Justice and Reconciliation in Post-Apartheid South Africa: A South African Woman's Perspective

Abstract

From the perspective of a black South African woman social etburtst, this paper explores the implications of reconciliation, justice and mission in the context of South Africa. The paper calls for the entrenchment of justice and reconciliation in South Africa, particularly following the public and ecclesial discourses in South Africa that emphasized issues of truth, forgiveness and healing whilst underplaying the imperative for redistributive justice as a component that could possibly complement and facilitate reconciliation. Ten years after the demise of apartheid, and the subsequent democratization of South Africa, and three‐plus years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission reported, this paper suggests that we have become conscious that the quest for justice and reconciliation ought to be the core of the church's witness and ministry on earth. Justice and reconciliation ministries should be encouraged as they are relevant for churches and societies that are in transition from violent oppression to freedom. In its last section, the paper suggests ways in which justice and reconciliation can be made real through the church's mission in concrete contexts, such as post‐apartheid South Africa.

A long walk to citizenship: morality, justice and faith in the aftermath of apartheid

“…However, the current conditions in which the majority of South Africans find themselves indicate that restorative justice without socio-economic justice is an inadequate moral response to the South African experience of apartheid (Bell & Ntsebeza, 2001;Gobodo-Madikizela, 2002). In particular LenkaBula (2005) summarises the argument tersely: the righting of structural wrong, injustices or oppression and/or reconciliation requires both [sic] restorative, restitutive and redistributive, or socio-economic justice.… the limitations of South African reconciliation… have been their overemphasis on forgiveness, truth and restorative justice, while they downplayed the role of economic (distributive) justice. If socio-economic justice is not taken as one of the core activities … society will remain polarized according to apartheid hierarchy and designations….…”

Elusive Pursuit of Reconciliation and Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa

“…An ideal situation is where both strategies are employed. Lived experiences and material conditions of ordinary Black South Africans bear testimony to the assertion that little has changed on the socio-economic justice front, and many relations between Black and White South Africans are still, to a large extent, determined by the hierarchical apartheid architecture (LenkaBula 2005).…”

“…Arguably, various wars of dispossession, ANC's formation in 1912 and other formations in South Africa had one central goal which was to reclaim the stolen land of Africans since the arrival of white colonial settlers in 1652. There has, however, in the last ten years or so been a reinvigoration around the land question especially amongst younger people in South Africa as the fault lines of the negotiated settlement are increasingly laid bare and many people are disillusioned (LenkaBula 2005). It is in this context that an argument is advanced that the ANC is losing more votes, or its votes are shifting to the EFF.…”