The research attempts to understand the role Black Consciousness (BC) plays in the identity of blacks in South Africa by exploring and describing the experience of self-identity in the life-history context of two members of AZAPO, a BC organisation. The literature review explores the work of Biko, Manganyi, and Fanon with a view to understanding whether and how it might be claimed that BC galvanises the black person to discard the crippling fear of colonialism which inflicts feelings of inferiority, and to rise up to claim his/her rightful place in community life. To explore the philosophical assumptions made in the literature review, a qualitative study was conducted. Interviews were conducted with two black adults who have adopted BC philosophy. Three separate in-depth phenomenological interviews were conducted which yielded a description of the experiences of each respondent. A tape recorder was used to record the interviews and they were transcribed for analysis. A thematic analysis was conducted using the reading guide method. The material was thematised using the following questions: What biographical factors are seen as being important prior to the respondent becoming black conscious? How did the participant come to realise his/her self-identity as problematic? How did the process of adopting BC change the participant’s selfidentity? The results indicate that participants became aware very early in their lives and prior to adopting BC, that their own supportive and cohesive family cultures were at odds with the surrounding social context. Early experiences of this were initially unintelligible but impressionable. BC in this sense provided a framework for understanding and engaging with these experiences. The study shows that the adoption of BC helped to make sense of experiences of community isolation, discrimination, oppression and provided them with a mode of engaging practically with these issues. It was not adopted from a perspective of poor self-esteem or other such purely personal characteristics which may have been expected on the basis of literature in the area. BC was adopted as a way of understanding the relationship between their communities or backgrounds and the broader social environment and if there was a ‘healing’ project it was at this level.However, the study did show the close relationship between individual and social well-being that emerged as intrinsic both to the philosophy of BC and the lives of these individuals. This was shown to play out in the commitment of these individuals to the development of black communities and in their tying of their own destinies to the destiny of the oppressed black people in general. These and other issues which emerged in the two case studies are discussed in relation to the literature in the area.

Student Number : 9809033F - MA research report - School of Social Sciences and Humanities - Faculty of Humanities / The overriding theme of this research report is ‘youth politics’ in South Africa in the 1980s and early 1990s. The report explores the role played by the Africanist youth organization, the Azanian National Youth Unity (AZANYU), in the struggle for liberation. It further examines its response to the transition period which took place in the country in the early 1990s. The report explores in particular the role played by the AZANYU Tembisa branch in the struggle. It contends that this branch adopted a militaristic approach in its fight for liberation. And this prohibited it from participating in the local politics mounted by the Tembisa residents. Instead it focused on national politics. The report further illustrates how youth politics were introduced and sustained in Tembisa over a period of time from the early 1970s.

M.A. (Political Studies) / This study sets out to establish the presence of socialist trends within extra-parliamentary groups in South Africa. The role of socialism within the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPOj, which supports the Black Consciousness philosophy, is considered. The study simultaneously examines the presence of socialism in the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), as an all-white organisation. The study also indicates that socialism, in contrast with popular perceptions, is a complex socio-political system consisting of different variants. Socialism developed from, inter alia, discontentment with the supposed shortcomings of capitalist inspired democracies. Differing interpretations of socialism developed according to the specific needs of each society. At present, socialist ideologies are still mainly directed towards providing alternatives for economic inequalities and the welfare of the society in general. Three variants of socialism were identified for the purpose of this study. The first, democratic socialism, is closely related to the basic theory of democracy and therefore allows for the greatest extent of free market capitalism and private enterprise. The second, African socialism, developed as a result of the attainment of independence by African states in the early sixties, which left these states with the remnants of imperialism. African socialism is an outcry against the perceived injustices committed by white imperialists and therefore does not provide for white participation. The third variant, national socialism, by contrast to African socialism, is mainly pursued by white elitist groups ...

The goal of this research was to describe the nature, occurrence and extent to which integration preceded normative and institutional transformation in the SANDF and therefore in its Military Police, thereby demonstrating how in its aftermath, integration has become a recipe for disaster, casting a spell on further transformation within the military. The research also aimed at bringing the reader face-to-face with the daily struggles of Africans in the SANDF, by focusing on one of the smallest divisions of the military, the Military Police Agency (MPA). The research project was limited to all reported interviews and questionnaire responses of eighty five participants of the Southern Military Police Region (S MPR), excluding the S MPR HQ as well as the MPA HQ. A total of eighty five respondents out of a total strength of 172 S MPR composition, took part in the sample. Seventy nine participated in the questionnaire, fifty one in the interview and a total of forty five participated in both. Interviews were used as follow-up sessions to respondents' questionnaire answers. While the questionnaire was structured, the interview was semi-structured, allowing members to comment, object, affirm or question the process of transformation both in the SANDF and in the MPA. In keeping with the qualitative research method, the semi-structured interview enabled the mapping of categories, trends and patterns in the responses. It was found that MK and APLA cadres who integrated into the ex-Naval MPs surpassed their counterparts in the ex-Army MPs, by far. The two groups are incomparable, in rank level, experience, training, attitude and knowledge of the organisation. It was further discovered that most practices that had taken place before 1999 at W CSC and still continued within the MPA, negate SANDF policy and are criminal. Prejudice, racism, obscene language and gender insensitivity were rife, forming part of institutional culture. It is recommended that Weitzer's proposed solution for the transformation of coercive institutions be considered. It is a thoroughgoing transformation of the security apparatus through a legal framework because civil control is not enough to guarantee the pre-eminence of the democratic forces. / Criminology / M.A (Criminology)

The goal of this research was to describe the nature, occurrence and extent to which integration preceded normative and institutional transformation in the SANDF and therefore in its Military Police, thereby demonstrating how in its aftermath, integration has become a recipe for disaster, casting a spell on further transformation within the military. The research also aimed at bringing the reader face-to-face with the daily struggles of Africans in the SANDF, by focusing on one of the smallest divisions of the military, the Military Police Agency (MPA). The research project was limited to all reported interviews and questionnaire responses of eighty five participants of the Southern Military Police Region (S MPR), excluding the S MPR HQ as well as the MPA HQ. A total of eighty five respondents out of a total strength of 172 S MPR composition, took part in the sample. Seventy nine participated in the questionnaire, fifty one in the interview and a total of forty five participated in both. Interviews were used as follow-up sessions to respondents' questionnaire answers. While the questionnaire was structured, the interview was semi-structured, allowing members to comment, object, affirm or question the process of transformation both in the SANDF and in the MPA. In keeping with the qualitative research method, the semi-structured interview enabled the mapping of categories, trends and patterns in the responses. It was found that MK and APLA cadres who integrated into the ex-Naval MPs surpassed their counterparts in the ex-Army MPs, by far. The two groups are incomparable, in rank level, experience, training, attitude and knowledge of the organisation. It was further discovered that most practices that had taken place before 1999 at W CSC and still continued within the MPA, negate SANDF policy and are criminal. Prejudice, racism, obscene language and gender insensitivity were rife, forming part of institutional culture. It is recommended that Weitzer's proposed solution for the transformation of coercive institutions be considered. It is a thoroughgoing transformation of the security apparatus through a legal framework because civil control is not enough to guarantee the pre-eminence of the democratic forces. / Criminology and Security Science / M.A (Criminology)