Writing In The Shadow of Apartheid (by: Gcobani Qambela)

South Africa has endured and survived over 300 centuries of colonial rule and just over 40 years of apartheid rule which censored and favoured particular and often representationally biased narratives on or about South Africa and in the process silencing many opposing accounts not deemed in the interest of the country.



The gradual fall of apartheid in the late 1980’s and the eventual first democratic elections on the 27th of April 1994 unlocked a new a new market for the narration of the South African struggle to the rest of the world, largely ushered in by the first post-apartheid President of the Country, Nelson Mandela’s ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, an autobiographical account of his life in the struggle for the liberation of South Africa.


However as South Africa steadily rehabilitated itself from the world as a global pariah to one of the most successful transition stories in world history and (re)positioned itself as a leading nation both in Africa and the world, we witnessed a shift in the world interest from its apartheid past, to a new curiosity about the ‘new’ life in the now largely integrated South Africa. This is an opportunity many young writers from across all racial lines took up with great exhilaration....

Kindly see the ORIGINAL ARTICLE at: http://www.thiis.co.za/culture/writing-in-the-shadow-of-apartheid/

The Bastardisation of African Knowledge, transforming colonial minds and re-visiting the significance of Freedom in South Africa

By: Gcobani Qambela

Wednesday the 27th of April 2011 marks the 17th annual Freedom Day in South Africa, a historic day in the country’s history signifying the first ever non-racial democratic elections and the coming into effect of the country’s first ever Constitution with a justiciable Bill of Rights that put an end to over three centuries of colonial and later apartheid rule and domination in the country.

The recent tragic and controversial television broadcast of ‘police brutality’ at a service delivery protest demonstration in Ficksburg, Free State province, South Africa; has brought to the fore a call to re-visit the extent to which the post-apartheid South African government under the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) has echoed similar behaviour to that of its apartheid and colonial predecessors. This protest was marked by the assault and alleged shooting and death, by the SAPS, of Andries Tetane. This expose makes us not only question the extent to which the ANC government is similar to its predecessors, but also the degree to which it has been able to respond to the demands laid forth for realisation in South Africa’s constitution for the attainment of all-round freedom by South Africans (encompassing socio-economic and political freedoms).

The year 2011 also marks the 34th anniversary of the untimely death of Stephen Bantu Biko (more commonly known as ‘Steve Biko’) at the hands of the apartheid police. This piece seeks to evaluate the extent to which what Biko referred to as ‘the bastardisation of African knowledge’ has persisted into the post-colonial/post-apartheid era. It further seeks to uproot the scope and the boundaries within which colonial minds have been transformed (with a special emphasis on higher education institutions) and lastly concludes with an assessment of the meaning of ‘freedom’ (and consequently ‘Freedom Day’) in 2011 South Africa.

Tapping into the intellectual produce of Steve Biko, this commentary argues that while the discourse in South Africa has shifted since the 1970’s/1960’s from race to class, education has been utilised as the Post-apartheid/Colonial Gatekeeper to opportunity for the black race and economically marginalised in South Africa, and that consequently true freedom in the country can only be obtained when South Africans are given the opportunity to get proper, all round and holistic education - education opportunities that are not premised on race or marginalization history....

PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE AND COMMENT ON THE ORIGINAL AT:
http://bokamosoafrica.org/2011/04/bastardisation-of-african-knowledge-steve-biko.html

Unpacking the post-apartheid narrative on AIDS and black women

By: Gcobani Qambela
... A key question raised by Rhodes University Lecturer, Siphokazi Magadla at the seminar paints the rationale for this short piece. She questioned the extent to which the post 1990 narrative of AIDS has since then shifted from primarily HIV positive white homosexual men (from 1980-1990), to poor black women in the townships/rural areas (post 1990) and consequently repeating the same mistake as made by the medical researchers in the 1980’s/1990’s. Indeed, this cannot be denied – it is happening. The dominant post-apartheid discourse on AIDS has shifted primarily to black women, and black women alone as the carriers and the most affected individuals for the HIV pandemic....

COMMENTS ON ORIGINAL ARTICLE WOULD BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED...

SEE THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE: http://feministssa.com/2011/04/04/unpacking-the-post-apartheid-narrative-on-aids-and-black-women/

Aligning Knowledge Production with Substantive Development: (re-) Assessing the Role of Intellectuals in Africa

By: Gcobani Qambela and Bose Maposa

The role of intellectuals in Africa's development has since the late 1950's occupied an ambivalent place in mainstream scholarly debate. Thembani Mbadlanyana in his article A conversation with Dr Kwame Nkrumah: Africans as Producers of Knowledge reminded us of the critical role and need for intellectuals to carve and churn out insightful narratives on and of Africa to respond to the old adage: "From Africa Always Something New" [Semperaliquid noviex Africa]. Indeed the task of African intellectuals in this era was primarily to restore Africa’s dignity at an era of imperial intellectual scholarship that supported the colonial domination by providing ‘scientific’ evidence of Africa’s inhumanity. Thereby African intellectuals were pillars of the colonial struggle, many of whom went on to become leaders of their independent nations...



Please read the rest of the article at: http://bokamosoafrica.blogspot.com/2011/03/aligning-knowledge-production-with.html

Comments (on the original article itself) and critical feedback would be greatly appreaciated from minds like yours friends. Let me know if you are experiencing trouble commenting :-)

The Sadly Ignored Political Dimension of Rape

By: Gcobani Qambela (as appered in the Oppidan Press)

Rape is no doubt a serious issue not only in South Africa, but society in general. Rape in South Africa however, is a largely political issue. It is inextricably linked with (the black) race and poverty. The fact that this is not taken into account rattles the hell out of me. We recently had the “Silent protest” at Rhodes University on the 23rd of April to “protest the sexual violence in our communities and a social environment which makes it difficult to speak out” as one participant stated.

Effectiveness of student protest, especially those done with within the confines of University campuses cannot continue to go unquestioned. It is important that we start questioning the success of the protests in properly addressing the issues that they proclaim to address. We further need to carefully examine who excluded and included in these protests.

I have great respect for the “Silent Protest” initiative; I think it is a wonderful initiative that aims educate society about a serious and rampant societal problem. However I still have a number of problems with the initiative. The first being the fact that it ignores the political nature of rape in South Africa. While not denying the fact that rape affects all races - in South Africa black women, living in extremely impoverished conditions are the most affected by this, and yet the initiative takes place within areas (Rhodes and main town) where rape is not so rampant and residents of which are generally aware of how to exercise and enforce their rights.

Secondly, the space in which the protest takes place also needs to be scrutinised. I fail to see how a protest taking place within the confines of Rhodes University contributes helping a woman in a township who cannot “speak” because she has been subjected to sexual violence. The initiative places high emphasis on not speaking for the women that are silenced and yet ironically seems to do exactly this by not involving them and giving them the change to speak for themselves.

Lastly although I think the “Silent protest” has been very effective in raising awareness about rape within Rhodes University. I would contend the glass is still half full if the protest is still exclusive to Rhodes and does not reach the places where rape is most rampant – i.e. the places where the economically-marginal and oppressed live.

Please see the original paper at: http://www.theoppidanpress.com/