This thesis examines the political thought of Achille Mbembe. It deploys decolonial critical analysis to unmask traces of coloniality with regard to the African existential conditions foregrounded in the conception of the African subject, its subjection, and subjectivity. The theoretical foundation of this thesis is decolonial epistemic perspective—the epistemic intervention that serves as a lens to understand Mbembe’s work and—that is the theoretical foundation outside the Euro-North American “mainstream” canon foregrounded in coloniality. Decolonial epistemic perspective in this thesis is deployed to expose three kinds of coloniality in Mbembe’s work, namely: coloniality of power, coloniality of knowledge and coloniality of being. The thrust of this thesis is that Mbembe’s political thought is inadequate for the understanding of the African existential condition in that it does not fully take coloniality into account. In order to acknowledge the existence of coloniality through decolonial critical analysis, the political thought of Mbembe is examined in relation to modes of self-writing, power in the postcolony, the politics of violence in Africa, Frantz Fanon’s political thought, and the idea of South Africa as major themes undertaken in this thesis. Decolonial critical analysis deals with foundational questions that have relevance to the existential condition of the African subject and the manner in which such an existential crisis can be brought to an end. These foundational questions confront issues like—who is speaking or writing, from where, for whom and why? This thesis reveals that Mbembe is writing and thinking Africa from outside the problematic ontology of the African subject and, as such, Mbembe precludes any form of African subjectivity that challenges the Euro-North American canon. This then reveals that Mbembe is not critical of coloniality and this has the implications in that subjection is left on the wayside and not accounted for. Having explored the genealogy, trajectory and horisons of decolonial critical analysis to understand the political thought of Mbembe, this thesis highlights that it is essential to take a detour through the shifting of the geography of reason. Herein lies the originality of this thesis, and it is here that Africa is thought from within a standpoint of decolonial critical analysis and not Africa that is thought from the Euro-North American canon. Therefore, the shifting of the geography of reason is necessary for the authorisation of the subjectivity of the African subject in order to combat subjection. / Political Sciences / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Politics)

This study explores the theme of spatiality as based on a reading of the novel Flammenwand. Roman mit Anmerkungen. by Marlene Streeruwitz, and takes as its focus points the notion of atopias/non-places, the disciplining nature of spaces, the necropolitics of division, and the idea of chronotope to discover how the story is situated. The study further considers how idyllic interpretations of the space of origin are treated as utopic in the novel. Relying as well on Jurij M. Lotman’s thoughts on the structure and limits of the text/work of art, the study aims to suggest how the theme of boundaries and transgressing them also is shown in the form of the novel.

This study searches for the origin and history of the concept of individual accountability and the reason for its absence in the African Traditional Religion framework. This search begins in the Axial Age (800-200 BCE), and discusses ancient Israel's Axial Age and its Axial Hebrew prophets' response models. The study tracks the introduction of Axial ideals to South Africa, via Christianity since 1826, and examines the Xhosa prophets' response models to their Axial context. The Social Christians attempts to impart Axial ideals during the period of segregation and the Tuskegeean response model are also examined. The similarities between ancient Israel and South Africa as revealed by Biblical archaeology, underlie this study's call for the utilisation of the power of religions such as Christianity, and of South Africa's religious elite, to rapidly alter current maladaptive beliefs within the African Traditional religious framework that impedes Africans' ability to adopt individual accountability. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. A. (Biblical Archaeolgy)

This study searches for the origin and history of the concept of individual accountability and the reason for its absence in the African Traditional Religion framework. This search begins in the Axial Age (800-200 BCE), and discusses ancient Israel's Axial Age and its Axial Hebrew prophets' response models. The study tracks the introduction of Axial ideals to South Africa, via Christianity since 1826, and examines the Xhosa prophets' response models to their Axial context. The Social Christians attempts to impart Axial ideals during the period of segregation and the Tuskegeean response model are also examined. The similarities between ancient Israel and South Africa as revealed by Biblical archaeology, underlie this study's call for the utilisation of the power of religions such as Christianity, and of South Africa's religious elite, to rapidly alter current maladaptive beliefs within the African Traditional religious framework that impedes Africans' ability to adopt individual accountability. / Biblical and Ancient Studies / M. A. (Biblical Archaeolgy)