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eBook details
- Title: Differing Interpretations of Reconciliation in South Africa: A Discussion of the Home for All Campaign (Report)
- Author : Transformation
- Release Date : January 01, 2010
- Genre: Social Science,Books,Nonfiction,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 222 KB
Description
More than fifteen years after the end of apartheid the topic of post-apartheid inter-racial reconciliation in South Africa remains pertinent. In 2008 this issue came to the fore again when a controversial racist video made by students at the Reitz residence of the University of the Free State (UFS) came to light. (2) At around the same time that this video and its implications were being discussed, South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) chairperson, Jody Kollapen, attracted some attention for having said that the reconciliation process in South Africa had taken place 'at the expense of transformation' (SAPA 2008a). He argued that reconciliation had been overemphasised during the early post-apartheid years and that South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) had focused too much on the 'excesses' of apartheid, failing to begin a conversation between ordinary South Africans (SAPA 2008b). Kollapen commended the Australian prime minister, Kevin Rudd, for his apology to aboriginal Australians and suggested that something similar was needed in South Africa. In response to widespread criticism of his comments, the SAHRC issued a statement clarifying what Kollapen had meant (SAHRC 2008). In this statement, the SAHRC indicated that Kollapen does not believe that reconciliation and transformation are necessarily in tension--indeed, they ought to be 'complementary imperatives'; however, he believes that a particular narrow interpretation of reconciliation has taken root in some communities and that it is this narrow interpretation which is an obstacle to transformation. While reconciliation properly understood 'would not only include apologizing for the past but also committing to making good the ills of the past', Kollapen believes that many white South Africans favour an interpretation which is in tension with transformation and which requires little from white South Africans. It is this interpretation that Kollapen rejects. The prevailing uses of the term 'reconciliation' by organisations such as the Democratic Alliance and Afriforum seem to confirm Kollapen's sense that many white South Africans adhere to a problematic, narrow conception of reconciliation. However, as will be seen below, some white South Africans have adopted a broader understanding of reconciliation that Kollapen would not consider to be in tension with transformation. In this paper, I discuss the Home for All Campaign and its attempt to mobilise white South Africans to acknowledge the prejudices of the past and to commit themselves to healing divisions and reducing inequalities in South Africa. I contrast the Campaign's approach to reconciliation with that of other organisations representing white South Africans. After outlining the reasons for the ultimate failure of the Campaign, I argue that its broad conception of reconciliation remains relevant in contemporary South Africa.
 "Differing Interpretations of Reconciliation in South Africa: A Discussion of the Home for All Campaign (Report)" by Transformation ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free){kind=link}