Determinants of Bias Perceptions in South Africa: The Case of A Highly Unequal Society

While objective class dynamics have received much attention in South Africa, less is known about the subjective social positions individuals place themselves in. For example, in a highly unequal society like South Africa, some individuals would overestimate (inflate) or underestimate (deflate) their social position compared to their objective class position. This paper aims to provide further information on status inconsistency in South Africa by assessing some of the socioeconomic determinants of bias perceptions. Using International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) data and a multinomial probit model, the results show that education and race play a significant role in influencing the biased perceptions of individuals in South Africa. For example, individuals with higher education levels have a stronger tendency to deflate their social position, while Coloreds, Indians/Asians, and whites tend to inflate their social positions more than Africans. The results indicate the vital role of race and education in determining status inconsistencies in a society that is still suffering from high levels of racial and education inequality due to the lingering legacy of apartheid. The results provide a better understanding to policymakers and government on the dynamics behind social status perceptions in South Africa.     

Substance Abuse in the New South Africa

ABSTRACT

Over the past five years South Africa has experienced a political transformation that has riveted attention around the world. A country once known for its policy of racial separation or apartheid has emerged as a new democracy with a racially integrated government of national unity. South Africa is now one of the most sought after tourist destinations and has attracted foreign investment from every major country around the world. Ironically, it is also emerging as one of the most lucrative countries for drug trafficking, substance abuse and the crime that typically follows. This article will examine the growing problem of drug and alcohol abuse in the new South Africa. The social and economic implications and the demand reduction methods will also be explored. Finally, the status of chemical dependency treatment and available support groups will also be discussed.     

Making space: the counterpublics of post‐apartheid independent literary publishing activities (1994–2004)

This article explores how independent literary publishing activities in South Africa during the period 1994–2004 sought to engage in public debate and deliberation, and thereby moved beyond purely literary concerns. It focuses on the publishing activities of five publishers – Dye Hard Press, Botsotso, Timbila, Kotaz and Chimurenga – and draws on a series of interviews with the publishers. The article considers how the publishers understood their publishing activities as acts of public engagement and contestation, and argues that they can usefully be thought of as counterpublics, a characteristic which feels unique to the post‐apartheid period. It argues that public sphere theory offers a way of talking about the divergent characteristics of the publishing activities, which can be considered acts of poetic world making that position themselves in contestation with the post‐apartheid mainstream. However, it suggests that their relationship to the mainstream is at times ambivalent and their independence not always assured. This is particularly felt in the reliance of some of the publishers on state and state‐aligned arts bodies for funding for their survival, but also in other areas such as their difficult relationship with commercial book dealers and the mainstream media. Their proximity to the mainstream in terms of state funding also suggests the need for a theorisation of what we might call ‘embedded counterpublics’ in highly stratified societies such as South Africa.     

Power,poets and the people: Mozambican voices interpreting history

This article analyses the relationship between the state and the nascent African trade unions in South Africa between 1918 and 1948. It shows how the government's attempts to deal with African workers separately from white workers became increasingly difficult during this period. Pressures from African unions themselves, from liberal groups and from the increasingly important role played by Africans in the economy, forced the state to seek a coherent way of handling African trade unions. The paper shows how the state was divided over this issue, with Native Affairs and Labour Department officials conflicting with each other and with government ministers. Although the cabinet held ultimate power within the state, civil servants played a significant role in shaping government policy and determining how it was implemented. The paper concludes that, although circumstances have changed greatly since 1948, the pre‐apartheid era has important lessons for state/organised labour relations in the post‐apartheid South Africa which is currently taking shape.     

Using life histories to explore change: women's urban struggles in Cape Town,South Africa

This article shows how life histories can be useful in analyzing the impact of political and economic change on the lives of individuals and social groups in South Africa. Four case studies are presented to highlight the shared and individual experiences of four women who arrived in Cape Town in defiance of the pass laws, which prohibited such migration. Comparing the four stories, it is clear that certain aspects of South Africa's influx controls affected all the women as women. Women were the targets of most pass raids in the townships, hostels, squatter camps and held a much more precarious position in the city. Also, the age and stage in the life cycle determined their ability to make a living in their town in order to survive shocking outbreaks of violence in the Crossroads squatter camp in 1983 and to avoid arrest under the "pass laws" of the apartheid era.     

Selling sorrow: testimony,representation and images of HIV‐positive South African women

In post‐apartheid South Africa, testimony and personal narrative have opened a space for marginalised voices to emerge. At the same time, to testify is to occupy a position of vulnerability. This paper focuses on a series of self‐portraits by black HIV‐positive women and points to how their entry into the public sphere and the global art market has been conditioned by their social and economic marginality. These portraits have been read as ‘maps’, providing access to the truth of the subjects they represent. Such readings perpetuate rather than challenge the myth of the transparent, authentic African subject.     

The public private sphere: family narrative and democracy in Argentina and South Africa

This article explores the paradoxical prominence of seemingly private family stories and memories in the democratic public spheres emerging in the wake of the ‘Dirty War’ in Argentina and apartheid in South Africa. In part because the discourse of the family was used in these cases to both uphold and protest dictatorial regimes, individuals who lost family members to state violence became powerful moral agents in the post‐dictatorship and post‐apartheid periods. Narratives told by and about these individuals – ranging from personal testimony given in each country’s truth commission to representations in theatre, fiction and film – have worked to constitute what may be called a ‘public private sphere’. They not only express personal grief, but also (and especially in wider cultural circulation) have been emplotted and mobilised to construct democratic publics. These may or may not correspond to the nationwide publics envisioned in state discourses of reconciliation. Using genealogical fiction surrounding ‘disappeared children’ in Argentina as a lens to analyse South Africa, this article argues that stories of children attempting to piece together their family histories reveal this dynamic as they become sites for convening democratic publics and critiquing transitional politics.     

Continuity and Changing Configurations of Migration to and from the Republic of South Africa

This paper focuses on the transfixing configurations of migration dynamics in a new South Africa, while examining the context of migration and migration dynamics with an emphasis on the historical and institutional setting; the role of immigrants, including those doing the dirty and dangerous jobs, even when they are unwanted; the dynamics of replacement; and policy responses to fashion out appropriate migration regimes in the country.
In the early 1970s, Lesotho, Malawi, and Mozambique were the main suppliers of labour to apartheid South Africa. This pattern later changed, and the supply of workers from Lesotho increased steadily over the years to 50 per cent of the foreign labour in South Africa. The striking disparities in economic development and living standards between South Africa and other African countries, and the remarkable transition to post-apartheid rule attracted migrants of all categories from Africa and beyond, despite the daunting problems of unemployment, crime, widespread poverty, and the spread of AIDS. It is estimated that nationals from some 100 countries now live in the Republic of South Africa (RSA). From West Africa came highly skilled professionals from Nigeria and Ghana to staff the universities and other professions, along with tradesmen from Senegal and Mali, including street vendors and small traders. These joined their counterparts from the Democratic Republic of Congo, then Zaire and Zimbabwe to swell the informal sector in contrast to the traditional immigrants from Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Malawi, and Mozambique, whose nationals were mostly unskilled farm labourers and mine workers.     

How Do Migrants Fare in a Post‐Apartheid South African Labor Market?1

South African policies have historically emphasized employment as the reason for immigration. In post‐apartheid South Africa, stories about how “immigrants take away our jobs” abound in the mass media, yet few empirical studies have been undertaken to examine the validity of this claim. This study looks at the relationship between migration status, nativity and labor force outcomes in the post‐apartheid labor market. Our results suggest that migrants are more likely to participate in the labor force and to be gainfully employed than the indigenous population. Foreign migrants enjoy the highest labor force participation rates and employment rates in South Africa. South African‐born internal migrants also have significantly higher labor force outcomes than do nonmigrants.     

U.S. firms and black labor in South Africa: Creating a structure for change

Some have argued that U.S. firms should disinvest from South Africa as a means of putting pressure on the South African government to end apartheid. This argument, however, may ignore a dynamic of change in South Africa in which U.S. firms have played and are playing a large role: South African industrial relations have undergone significant evolution since 1979, the year in which major changes were introduced in that country’s labor legislation. Partly a result of these changes, black trade union membership has increased by 800 percent since 1979. By virtue of its unique exposure to varied constituencies, the multinational subsidiary in both home and host countries can be viewed as an agent of sociopolitical change in South Africa. The author wishes to thank Professors Herbert R. Northrup and Richard L. Rowan for helpful discussion.     

Life 'Inside the Shell': A Needs Survey of Spinal Cord-injured Wheelchair Users in a Black South African Township

The paper focuses on the experiences of a sample of black spinal cord-injured people living in Soweto. It is argued that their lives are marked by poverty and social isolation. Both are the outcome of environmental and attitudinal barriers. These barriers operate against both disabled people and black people in apartheid South Africa. Therefore black disabled people are doubly discriminated against. Both sets of constraints prevent them from developing their abilities and joining with others to lead socially productive and satisfying lives.     

Oscar Pistorius and the melancholy of intersectionality

The alleged shooting by Paralympian and Olympian athlete Oscar Pistorius of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has led to strong reactions worldwide. Scholars in the field of disability studies have expressed shock and disappointment in response both to the death itself and to its implications for the representation of disability. In South Africa in the wake of the death of Ms Steenkamp, much has been made both by critics of Pistorius and by his defenders about his status as a white South African man, but little has been said about disability issues. This silence in South Africa about disability as a possible identity factor in this case draws attention to the extent to which disability questions remain profoundly raced and gendered, and influenced by the colonial and apartheid past. The tragic alleged shooting by Oscar Pistorius draws attention back to how important intersectionality is to understanding disability in South Africa and other unequal societies.     

Foster care in Soweto, South Africa: under assault from a politically hostile environment

Institutionalized discrimination has progressively eroded the formerly cohesive black family structure in South Africa, resulting in an increased need for alternative care for black children, as shown most prominently in South Africa's most populous black urban area. Foster care's inherent problems are compounded not only by apartheid but also by the political unrest in the country. This article offers a profile of Sowetan foster families and the problems they face.     

Contradictions in consciousness or variations in tradition: Hindu women in the South African diaspora

The introductory section of this paper reviews previous studies of the Indian diaspora to show their lack of attention to gender issues. While ideals of Hindu fundamentalism and social conditions imposed by caste are unlikely to be recreated in South Africa, it is proposed that Hindu women in South Africa are custodians of Hindu values. The paper goes on to present a brief history of middle and upper-class Hindu women in South Africa to place them within the context of the Indian diaspora. After describing the fieldwork and methodology (data were gathered from extensive interviews with 20 women representing the four major linguistic groups currently living in Durban), some of the distinctive characteristics of women's experiences and the problems these present because they are either contradictions or variations of conditions in India are discussed. The study then demonstrates that the individual choices made by the women are inconsistent with the apartheid notions of unambiguous social boundaries and also challenge the opposing Marxist perspective that ethnic consciousness is false. It is concluded that cultural adornments and self-imposed limitations on travel and socialization publicize status and ethnic identity and continuity with tradition. Hindu women in South Africa emphasize this continuity through personal beliefs or through the way they present themselves in public.     

The Star’s first draft: a news organization revises the next narrative of race in post‐apartheid South Africa

The evolution of South Africa’s news media has been fraught with uncertainties as the nation’s news organizations negotiate organizational and occupational ideologies and reporting strategies in the post‐apartheid era. The mainstream English press in particular has been struggling for a sense of identity despite a history of anti‐apartheid ‘watchdog’ activity. This essay examines a major Johannesburg English newspaper and its principal rival from 1999 to 2005, the critical years just before and just after a showdown with the larger society over charges of racism in the news. It shows how organizational cultures of newspapers and their ideological schemata may be affected both by transformations in the political systems and by the unfolding of major news events, such as the government’s reaction to the AIDS pandemic.     

What Could be the Future of South Africa After National Elections on 22 April 2009?

Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has been characterized by a dualistic economic structure. It is a developed country compared to the African context, but it is still developing for many problems such as high unemployment rates, low levels of foreign direct investments and saving, inflation, and the general levels of poverty and inequality. In this sense, the recent national election, held on 22 April 2009, has a crucial role. The high percentage of voters shows that there is a common sense of revenge. People want to believe that a new beginning is possible. The ANC victory and the election of Jacob Zuma as president appear to be the first steps in order to realize this change. Nevertheless, this national support clashes with international concerns. The background of J. Zuma, the increasingly close cooperation between South Africa and China, as well as the proximity and politic instability of Zimbabwe make international observers skeptical about Zuma’s actions. In the light of the economic and social problems of South Africa, the aim of this paper is to analyze these aspects in order to imagine what the future holds for South Africa.     

The ebb and flow of the fortunes of African studies at the University of Cape Town: an overview

ABSTRACT

This article is an overview of African Studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Its main conclusion is that the University has so far failed to put the issue of African Studies high on its agenda. This is by no means a detailed account of the evolution of the concept of African Studies at UCT, but rather an overview that is meant to stimulate debate and discussion as UCT commemorates a centenary of African Studies. The article shows how UCT dealt with the notion of African Studies. In the period leading to the introduction of apartheid in South Africa UCT saw its role as providing resources to those tasked with the formulation and implementation of a “Native policy”. With the advent of apartheid, African Studies focused internally on the study of Africa and its people. This provides the backdrop to the debates of the late 1990s involving Mahmood Mamdani, which centred on the teaching of Africa in an African university. I wrap up this article by sounding a clarion call for UCT to put African Studies high on its agenda if it is serious in fulfilling its mission of making UCT a truly African university.     

Reforming Land‐Tenure Systems in South Africa: Routes to Socio‐Economic and Agricultural Sustainability

Given the historical development of land tenure in South Africa, the aim of this article is to examine the best routes to alleviate poverty and retain sustainable agriculture in the country. First, a theoretical framework is presented that relates land tenure to sustainability, and three historical periods (pre‐colonial, colonial, and apartheid) are then considered to explain the changes in land tenure and their consequences. The progress and main limitations of post‐apartheid land reform to approach agricultural sustainability and alleviate poverty are discussed. Based on the analysis, different possibilities for future land reform are elaborated, followed by some recommendations for future land‐reform policies in South Africa.     

Piketty comes to South Africa

One of the most valuable features of Capital and Ideology is its concern to take history seriously and consider how the emergence of different political and economic regimes relate to discourses about fairness and justice across time. This paper pushes this agenda further by acknowledging that the experience of a few developed nations should not be taken as the template for the generalized study of inequality dynamics across time and space. In this paper, we interrogate Piketty's analysis and policy proposals against specificities that are central to understanding the production and reproduction of inequalities within South Africa. We reflect on the South African case, the structure of inequality and its changes since 1994. We review a battery of policy interventions that have been implemented to address inequality in the last 25 years. We emphasize that the long shadow cast by centuries of colonialism and various forms of apartheid strongly affirm Piketty's emphasis on understanding history. But this is both affirmation and critique given the foundational, imbedded impact that this specific legacy has had on post‐apartheid society and its policies. Piketty is aware that the levels of inequality in South Africa are so high that this is “unknown territory.” We map out some of this territory to reveal how these extreme initial wealth and racial inequities inform the reproduction of inequalities in all dimensions and undermine well intentioned policies. We claim that understanding extractive histories, imbedded wealth inequalities, and complex social and political institutions allows us to understand and confront some of the reasons why even in light of progressive policies, many of which are in line with the proposals from Piketty, government interventions have thus far failed to reduce inequality.     

Enough is Enough: Race,Cricket and Protest in the UK

Abstract

This piece considers ethnicity in sport from the perspective of grass roots efforts to confront racism within the quintessentially English game of cricket. Cricket has a long history of discrimination, originally predicated on the basis of class, although recent events have very publicly raised issues of race and national identity. This piece explores how and why cricket became a positive focal point for successful protest against the apartheid regime of South Africa and proceeds to trace the current expression of racism within English cricket. By contrasting the anti-racist campaigns of the late 1960s and early 1970s with a currently emerging movement, we will show that legislative change in the UK has radically altered the ability to effectively demonstrate and campaign on such causes.