Text in English / This research focuses upon the killing on 16 August 2012, by the South African Police
Service, of miners working in Marikana, in the North West Province, in their struggle
for a just wage. This experience highlighted the ethical question of the relationship
between the employee and the employer. This research investigates this question by
reference to the evolution of the doctrine of the “just wage” and the “just price” in
Western moral philosophy. The investigation shows that this Western doctrine is a
significant basis for an ethical evaluation of the relationship between employee and the
employer.
However, the doctrine does require expansion by taking the woman as an
indispensable factor in labour relations. Also, it requires deepening by engaging in
dialogue with other philosophies of the world, in this particular case, the philosophy of
Ubuntu. The dialogue with Ubuntu is justified by the fact that the majority of the
miners, the actual diggers of the mineral wealth, are born into and nurtured through
the philosophy of Ubuntu, even if some may have reservations about it. The dialogue
reveals a specific philosophical issue, namely, a clash of the epistemological and
moral paradigms. The Ubuntu epistemological-ethical maxim of feta kgomo o tshware
motho (if and when one must choose between the continual accumulation of wealth
and the preservation of human life then one ought to opt for the latter) is fundamentally
at odds with capitalism, an economic system that elevates wealth and money to the
status of a deity. A resolution of this conflict is an ethical imperative. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Philosophy)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/26237 |
| Date | 02 1900 |
| Creators | Bayat, Julieka |
| Contributors | Ramose, Mogobe B. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xiv, 200 leaves), application/pdf |
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