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The Narrative of the ‘new' South Africa: Bearing Witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on its 20th Anniversary
2015 was a telling year in the ‘new' South Africa's short history. Twenty-one years of democracy, 60 years of the Freedom Charter and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) saw its 20th anniversary. This has gone relatively unacknowledged, eclipsed by socio-political and economic turmoil. A s...
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| Language: | English |
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African Studies
2021
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| _version_ | 1867613252889870336 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Scott, Heather Ashley |
| author_browse | Scott, Heather Ashley |
| author_facet | Scott, Heather Ashley |
| author_sort | Scott, Heather Ashley |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | 2015 was a telling year in the ‘new' South Africa's short history. Twenty-one years of democracy, 60 years of the Freedom Charter and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) saw its 20th anniversary. This has gone relatively unacknowledged, eclipsed by socio-political and economic turmoil. A struggling economy, rising inequality, unemployment, ‘xenophobia' and democratic, constitutional and parliamentary crises appear to be the way this year will be remembered. South Africa has reached a critical point as its democracy enters adulthood. Twenty years ago the TRC was also such a watershed moment in South African society and politics. I return to this national work of ‘truth', reconciliation, nation-building, healing and remembrance to see what this radical (and radically important) process can teach us about the more ethical (re-)definition of our ‘new' nation(alism). Particularly I address the ‘official' rhetoric and narrative of the ‘new' South Africa it birthed 20 years ago - South Africa as reconciled rainbow nation and progressive constitutional democracy united in the spirit of ‘traditional' pan-African ubuntu - and its (in)appropriability on the lived level (Sauter, 2015:190). I use Antjie Krog, Nosisi Mpolweni and Kopano Ratele's quasi-literary, quasi-academic engagement with the TRC and the ‘unintelligible' truth of an-‘other' in There was this Goat: Investigating the Truth Commission Testimony of Notrose Nobomvu Konile (2009) to do so. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/32729 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:12.104Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | African Studies |
| publisherStr | African Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/32729 The Narrative of the ‘new' South Africa: Bearing Witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on its 20th Anniversary Scott, Heather Ashley African Studies 2015 was a telling year in the ‘new' South Africa's short history. Twenty-one years of democracy, 60 years of the Freedom Charter and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) saw its 20th anniversary. This has gone relatively unacknowledged, eclipsed by socio-political and economic turmoil. A struggling economy, rising inequality, unemployment, ‘xenophobia' and democratic, constitutional and parliamentary crises appear to be the way this year will be remembered. South Africa has reached a critical point as its democracy enters adulthood. Twenty years ago the TRC was also such a watershed moment in South African society and politics. I return to this national work of ‘truth', reconciliation, nation-building, healing and remembrance to see what this radical (and radically important) process can teach us about the more ethical (re-)definition of our ‘new' nation(alism). Particularly I address the ‘official' rhetoric and narrative of the ‘new' South Africa it birthed 20 years ago - South Africa as reconciled rainbow nation and progressive constitutional democracy united in the spirit of ‘traditional' pan-African ubuntu - and its (in)appropriability on the lived level (Sauter, 2015:190). I use Antjie Krog, Nosisi Mpolweni and Kopano Ratele's quasi-literary, quasi-academic engagement with the TRC and the ‘unintelligible' truth of an-‘other' in There was this Goat: Investigating the Truth Commission Testimony of Notrose Nobomvu Konile (2009) to do so. 2021-01-29T12:28:46Z 2021-01-29T12:28:46Z 2021-01-29T12:28:13Z Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32729 eng African Studies Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | African Studies Scott, Heather Ashley The Narrative of the ‘new' South Africa: Bearing Witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on its 20th Anniversary |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The Narrative of the ‘new' South Africa: Bearing Witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on its 20th Anniversary |
| title_full | The Narrative of the ‘new' South Africa: Bearing Witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on its 20th Anniversary |
| title_fullStr | The Narrative of the ‘new' South Africa: Bearing Witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on its 20th Anniversary |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Narrative of the ‘new' South Africa: Bearing Witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on its 20th Anniversary |
| title_short | The Narrative of the ‘new' South Africa: Bearing Witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on its 20th Anniversary |
| title_sort | narrative of the new south africa bearing witness to the truth and reconciliation commission on its 20th anniversary |
| topic | African Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32729 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT scottheatherashley thenarrativeofthenewsouthafricabearingwitnesstothetruthandreconciliationcommissiononits20thanniversary AT scottheatherashley narrativeofthenewsouthafricabearingwitnesstothetruthandreconciliationcommissiononits20thanniversary |