Session 2: Hope in South Africa
Session 2: Hope in South Africa
Chair: Kenneth Seeskin
The Role of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in Facilitating a Changeover to Democratic Government in South Africa in 1995 and its Implications as a Role Model for Hope in the Future
Sandra Pilowsky
University of New South Wales, Australia
In 1948 the Afrikaner Nationalist Party came to power in South Africa, and remained there until 1994, when power was transferred to the African National Congress. For the almost 50 years of Nationalist rule the country had been held in the throes of the draconic legal system of apartheid, which was based on racial inequality. Over this period numerous atrocities were perpetrated, and many people suffered. These were crimes against humanity. As the change in government evolved a decision was made as to how to deal with the past, and to move into the future. Several options were considered:
- Nuremburg type trials
- A general amnesty
- A commission which would investigate apartheid atrocities and seek to assign blame to individuals.
As a result, under the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No. 34/1995, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up. It was considered that this would facilitate the changeover; help heal the nation; and prevent further cycles of racial and ethnic strife. Under its mandate amnesty could be granted to those who confessed their roles in full, and could prove that their actions served some political motive. In the months that followed testimonies were heard from political parties, other organizations, and thousands of victims. It was hoped that this process would provide a catharsis that would help heal the trauma of both individuals and the nation, and prevent further cycles of racial and ethnic strife.
The testimonies of the TRC constitute a body of narrative that will, in years to come, assist in establishing national identity. The TRC appears to have assisted in a peaceful transition to democracy in South Africa. It is the intention, in my proposed paper, to consider the workings and implications of the South African TRC, and to show how it has provided a model for hope in the future.
Assessment of Hope – The Process of Constructing a Gender-sensitive Scale for Hope Within a South African Context
David JF Maree & Marinda Maree
Department of Psychology, University of Pretoria and Institute for Women and Gender Studies, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Hope within a South African context is currently not an investigated phenomenon albeit a crucial dimension in its development of a multicultural and non-discriminatory society. Hope is also celebrated on many levels as a motivational factor in a society trying to break through the shackles of HIV/AIDS and other debilitating factors. This paper tries to understand hope, within a South African context, from a gender perspective by means of constructing a hope-scale aimed at South Africans. The hope scale can assist in understanding incapacitating and motivational factors in order to allow the development and growth of individuals and groups within communities.
The view of hope as a psychological construct is based on Snyder’s et al. (2000) view that hope consists of three cognitive components namely: goal, pathway and agency thoughts. It is further supplemented by the idea that hope has similarities with expectancy. The idea of expectancy is grounded in a Critical Realist ontology i.e. a view that reality is stratified and in which unrealized but possible potentialities reside.
The paper briefly alludes to these ideas but mainly reports on the process of constructing a hope-scale. A number of students, male and female, were asked to describe what hope means to them in a South African context. Content analysis was used to interpret the responses. Themes were identified which was further divided into sub-themes. This information was used to generate a number of items focusing on evaluating hope. A rating scale was developed to assess the written responses of the sample. Item response analysis was used to test the dimensionality of the scale and determine the basic functioning of items. Language and gender groups were compared on personal hope measures and situational hope. Recommendations were made about the item wording and other characteristics based on item fit.
An Open Future for Indigenous Law in South Africa? Hope for a Constitutional Dialogue
David Taylor
Department of Jurisprudence, University of South Africa, South Africa
Creating an open future for indigenous African law will provide the hope that indigenous African Law can survive in an increasingly westernised legal environment. This paper deals with aspects of the legal institution of succession in indigenous and western South African law. Judicial concern about the relative nature of indigenous law norms has been sparked by the South African Constitution. Court cases that dealt with the question as to whether the indigenous law of succession was inconsistent with the constitution are interrogated. The courts have preferred to take the view that changes in the law based upon principles of public policy are properly best left to the legislature. Yet, the courts are constitutive of society from which norms and values spring; in this sense the courts have the power to create open futures for law. Karl Popper’s understanding of an open society is instructive in this regard. The courts can create an open future for indigenous African law by attempting to come to terms with the indigenous law issues that come before them, instead of simply closing the future of indigenous African law by replacing it with western legal principles. This will entail examining the jural postulates of indigenous African law which have, in some cases, been lost and distorted as a result of the colonial process. Under our constitution the courts can apply constitutional rights directly – this may result in the court effectively closing the dialogue about a particular issue. The courts can also keep the dialogue on issues open by applying or developing the indigenous law so as to be consistent with the constitution. The courts struck down the indigenous law in favour of western values of the constitution. Ultimately, the court may have closed off a potential dialogue and overlooked an opportunity to develop a truly South African jurisprudence.
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