/research/breeding-fat-cats">“fat cats”</a>, <a href="http://www.observer.com.na/index.php/business/7662-don-t-be-tenderpreneurs-gawaxab">“tenderpreneurs”</a> and <a href="http://amabhungane.co.za/article/2014-09-18-diamonds-are-swapos-best-friends">“sight holders”</a>. These labels reflect the continued exploitative nature of the economic realities.</p>
<h2>Namibia’s state-driven economy</h2>
<p>Namibia’s state-driven economy is a paradise for parasitic and rent-seeking self-enrichment schemes. The creation of state-owned enterprises as troughs for embezzlement has flourished. State tenders have dished out large sums for projects bordering on <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201601060035.html">megalomaniac elite symbolism</a>, often without creating any meaningful productive assets. Nepotism is a striking feature of a society with one of the <a href="https://borgenproject.org/inequality-and-poverty-in-namibia/">highest income discrepancies</a> in the world.</p>
<p>The UNDP’s <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/NAM">Human Development Report</a> documents the gross inequalities. A commonly referred to statistical figure is the country’s Gross National Income distribution per capita. This categorises Namibia as a <a href="https://www.newera.com.na/2016/02/16/namibia-copes-upper-middle-income-classification/">higher middle-income country</a>. But this number is misleading.</p>
<p>The inequality adjusted Human Development Index shows that Namibia has one of the highest inequalities in the world as measured by a <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-31847943">Gini coefficient 0.613</a>.<br>
Also, 23.5% of the population was classified as living below the income poverty line <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/country-notes/NAM.pdf">using 2013 data</a>.</p>
<p>Namibia’s government claims to have achieved considerable poverty alleviation. This contrasts sharply with the data. If tourists would end up in some of the overpopulated <a href="https://www.google.co.za/search?q=Namibia%27s+slums&rlz=1C1NHXL_enZA711ZA711&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiH89HbvtrSAhXEA8AKHfC7BrsQsAQIHg&biw=1093&bih=530&dpr=1.25">shack settlements</a> at the outskirts of Namibian towns, they would see a different world from the lodges and Windhoek’s inner city.</p>
<h2>Economic mismanagement</h2>
<p>Namibia’s government is not shy of self-appraisals. It’s fond of blueprints, strategies and programmes, all claiming to solve the country’s problems. Under President Geingob, a new Ministry of Poverty Eradication and <a href="https://www.newera.com.na/2016/08/23/ministry-poverty-eradication-social-welfare/">Social Welfare</a> had been established. But so far little has been achieved.</p>
<p>The country’s fourth National Development <a href="http://www.npc.gov.na/?page_id=202">Plan</a> has been complemented by a Harambee Prosperity <a href="http://www.op.gov.na/4/-/document_library_display/PgQ38IFobsgf/view/263874">Plan</a>. It’s based on an annual economic growth rate of at least 7%. Given the (un)predictable insecurities such as global economic shocks, the effects of climate change, and the devastating consequences of the recent drought, this borders on wishful thinking similarly set out in <a href="https://www.google.co.za/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1NHXL_enZA711ZA711&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Namibia,+Vision+2030&*">Vision 2030</a>. This claims that by then “Namibia will be a prosperous and industrialised nation”. </p>
<p>In reality, Namibia’s economy has been in <a href="http://www.namibian.com.na/159400/archive-read/Namibia-goes-into-technical-recession">recession since mid-2016</a>.</p>
<p>The discrepancy between promises and realities suggests that President Geingob’s rhetoric borders on <a href="http://www.namibian.com.na/160313/archive-read/Namibian-Populism-on-Display">populism</a>. The ritual of declaring the annual state budget as “pro-poor” has long lost any <a href="http://www.namibian.com.na/print.php?id=24729&type=2">convincing effect</a>. </p>
<p>Expenditure for army, police and security related portfolios have over the years proportionally increased more than other expenditure. So have debt services for local and foreign loans.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161128/original/image-20170316-10895-xfw6x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/161128/original/image-20170316-10895-xfw6x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161128/original/image-20170316-10895-xfw6x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161128/original/image-20170316-10895-xfw6x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=727&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161128/original/image-20170316-10895-xfw6x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=914&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161128/original/image-20170316-10895-xfw6x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=914&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/161128/original/image-20170316-10895-xfw6x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=914&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Hage Geingob of Namibia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuter/Carlo Allegri</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The hope for an economic recovery in the near future is pinned on a <a href="https://www.newera.com.na/2017/01/10/mining-and-tourism-sectors-to-drive-growth-in-2017-sss/">booming tourism sector</a> and the full production of one of the biggest uranium mines in the world <a href="http://www.mining.com/namibias-new-uranium-mine-triple-countrys-output-2017/">owned by a Chinese company</a>. Such silver linings look rather bleak and faint. Sustainability would require other ingredients, not least a meaningful increase of employment.</p>
<p>But as of mid-2016, the state’s finances have faced a precarious shortage. The annual budget for <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/na/en/pages/tax/articles/namibia-budget-2017-2018.html">2017/2018</a> reflects the need to restore fiscal prudence and austerity to regain liquidity and some degree of credibility. Local trust and confidence in the state’s ability to deliver is at an all-time low.</p>
<p>A contentious issue is the bloated civil service. More than 20 years ago a wage and salary commission urged then Prime Minister Hage Geingob to stop recruitment in the public sector. But the expansion continued unabated. </p>
<p>The political elite continues to preach water and drink wine: a year ago President Geingob signed a <a href="http://www.namibian.com.na/52270/read/Politicians-salaries-hiked-in-2016">6% salary increase</a> with immediate effect for all political office holders. His cabinet is by far the biggest since independence.</p>
<h2>Grown up, but not mature</h2>
<p>Despite shifting grounds, the party still mobilises along the heroic narrative of the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/28649886_%27Namibia_land_of_the_brave%27_selective_memories_on_war_and_violence_within_nation_building">liberation struggle</a>, much to the frustration of a younger generation. But the number of born frees with voting rights will soon exceed the older generations. Inner-party rivalries and tensions, as well as ethnicity as a potential source of conflict are on the rise. An unresolved land issue, also manifested in urban and ancestral land claims, is adding <a href="https://weekend.newera.com.na/2017/02/27/land-reform-redistribution-and-ancestral-land-a-case-of-namibia/">fuel to the flames</a>.</p>
<p>Dissenting voices, mainly articulated by vocal younger activists provoke government to consider plans to <a href="https://www.namibiansun.com/news/vice-president-wants-to-censor-social-media/?">censor the social media</a>. A whistleblower bill before parliament includes provisions to heavily <a href="http://ippr.org.na/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IPPR_Comment_Whistleblower_Protection_Bill.pdf">punish “lies”</a> and to prohibit any criticism of state institutions. It restricts public opinion, including intimidation of the remarkably free and critical independent print media.</p>
<p>The authoritarian if not totalitarian tendency is also documented in Swapo’s current initiatives to take disciplinary action against members who dare to <a href="http://www.namibian.com.na/52263/read/Politburo-former-youth-leaders-meet">criticise party politics</a>. But this will not silence the growing frustration over the <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/research-data/view/858">limits to liberation</a>. </p>
<p>Nor does the close collaboration with North Korea add any <a href="http://www.namibian.com.na/160087/archive-read/North-Koreans-still-operating-in-Namibia">positive image</a>. A planned visit by the pariah state’s foreign minister was cancelled at the last minute after news about it <a href="https://www.republikein.com.na/nuus/ho-noord-koreaan-se-besoek-afgelas/">leaked in the media</a>. </p>
<p>A generation into independence, the country and its governance might be considered as grown up, but certainly not (yet) mature.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74571/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Henning Melber is a member of SWAPO since 1974. He is the author of Understanding Namibia. The Trials of Independence and A Decade of Namibia – Politics, Economy and Society.
</span></em></p>Namibia contributes a positive image to Africa in governance and other indicators. But the reality for most of the country’s 2.3 million people isn’t quite as rosy.Henning Melber, Extraordinary Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/744572017-03-16T17:47:17Z2017-03-16T17:47:17ZSouth Africa has a model Bill of Rights. But it doesn’t feel that way<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160683/original/image-20170314-10763-1ds85l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Africans may have political rights, but many don't enjoy the basics celebrated in the constitution. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Mike Hutchings</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa’s <a href="http://www.gov.za/DOCUMENTS/CONSTITUTION/constitution-republic-south-africa-1996-1">constitution</a> is celebrated globally for its visionary <a href="http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/constitution/english-web/ch2.html">Bill of Rights</a>. It’s among a handful of countries which integrate economic, social and cultural rights alongside traditional civil and political rights as legally enforceable rights.</p>
<p>Its citizens are guaranteed the rights to vote, freedom of expression and a fair trial. They can also approach the courts when they believe that the government has failed to take reasonable steps to fulfil their rights to housing, health care, food, water and social security.</p>
<p>In this way the constitution recognises that all human rights are interrelated. Without material security and the means to a dignified life, many of the civil and political freedoms in the <a href="http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/constitution/english-web/ch2.html">Bill of Rights</a> will ring hollow.</p>
<p>Yet South Africa has, in many respects, failed to achieve a more socially just society. Millions of predominantly black South Africans are still excluded from the socio-economic <a href="https://beta2.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report-03-10-06/Report-03-10-06March2014.pdf">benefits of democracy</a>. It’s thus understandable that many – particularly young people – question the political and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-compromises-and-mistakes-made-in-the-mandela-era-hobbled-south-africas-economy-52156">constitutional settlement</a> negotiated in the 1990s.</p>
<p>As South Africa marks <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/project-event-details/2">Human Rights Day</a> – as well as the <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/docs/20years-comms-toolkit/20yearsConstitution-FactSheet.pdf">20th anniversary</a> of its constitution coming into effect – it’s a good time to take stock of the challenges it faces in making these rights a reality.</p>
<p>I address two key issues: the first is whether the Bill of Rights is itself an obstacle to achieving a more just society. The second is what lies behind the country’s failure to fulfil the promise of its constitutional rights. </p>
<h2>An empowering legal framework</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/constitution/english-web/ch2.html">Bill of Rights</a> was clearly intended to provide an empowering legal framework for far-reaching measures of redress and transformation across all sectors of South African society. This can be seen in a number of the rights and values in this document.</p>
<p>During the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/drafting-and-acceptance-constitution">drafting of the constitution</a> the liberation movements were particularly concerned to ensure that the Bill of Rights facilitated the redistribution of land and other resources unjustly accumulated by the white minority during colonial and apartheid rule.</p>
<p>Besides requiring that the state make progress in realising everyone’s access to socio-economic rights, the property clause <a href="http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/constitution/english-web/ch2.html">(s 25) of the Bill of Rights</a> also requires land reform, restitution and tenure reform. It allows for the expropriation of property for a public purpose or in the public interest. This includes the nation’s commitment to land reform, and to reforms to bring about equitable access to all South Africa’s natural resources. The compensation payable depends on a number of factors including the history and current use of the land.</p>
<p>Another important feature of the Bill of Rights is that it doesn’t only require the state to respect and fulfil human rights. It also places duties on private parties not to violate these rights. So, for example, private companies may not discriminate on grounds such as race, gender and disability, or act in ways which deprive people unfairly of their socio-economic rights such as <a href="http://seri-sa.org/index.php/19-litigation/case-entries/65-elsie-gundwana-v-steko-development-cc-and-others-gundwana">housing</a>.</p>
<p>Laws and programmes have been adopted to give effect to constitutional rights and there have been some internationally celebrated Constitutional Court judgments; such as the <a href="http://www.escr-net.org/caselaw/2006/government-republic-south-africa-ors-v-grootboom-ors-2000-11-bclr-1169-cc">Grootboom</a> case pertaining to government’s obligation to provide people with housing; and the <a href="https://www.escr-net.org/caselaw/2006/minister-health-v-treatment-action-campaign-tac-2002-5-sa-721-cc">Treatment Action Campaign</a>, regarding HIV treatment.</p>
<p>There have also been innovative mechanisms of accountability developed by <a href="http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/constitution/english-web/ch9.html">Chapter 9 institutions</a> which support constitutional democracy. These include the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-south-africas-public-protector-has-set-a-high-bar-for-her-successor-63891">Public Protector</a> and <a href="http://www.sahrc.org.za/">Human Rights Commission</a></p>
<h2>Why is the country failing?</h2>
<p>And yet, the reality for many South Africans remains one of poverty and social exclusion. Why is the country failing to translate these constitutional rights into reality? The reasons are due to a complex mix of factors.</p>
<p>Fundamentally, South Africa hasn’t been proactive or effective enough in achieving a more just redistribution of resources. Here both public and private institutions are falling short.</p>
<p>In the public sector, a strong, ethical and pro-poor public service is needed to regulate private power effectively and to take the re-distributive measures mandated by the constitution. However, there are strong indications that private wealth is gaining a disproportionate influence on the <a href="https://www.corruptionwatch.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Corruption-Watch-Annual-Report-27-02-2017-Low-Res-Version.pdf">levers of state power</a>.</p>
<p>When corruption becomes entrenched, government is no longer able to govern in the interests of society as a whole, particularly those most disadvantaged. Such developments undermine the state’s ability to dismantle the deeply seated structural barriers which prevent a more just distribution of resources in the country.</p>
<p>In the private sector many institutions and organisations have also failed to embrace the constitution’s transformative vision. This is illustrated in the Employment Equity Commission’s <a href="http://www.labour.gov.za/DOL/downloads/documents/annual-reports/employment-equity/2015-2016/16th%20CEE%20Report.pdf">latest report</a> which shows that the private sector has failed to redress the legacy of the past when it comes to employment. White people still represent 72,4% of those in top management levels in the private sector, compared to 10,8% for Africans. These figures are grossly disproportionate to the share of the economically active population of these groups.</p>
<h2>A living politics</h2>
<p>At the end of the day the rights in the Bill of Rights are simply words on paper. To have real meaning they must be supported by a living politics anchored in the constitution’s foundational values. These values are democracy, the rule of law, accountability and transparency, human dignity, non-racism and non-sexism. And placing the impoverished and marginalised at the centre of society’s concern.</p>
<p>If South Africa’s constitutional project is to survive the next 20 years, it must involve a re-commitment by all sectors of society to these values. They are integral to the post-apartheid transformative project. If the country allows these values to die it will be confronted by more than just a chasm to be bridged. It will face an abyss in which all its people will be lost.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74457/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra Liebenberg receives funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa. </span></em></p>As South Africa marks Human Rights Day and the 20th anniversary of its constitution it’s a good time to reflect on the problems it faces in making constitutional rights a reality.Sandra Liebenberg, Distinguished Professor and H F Oppenheimer Chair in Human Rights Law, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/744542017-03-15T16:05:02Z2017-03-15T16:05:02ZHow human rights are faring in South Africa two decades after democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160743/original/image-20170314-10759-a9ctny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mass funeral for the victims of the 1960 Sharpeville massacre. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year South Africans celebrate <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/project-event-details/2">Human Rights Day</a> on March 21 to commemorate the 1960 <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/sharpeville-massacre-21-march-1960">Sharpeville massacre</a> when police opened fire on a crowd killing 69 unarmed people. They were protesting against the humiliating <a href="http://overcomingapartheid.msu.edu/multimedia.php?id=65-259-3">pass laws</a> that controlled the movement of black people.</p>
<p>Besides a reminder of a dark period in the country’s history, this day also celebrates South Africa’s unique and highly acclaimed <a href="http://www.gov.za/DOCUMENTS/CONSTITUTION/constitution-republic-south-africa-1996-1">constitution</a>. Its <a href="http://www.constitutionalcourt.org.za/site/constitution/english-web/ch2.html">Bill of Rights</a> guarantees human dignity and equal rights to all citizens.</p>
<p>But, despite the constitutional protection of human rights and its relative success at providing basic services to citizens, the government struggles to meet demands for socio-economic rights. For example the pace of delivery of housing, water and sanitation, health care and education, which are provided for in the constitution, has been slow since South Africa’s <a href="http://www.hurisa.org.za/training/socio-economic-rights/">transition to democracy</a>. </p>
<p>The biggest concerns for many South Africans, according to <a href="https://www.hrw.org/africa/south-africa">Human Rights Watch</a>, include: access to treatment for people with disabilities, unemployment, corruption, freedom of expression, police brutality and violence. </p>
<p>What South Africa has going for it is its constitution. This needs to come to life by protecting human rights across the board. This can only happen if laws are made real, by for example, cases being taken to court to set precedents that protect rights.</p>
<h2>Human rights challenges</h2>
<p>An estimated half-a-million children with disabilities have been shut out of the country’s <a href="https://www.hrw.org/africa/south-africa">education system</a> according to Human Rights Watch. </p>
<p>Unemployment remains stubbornly high. In the third quarter of last year it reached 27.1% after averaging 25.37% <a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.com/south-africa/unemployment-rate">from 2000-2016</a>. This has led to <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/general/94849/shocking-levels-of-poverty-in-south-africa-revealed/">high levels of poverty</a>. According to Stats SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey 8.9 million people who want to work <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=9561">don’t have jobs</a>.</p>
<p>And corruption</p>
<blockquote>
<p>threatens the rule of law, democracy and <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/173">human rights</a> …</p>
</blockquote>
<p>South Africa is ranked 64th out of 175 in the 2016 Transparency International’s <a href="http://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2016">Corruption Perceptions Index</a>. It ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sectors are perceived to be. </p>
<p>In addition, people who try to report corruption are often <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/general/78489/r700-billion-lost-to-corruption-in-south-africa/">intimidated or muzzled</a>. </p>
<p>Media freedom, free expression and the free flow of information are vital to a healthy democracy. These have all been hard-won in the country. Although it’s not all bad news on this front, the Right2Know Media Freedom & Diversity movement, which focuses on freedom of expression and access to information, notes that:</p>
<p>Compared to most of our neighbours, and indeed many old western democracies, our press freedom record is not all that bad, but this is only because with every attempt by the powerful to restrict media freedom, the public is able to keep <a href="http://www.r2k.org.za/2016/05/03/world-press-freedom-day-2016-challenges-to-media-freedom-in-sa/">pushing back</a>.</p>
<p>Another persistent problem is police brutality and use of excessive force, especially <a href="https://www.hrw.org/africa/south-africa">against protesters</a>. In its submission to the United Nations in 2016, the South African Human Rights Commission reported that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>South Africa has witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of protests, particularly those relating to the failures of local government to <a href="http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1016&Lang=en">deliver basic services</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another major concern is that South Africa remains a deeply violent society. For example, violence against women, including rape and domestic violence, remains very high. One in every four women is physically abused by her <a href="http://city-press.news24.com/News/shocking-stats-on-abuse-of-women-in-sa-20161120">intimate partner</a>. According to Professor Naeemah Abrahams, Deputy Director at the Gender and Health Unit at the Medical Research Council, a woman is killed every six hours by her current or former <a href="http://city-press.news24.com/News/shocking-stats-on-abuse-of-women-in-sa-20161120">intimate partner</a>.</p>
<p>A study conducted by the World Health Organisation in 2012 found that 65% of women in SA had experienced <a href="http://city-press.news24.com/News/shocking-stats-on-abuse-of-women-in-sa-20161120">spousal abuse</a> in the year before the research was conducted. </p>
<p>Thankfully, South Africa continues to play an important, although at times inconsistent role, in advancing the rights of <a href="http://www.uas.alaska.edu/juneau/activities/safezone/docs/lgbtiq_terminology.pdf">LGBTIQ+</a> people. It was the first country to protect sexuality in its constitution and is reckoned to be a champion of gay rights. Yet in June 2016 it refused to support a <a href="https://theconversation.com/lgbti-vote-at-the-un-shows-battle-for-human-rights-is-far-from-won-62307">landmark resolution</a> on LGBTI rights at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.</p>
<h2>Fixing the problem</h2>
<p>To address these shortcomings South Africa must focus on the judicial enforcement of human rights. A right without a remedy raises questions of whether it is in fact a right at all.</p>
<p>Although there are other ways of protecting rights, judicial enforcement has a clear role in developing an understanding of these rights. Test cases can lead to systematic institutional change to prevent violations of rights in the future. This has already happened in some important landmark cases such as the Constitutional Court ruling that set the bar for protection of <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2002/16.html">HIV positive people</a>. </p>
<p>Other possible solutions include: education, constructive dialogue, exerting pressure to bring violations of human rights to public notice and to discourage further violence and <a href="http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/human-rights-protect">curbing corruption</a> by protecting whistleblowers.</p>
<p>But two questions remain: do South Africans have the perseverance and are they strong and morally bold enough to stand up for these rights? And, if necessary, to challenge the powerful (government) in court where they are threatened?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74454/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Besides a reminder of a dark period in South Africa’s history, Human Rights Day also celebrates the country’s unique, highly acclaimed constitution which guarantees human dignity and equal rights.Chris Jones, Academic project leader in the Department of Practical Theology and Missiology, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.