Explore publications.

This paper interrogates the intersections between race, class and ethnicity in contemporary South African society, highlighting how economic exclusion, unequal access to opportunities and ethnic tensions undermine democratic ideals. Since the advent of democracy in 1994, South Africa has grappled with the enduring legacies of apartheid and colonialism where racial and class divisions continue to shape social, political and economic life. While democracy promised inclusivity and equality, the persistence of racism and classism reveals deep structural inequalities that complicate nation-building and social cohesion. By examining the lived experiences of marginalised groups and the privileges retained by elites the paper demonstrates how class stratification intersects with racial identity to reproduce old hierarchies in new forms. Ultimately, the paper concludes that addressing these dilemmas requires transformative policies that move beyond symbolic reconciliation towards substantive equality, economic justice and the dismantling of systemic barriers that sustain exclusion.

The apartheid regime in South Africa enforced policies of ethnic classification and segregation, most notably through the establishment of tribal designations that aimed to divide the Bantu-speaking populations into separate homelands. These policies fostered deep-rooted ethnic tensions, resource conflicts, and political fragmentation that continue to influence South African society today. While apartheid officially ended in 1994, its legacy persists, especially in the form of ongoing tribal disputes, political party alignments, and competition for scarce resources. This study investigates how the apartheid-era tribal classification system has contributed to contemporary ethnic division, focusing on its impact on national unity, political polarization, and economic inequality. It explores the way these historical divisions persist in political party identification such as the geopolitical origins of political parties often dictate their tribal affiliation and the resulting fragmentation of the national political landscape. Additionally, the study examines how tribalism continues to affect cultural industries, where artists and entertainers often find themselves confined by tribal boundaries rather than celebrating a unified South African identity. Drawing on theories of social identity and post-colonial nationalism, this paper aims to provide insights into the importance of addressing these historical divisions through dialogue, reconciliation, and inclusive nation-building. The goal is to highlight strategies for overcoming tribalism and fostering a cohesive national identity that transcends historical divisions and promotes peace and unity.

The term "Black Tax" refers to the perceived financial responsibilities that Black South African professionals feel obligated to meet in order to support their families. This complex socio-economic phenomenon traverses the nuanced relationship between cultural expectations and financial pressures. This research investigates the impact of socioeconomic background on the emergence and severity of Black Tax responsibilities among young professionals in rural Limpopo. A qualitative research design was utilised, characterised by exploratory inquiry. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with five purposefully selected emerging professionals in rural Limpopo, who offered significant insights into the complex relationships among rural upbringing, financial advancement, and familial responsibilities. This research utilises the framework of Structural Functionalism to conceptualise Black Tax as a social mechanism that supports family stability and economic equilibrium in communities with insufficient formal support structures. The findings reveal contradictions between individual aspirations and collective expectations, especially as young professionals navigate the challenges of balancing personal development with familial obligations while addressing their own needs. This study critiques the simplification of Black Tax as solely a financial obligation, arguing that it is a complex socio-cultural phenomenon influenced by historical inequalities and the necessity for community survival. This research enhances discussions on class mobility, intergenerational obligations, and socio-economic dynamics in the post-apartheid context, providing a detailed understanding of the complexities involved in achieving success that cannot be exclusively linked to individual efforts. The research emphasises the necessity for cohesive financial literacy and community empowerment frameworks to align personal development with cultural responsibilities

This paper analyses the influence of grassroots action on contemporary social movements in South Africa via the lens of protest cycle theory. It examines critical movements such as anti-apartheid activism, labour strikes, and contemporary grassroots initiatives, asserting that social movements are influenced by political, economic, and social factors, including state repression, socio-economic disparities, and civil society. The paper conducts a qualitative examination of movement trajectories, identifying specific mobilisation periods and external elements such as organisational structures, leadership, and local conditions. It demonstrates that cycles of protest signify societal tensions and the persistent quest for justice and equality in South Africa. The results enhance the comprehension of social movements in the Global South and underscore the significance of contextualised analysis in the examination of collective action.

South Africa's transition to democracy in 1994 resulted in the formation of a Government of National Unity, which intended to promote inclusivity and unity in a highly divided society. Since then, coalition governments have continued to play an important part in the country's political scene, generating concerns about their effectiveness in promoting nationalism, reconciliation, and social cohesion. This paper utilised a systematic literature review to examine existing research to obtain an understanding of the topic matter by methodically gathering and evaluating 50 pertinent studies, papers, and publications as well as textual analysis to the collected data, which helped in delving further into speeches, policy documents, and other written materials relevant to South African coalition governments and the Government of National Unity. This paper recommends that future South African coalition governments should prioritise systems that promote conversation, consensus-building, and societal cohesion. Furthermore, efforts should be made to remove structural inequities and historical injustices that are impeding the country's progress towards a more inclusive and united society. This paper concludes that South African coalition governments, as well as the Government of National Unity, have far-reaching ramifications for nation-building, reconciliation, and social cohesion. Additionally, policymakers must prioritise inclusivity, transparency, and accountability in political decision-making processes.

The study provides a critical political analysis of South Africa’s 2024 election outcomes. It argues that the black electorate chose a political landscape that will continue to violate, dehumanize, and in some contexts, kill them. The article purposefully demonstrates that the election outcomes signify despair, coloniality as well as its power and a very dark future for the historically colonized people, even though some voters may have voted for political parties based on meritocracy. This study uses a qualitative research method and a secondary data collection method. This means that this article engages academic journals, books, newspaper articles, and research reports. Moreover, it finds that coloniality is evident because black voters were not able to outrightly put a black collective in power that jigsawed and declared its policies within the template of the Freedom Charter and objectives of the ANC Youth League of 1944. For this reason, the aim of this article is to expose that black voters chose a political landscape where they would continue to face the end of their own existence. The study concluded that the government must revisit the CODESA agreements that led to the compromise of the Freedom Charter to come up with a new social order that will create a new humanity that is detached from all forces of white oppression.  

This article explores theorisation that identifies the locus of South Africa’s scorched-earth lived experiences in the fixation on scientific dogma and conceptual binaries as well as governance utopianisms, wherein the latter are derivatives of the former. It explores South African’s lived experiences over the past 28 years in order to demonstrate that politicians’ reverence for governance utopianism has failed to appreciate the unity of realities, facts, values, objectivities, subjectivities, permanences, fluxes and changes, which consist of complex intricacies that are not amenable to dogmatic “incontrovertibly true” sets of authoritative principles and catchy governance utopianisms, because humanity’s imagination and creative thought are experimental in nature given the diversity of spatialities and “geography differences.” From desktop-based research literature survey and theorisation, the article advances a theoretical argument that if “science is one,” and if reality is unitary, then fragmentary theories and models are creatures of humanity’s world of imperfections. Additionally, the article analyses statistical evidence drawn from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) in order to demonstrate that the scorched-earth metaphor is real for South Africa’s 28-year democratic governance. It finds that in South Africa’s twenty-eight years of democratic experiment, lived experiences resemble scorched-earth metaphor with no silver lining in sight. Philosophically, the paper concludes that if what resides on God’s left is on humanity’s right, then the “rightness” and/or “leftness” of people consists of intractable complexities of particularity, individuality and incommunicability that have led to fragmentary science, fixation on dogma and binaries as well as politicians’ reverence for governance utopianisms, simultaneously as society’s lived experiences resemble normalised scorched-earth.

This paper uses desktop review to critique Ndlovu (2014)’s analysis of South Africa’s ‘exceptionalism’ and ‘xenophobia’ based on the articulations of the minister of Sports Fikile Mbalula at the Cape Town stadium in September 2014. Critical analysis underpinned on interpretivism was used to argue that Ndlovu chose an irrelevant case to frame his problem. This resulted in the biased analysis as published. Ndlovu (2014) is ignorant on the influence of sports rivalrism on human behaviour – especially as it has been historical between Nigeria and South Africa. Ndlovu’s (2014) description of Black South Africans affirms Euro-American hostility and attitude on Blackness which to this tradition denotes ‘danger’ – a sentiment sponsored by the swart gevaar philosophy of the apartheid regime in South Africa. The idea of the swart gevaar philosophy was to assassinate Blackness and Black people’s character. It is concluded that Ndlovu (2014) is pontifical – wanting to model immigrant nationals as victims of Black South Africans while positioning white and immigrant nationals as the civilised humans who happened to share social space with the barbarous Black South Africans. This is an antagonistic approach of wanting to solve what could be a real challenge in society however ending with the unintended consequence of broadening existing social polarisation.

In the last seven years, Limpopo Province experienced a high rate of service delivery protests that turned violent. The service delivery protests in the Vuwani area have received a lot of media coverage and international scrutiny, wherein school, and government buildings were vandalised and burned down. The study adopted a qualitative approach to explore the reasons why the protests turned violent and further questioned the burning of state property. The interviews were held with 40 community members in the Vuwani area and thematic content analyses were used. The long-standing tribal issues and political instability were at the centre of the violent protests in Vuwani area. The findings revealed dissatisfaction with municipal demarcation decisions perpetuated violent service delivery protests in Vuwani. Protest initially begins as peaceful demonstrations as mostly community members participate, the educated and the uneducated. However, protests provide an opportunity for criminals to vandalise state property and loot. The study recommends thorough public participation and consultation during decision-making that involves the community. Political stability should be enforced to avoid political agents inciting violence in the communities. Furthermore, harsher punishment was recommended for those who participate in violent service delivery protests.