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M.A. (Political Studies) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

It has become commonplace in academic studies, particularly those with a critical bent, to view nations as being historical constructs, as being without essence, though not without effects of exclusion and inclusion, of the constitution of the „authentic‟ national subject and the „other of the nation.‟ The critical impetus at work here is to show how a nation is constructed in order to bring into view the knowledge and power relations this construction entails, to show whose interests the construction serves, and whose it does not. This study examines the discursive production, the performative enactment and the spatial emplacement of post-apartheid „South Africanness‟ through a case study of Oppikoppi music festival. Oppikoppi is an annual event that emerged in 1994, on the threshold of the „new South Africa.‟ The festival is attended predominantly by young white Afrikaans-speaking South Africans and is held on a farm in the northernmost province of Limpopo, South Africa, an area notoriously conservative in its racial politics. Yet, curiously, Oppikoppi has been repeatedly referred to, and refers to itself with an almost obsessive regularity and repetitiveness, as a „truly South African‟ event. Indeed, the festival has been promoted, since 1998, as „The Home of South African Music,‟ and in 2009 the site of the festival was unofficially declared a „national monument.‟ Through the employment of concepts drawn from the writings of French philosopher and historian, Michel Foucault – particularly his earlier archaeological works – and from Sigmund Freud – particularly his metapsychological works – this study has posed two broad sets of questions. Firstly, from a Foucauldian perspective, what have been the conditions for the production of „South Africanness‟ at this festival? What have been the requirements, the discursive „rules of the game‟ for whiteness and Afrikanerness to become „South African‟? To what extent does this constitution of the festival as a „South African‟ event preserve older lines of division, difference and oppression? To what extent does this bring about meaningful social change? Secondly, from a psychoanalytic perspective, what are the fantasies constellated in the discourse of the festival as a „South African‟ event? Who, in these fantasies, is constituted as the „other of the post-apartheid nation‟? How has fantasy provided a kind of „hallucinatory gratification,‟ a phantasmatic compensation for, and a means of conserving, the losses of privilege in the new nation? And how has fantasy oriented the festival towards post-apartheid sociality, soliciting identifications with the post-apartheid nation? The overarching argument proposed is that anti-apartheid post-apartheid nation building has cultivated a melancholic loss of apartheid for whites in general and Afrikaners in particular, a loss that cannot be grieved – indeed, a loss that should not be grieved – and, as such, a grief that takes on an unconscious afterlife. Apartheid and the life it enabled – not only racialised privilege, but also a structure of identification and idealisation, of being and having – becomes a loss that is buried in, and by, the injunctions issued to post-apartheid memory and conduct. Without the discursive resources with which to symbolise this loss, disguised repetitions of the past, a neurotic refinding of the lost objects of apartheid, and melancholia are the likely outcomes, each of which engender a set of exclusions and enjoyments that run along old and new lines.

After suffering heavy losses at the hands of the warriors of Zulu King Dingane (c. 1795-1840), a Voortrekker commando advanced against the former in December 1838. As it was evident that they would be faced by superior enemy numbers, the Voortrekkers were induced by A.W.J. Pretorius (1798-1853) and S.A. Cilliers (1801-1871), to enter into a covenant with God. Its exact words were not recorded, but eyewitnesses' later versions concurred that God had been requested to assist them in vanquishing the Zulu Army. Should they be victorious, the Voortrekkers undertook that they and their descendants would annually dedicate the day of the conquest to the glory of God alone. The Battle of Blood River took place on 16 December 1838, marking the Voortrekkers' desired victory. On the same day, the Covenant was fulfilled for the first time on the very battlefield. Thus the oldest Afrikaner national celebration, later known as Dingaan's Day or Day of the Covenant, came about. Initially the Covenant was commemorated in a small way by families and religious associates. In 1864 the General Synod of the Afrikaners' Natal Churches agreed that 16 December would henceforth be celebrated as ecclesiastical day of thanksgiving by all its congregations. This was the result of the efforts of two Dutch clergymen and supporters of Revival Theology, namely Revs. D.P.M. Huet (1827-1895) and F.L. Cachet (1835-1899). In 1865 the Executive Counsel of the South African Republic declared 16 December to be a public holiday in this Boer Republic. During the Anglo Transvaal (1880-1881) and Anglo Boer Wars (1899-1902), the commemoration of the Covenant inspired Afrikaners. The celebrations acquired a deeply nationalistic significance. A growing number of Covenant ceremonies were annually being organised throughout the Boer Republics and northern Natal. In 1894 the Government of the Free State also declared 16 December to be a public holiday. English-speaking compatriots and members of other races in general attached little importance to the Covenant, normally utilising 16 December for recreational purposes only. In 1910 an act was passed by Parliament according to which 16 December would be celebrated as a national holiday (Dingaan's Day) throughout the Union of South Africa, as of 1911. The celebration of the Covenant of 1838 has had an inestimable influence on Afrikaner and even South African cultural history. It played an important religious, national, social and educational role in everyday life, stimulating and shaping the Afrikaner's creativity, historical consciousness, ethics and intercultural relations. In 1952 the name of the day was changed from Dingaan's Day to Day of the Covenant. After 1994, in post-apartheid South Africa, it has still remained a public holiday, even though it is now known as Day of Reconciliation. The fact that it has been retained as a holiday is regarded as a significant gesture of goodwill towards Afrikaners. A study of South Africans' diverse attitudes towards the celebration of the Covenant of 1838, starting with the earliest commemorations between 1838 and 1910, may contribute towards mutual understanding and harmony. / Dissertation (MHCS)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Historical and Heritage Studies / unrestricted

This qualitative study, located within a postmodern and social constructionist framework, explores how the social identities of retired white Afrikaner ex-military South African Defence Force (SADF) servicemen are constructed in South Africa. It considers how retired white Afrikaner ex-military South African Defence Force (SADF) servicemen have chosen to define and experience their social identities in view of the transformed political, socio-cultural and economic landscape and dominant discourses to which they have had to adjust. The literature review describes the multiple, dynamic and socially constructed nature of identities, traces the reciprocal relationship between the individual and society, relates identity formation to the various social category memberships subscribed to by research participants, and elucidates the role of language in the construction of social identities. In this study, ‘discursive threads’ of race (whiteness), culture (Afrikaans traditions, language, practices), gender (masculinity), role status (retiree, ex-soldier) were all woven together by the multiplicity of meanings contained in drawn-upon discourses, which constructed the social identities of research participants. Social identity can be viewed as a compromise between assimilation with and differentiation from others, where the need for similarity is satisfied within ingroups, while the need for distinctiveness is met through inter-group comparison. Discourse analysis was used to analyse the texts produced during semi-structured interviews with five research participants. Additionally, the discursive psychological concepts of action orientation (and positioning were used to explore how temporal, multiple and fluid social identities of participants were constructed by their use of language and invocation of supporting, opposing and overlapping discourses. From the discourse analysis, five discourses were identified as being realised in the texts, namely: a discourse of discipline; a discourse of ‘same-ness’; a discourse of ‘different-ness’; a discourse of ‘loss’: “Old Soldiers never die; they just fade away”; and a discourse of ‘camaraderie’: “Esprit de Corps”. The participants’ accounts have highlighted the complexity, fluidity and multiplicity of identities and the impact of dominant discourses on the reciprocal relationships between individuals, groups and society. This study contributes significantly to the existing knowledge regarding white retired ex-servicemen of the SADF in South Africa by offering insights into how this ingroup defines, re-defines, negotiates and maintains its social identities in accordance with and in reaction to dominant discourses of the past and present. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Psychology / unrestricted

This thesis is a biographical study of Erika Theron (1907-1990), an Afrikaner woman who played a significant role in many aspects of public life in South Africa in a critical time in the country‘s history. The study seeks to give recognition to her achievements, which have received scant attention in a historiography with a masculine bias. At the same time it examines her changing role from collaborator to critic of the apartheid system. Certain defining features of Theron‘s life have been highlighted. First, Theron grew up in a staunchly Afrikaner nationalist, service-oriented family which encouraged loyalty to her own people and civic responsibility. Second, she was unusual among Afrikaner women of her generation, in that she was highly educated, independent and ready to assume leadership roles. She became a pioneer in a number of fields, attaining high professional rank and holding important public offices – frequently as the first woman to do so in the country. The thesis focuses on five areas of Theron‘s public life. After returning from post-graduate studies abroad, she worked with Hendrik Verwoerd in the campaign to uplift poor whites, particularly the rehabilitation and re-integration of the Afrikaner poor. She thereafter commenced a long career as a social work academic, which included a number of milestones for her new discipline, for the profession of social work and for the advancement of women in academia. From the 1950s she served on the town council of Stellenbosch, including terms as deputy mayor and mayor. She played an important role in historic conservation but was also instrumental in the rigorous institution of apartheid structures in the town during the early days of National Party rule. In the early 1970s she served as chairman of the Commission of Enquiry into Coloured Affairs which influenced her personal views on the country‘s race policies. She became a public critic of many aspects of the apartheid system and vocal advocate for coloured rights. / History / D. Litt. et Phil. (History)

This thesis is a biographical study of Erika Theron (1907-1990), an Afrikaner woman who played a significant role in many aspects of public life in South Africa in a critical time in the country‘s history. The study seeks to give recognition to her achievements, which have received scant attention in a historiography with a masculine bias. At the same time it examines her changing role from collaborator to critic of the apartheid system. Certain defining features of Theron‘s life have been highlighted. First, Theron grew up in a staunchly Afrikaner nationalist, service-oriented family which encouraged loyalty to her own people and civic responsibility. Second, she was unusual among Afrikaner women of her generation, in that she was highly educated, independent and ready to assume leadership roles. She became a pioneer in a number of fields, attaining high professional rank and holding important public offices – frequently as the first woman to do so in the country. The thesis focuses on five areas of Theron‘s public life. After returning from post-graduate studies abroad, she worked with Hendrik Verwoerd in the campaign to uplift poor whites, particularly the rehabilitation and re-integration of the Afrikaner poor. She thereafter commenced a long career as a social work academic, which included a number of milestones for her new discipline, for the profession of social work and for the advancement of women in academia. From the 1950s she served on the town council of Stellenbosch, including terms as deputy mayor and mayor. She played an important role in historic conservation but was also instrumental in the rigorous institution of apartheid structures in the town during the early days of National Party rule. In the early 1970s she served as chairman of the Commission of Enquiry into Coloured Affairs which influenced her personal views on the country‘s race policies. She became a public critic of many aspects of the apartheid system and vocal advocate for coloured rights. / History / D. Litt. et Phil. (History)

Triomf explores the distortion of the national Afrikaner identity as a result of apartheid. This dissertation aims to demonstrate how van Niekerk deconstructs the Afrikaner through myths, stories, symbols, intertextuality and Derridean deconstruction. The Benades represent the Afrikaner on three levels: the personal, the national and the primordial. Since the Benades are primordial, Van Niekerk is able to use the archetypes of Jung’s collective unconscious to deconstruct the archetypal mythological structures Afrikaner nationalists used to develop identity and unity. The archetypes deconstructed are Spirit, the Great Mother, Re-birth, the Trickster, the Physical Hearth and the Sacred Fire. Afrikaner myths deconstructed include the Great Trek, the family, the patriarch, the matriarch, the future of a white Afrikaner nation and the binding character of Afrikaans as white national language. Van Niekerk undermines the plaasroman of the 1920s and 1930s, as the Afrikaner’s national identity was constituted and deconstructed in literature. / English / M.A. (English)

Against the background of the lack of consensus on the definition of the concept minority and the continuing debates on minorities and their rights in education, a need exists for adequate provision of education suitable to different minorities. This study investigates the provision of education to minorities. A literature survey investigated how various countries make provision for minorities in their education systems, starting from the Constitutions and various education laws to educational practice. These countries include Belgium, Getmany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom (UK) and Italy. Regarding South Africa, an analysis of documents dealing with the provision of education to minorities was undertaken. Unstructured interviews, from a small sample of informants selected by purposeful sampling, elicited additional data to the document analysis. Data was analysed, discussed and synthesised. The major findings are: there is no international consensus on the definition of the concept minority; the concept minority does not even appear in the Constitutions of some of the countries under investigation; the South African Constitution uses the concept communities rather than minorities. However, no definition of the concept community is provided and despite reservations expressed by a key informant on group rights, generally the South African Constitution contains enough sections regarding the provision of education to minorities. Subject to certain limitations, minority groups may open their own schools and use their own language. Based on these findings, recommendations for educational provision for minorities are made. / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Comparative Education)

This thesis investigates discourses surrounding upper and middle class Afrikaner women living in Johannesburg during the years 1948, 1949 and 1958. It uses magazines aimed at upper and middle class women as primary sources and also makes use of interviews with upper and middle class women who lived in Johannesburg during 1948, 1949 and 1958. The thesis uses women's magazines, educational magazines and church magazines, as well as the Vrou en Maeder magazine, mouthpiece of the Suid Afrikaanse Vrouefederasie. Conclusions are drawn about the status and role of Afrikaner middle class women in society, as well as the value systems operating at the time. Differences in discourse and changes over time are accounted for. The thesis also draws attention to the importance of using gender as an historical category, and attempts to broaden the method of history by utilising discourse analysis. / History / M.A. (History)