DOCSLIB.ORG

African Progress and Colonial Modernity As Seen Through the Zulu Pages of the Bantu World, 1932-1952

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
African Progress and Colonial Modernity As Seen Through the Zulu Pages of the Bantu World, 1932-1952 AFRICAN PROGRESS AND COLONIAL MODERNITY AS SEEN THROUGH THE ZULU PAGES OF THE BANTU WORLD, 1932-1952 Portia Sifelani (1282405) A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History by Research Report. Supervisor: Dr. Maria Suriano 2018 DECLARATION I, Portia Sifelani, declare that this research report is my own work except as indicated in the references and acknowledgements. This study represents an original work and has not been submitted in any form to another university. ____P. Sifelani___________________ Candidate Signature Date: 26 October 2018 Abstract This study explores the Zulu pages of the Bantu World from 1932 to 1952. It focuses on how the Zulu-language contributors, in their letters and articles, engaged with the idea of the role that people of European descent had to play in the achievement of progress by Africans. This was mainly inspired by the fact that many Zulu articles that commented on the need for Africans to progress from a state of poverty and oppression, made constant comparisons between Africans and Europeans. There was a tendency to refer to the qualities of white people which had ensured that they achieved economic and political dominance, a feat which black people were yet to realise. An analysis of the discussions around this question reveals that the Zulu pages were a platform used by the Zulu-language writers to express ideas which were otherwise not expressed fully in English due to censorship and their preference of the Zulu language. I begin in chapter one by providing a historical background to the Bantu World by showing how the African languages press emerged from the late nineteenth to the twentieth centuries. This chapter also discusses the origins of the Bantu World and its intended purpose. Chapter two focuses on the ideological context which influenced the editors and the contributors of the Bantu World. I argue that it was the influence of Booker. T Washington on Selope Thema which predominantly became manifest in the paper and determined the themes that were discussed. In chapters three and four I then analyse some of the issues that were discussed in the Zulu pages of the Bantu World and these included the problem of disunity, perceptions about white people in relation to progress, self-help and entrepreneurship as well as the brief removal and return of the Zulu pages. The debates regarding these issues were to a large extent rooted in efforts to map a way forward as far as achieving progress was concerned. They also reflect a constant ambivalence with regards to the perceptions of the Zulu-language writers on the role that white people had to play in the achievement of this progress. i Table of Contents Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………………..iii Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………....iv List of Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………………………...v INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Definition of key terms ......................................................................................................................... 5 Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................................... 9 Research methodology ....................................................................................................................... 19 Chapter Outline.................................................................................................................................... 21 1 CHAPTER ONE ................................................................................................................................... 24 1.1 Historical Background of the Bantu World ........................................................................... 24 1.1.2 The early African languages press in South Africa and in other African contexts ..... 25 1.1.3 The Formation of the Bantu World ....................................................................................... 30 1.1.4 The key aims of the Bantu World .......................................................................................... 33 1.1.5 Commercial and State Interest in the early Black Press ................................................... 35 1.1.6 The Zulu language contributors: an overview .................................................................... 38 1.1.7 The significance of the Zulu language in the Bantu World .............................................. 41 2 CHAPTER TWO .................................................................................................................................. 48 2.1 Siqonde ngaphi thina ndhlu emnyama? Socio-economic conditions, ideological influences on the writers, debates on the ‘civilising mission’ and the editorship of Selope Thema (1932- 1952) ........................................................................................................................................................... 48 2.1.1 The economic, political and social milieu of the Bantu World’s readers and writers 49 2.1.2 South African intellectuals and the emergence of the New African .............................. 55 2.1.3 Selope Thema as editor ............................................................................................................ 61 2.1.4 The Zulu-language writers on the ‘civilising mission’ ..................................................... 66 3 CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................................. 75 3.1.2 The Bantu Weekly Reader ...................................................................................................... 76 3.1.3 Zulu language writers discussing the African mind and progress .................................. 81 3.1.4 The Zulu articles on the problem of disunity ...................................................................... 89 3.1.5 The promotion of unity through the ‘Abyssinian Crisis’ .................................................. 97 4 CHAPTER FOUR .............................................................................................................................. 104 4.1 Self-help, entrepreneurship and the removal and return of the Zulu pages ........................ 104 4.1.1 Self-help, entrepreneurship and progress ........................................................................... 105 4.1.2 The removal and return of the Zulu pages: late 1948-1949 ........................................... 115 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 127 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................. 132 Primary sources ...................................................................................................................................... 132 Official Unpublished Primary Sources ......................................................................................... 132 Newspapers / Periodicals ................................................................................................................. 132 Secondary Sources................................................................................................................................. 133 Unpublished Seminar/Conference Papers .................................................................................... 134 Online Sources ................................................................................................................................... 135 Books and Book Chapters ............................................................................................................... 136 Published Articles ............................................................................................................................. 147 ii Dedication To the memory of my father Pheneas Muchena. My pillar of strength, inspiration and friend, you are sorely missed. Words will never be enough to express how much this means to me and how much this would have meant to you: these are the things we dreamt about together beamed with pride when we saw them in the intangible future they will keep me sane forever we will always be in this together. iii Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to my supervisor Doctor Maria Suriano for her invaluable input. Thank you for your guidance, constructive criticism and patience which has made it possible for me to complete this project. Your hard work and contribution is very much appreciated. I would also like to acknowledge Professor S. P. Lekgoathi for his contributions and comments in the initial stages of the project. I also owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the University of the Witwatersrand for the financial support through the Wits Scholarship, without which I would not have managed to embark on this journey. My heartfelt gratitude also goes to my husband, Lovemore, who has been my rock and supporter. Thank you for introducing me to Wits, submitting applications on my behalf, putting up with my frustrations and for always being there when I needed you. To my beautiful daughter Mbalenhle, you are the reason why I keep pursuing my dreams and I hope that I inspire you to
Load more

Recommended publications
  • African Presses, Christian Rhetoric, and White Minority Rule in South Africa, 1899-1924
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2017 For the Good That We Can Do: African Presses, Christian Rhetoric, and White Minority Rule in South Africa, 1899-1924 Ian Marsh University of Central Florida Part of the African History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Marsh, Ian, "For the Good That We Can Do: African Presses, Christian Rhetoric, and White Minority Rule in South Africa, 1899-1924" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 5539. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/5539 FOR THE GOOD THAT WE CAN DO: AFRICAN PRESSES, CHRISTIAN RHETORIC, AND WHITE MINORITY RULE IN SOUTH AFRICA, 1899-1924 by IAN MARSH B.A. University of Central Florida, 2013 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Summer Term 2017 Major Professor: Ezekiel Walker © 2017 Ian Marsh ii ABSTRACT This research examines Christian rhetoric as a source of resistance to white minority rule in South Africa within African newspapers in the first two decades of the twentieth-century. Many of the African editors and writers for these papers were educated by evangelical protestant missionaries that arrived in South Africa during the nineteenth century.
    [Show full text]
  • Full Speech.Pdf
    LECTURE BY THE PATRON OF THE TMF, THABO MBEKI, ON THE OCCASION OF THE CELEBRATION OF THE CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF OLIVER REGINALD TAMBO: JOHANNESBURG, 27 OCTOBER, 2017. Members and representatives of the Oliver and Adelaide Tambo Foundation, our hosts this evening; Dear Members of the Tambo family; Fellow South Africans; Comrades, friends, ladies and gentlemen: Had OR Tambo been alive, today we would have gathered in happy gatherings throughout our country to wish him a very happy centenary birthday! However as we meet today, to mark this centenary, we still wish to convey a heartfelt happy birthday message to Oliver Tambo, our beloved OR and esteemed leader, certain that he will hear our message wherever he is. Accordingly, today, October 27, 2017 our people, joined by the peoples of the rest of Africa and the world, stand up and say in unison – happy birthday our dear and respected Oliver Tambo, our beloved OR! However, at the same time as we celebrate a hundredth birthday, we have gathered here today at a time of great stress for OR’s movement, the ANC, and his country, South Africa. The comments we will make about Oliver Tambo as we celebrate the centenary of his birth will emphasise two matters. One of these is that periodically the ANC has had to confront and respond to threats which challenged its very existence. Another is that these threats and the ANC responses have also been related to the development of our country. PRIVATE BAG X444, HO UGHTON, 2041 REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AF RICA Tel +27 11 486 1560 Fax +27 11 486 0723 [email protected] WWW.MBEKI.ORG This describes what has been somewhat of an umbilical cord between the development of the ANC and the evolution of South Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • The Crisis of African Languages in the Context of the Formation of Modernity in South Africa
    CULTURE © iStockphoto.com The Crisis of African Languages in the context of the Formation of Modernity in South Africa With the hegemony of the Sophiatown Renaissance intellectual constellation whose mode of creative practice was only in the English language, and whose cultural gaze and historical outlook was focused on Harlem and Hollywood rather than on their own literary landscape and cultural history, much was irretrievably lost. By Ntongela Masilela ne incontestable tragic fact of writers and artists. Many of the critical endorse and practically celebrate the African cultural history across texts and philosophical discourses hegemony of the European languages Othe twentieth century has on the nature of the African literary over the African languages. For all been the progressive diminishment project, including those written intents and purposes this cultural in the utilisation of African languages and articulated by Africans (the tragedy is practically confined to the as linguistic instruments of literary ideological position of the majority African continent. A comparison and expression by African intellectuals, of Europeans is obvious) confirm, delimitation in relation to the situation 32 THE THINKER CULTURE in India indicates the enormity and historically understood by tracing, African literature in the European glaring nature of the African tragedy. however schematically given its languages over African literature in The choice of India is appropriate complexity, the historical form that the African languages. The question because of the indisputable consensus enabled Europe to dominate Africa, of modernity imposes a fundamental that India is a postcolonial society like or for that matter, the Universal question to us Africans today: could many African countries which were the ‘Other’, from the first moment our predecessors in the eighteenth, former colonies of England and France, of the encounter: modernity.
    [Show full text]
  • A Century of the Notorius 1913 Land Act
    A CENTURY OF THE NOTORIUS 1913 LAND ACT. 1. INTRODUCTION. 2. THE HISTORICAL ROOTS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LAND ACT. 3. CONSEQUENCES OF THE LAND ACT. 4. THE LAND ACT AND 2013. 5. CONCLUSION. 6. REFERENCES. By: Rudolph Alfred Kgolane Phala. 1. INTRODUCTION. The year 2013 represent a century since the passing of the diabolical Natives Land Act by the Union Parliament in 1913. Objects of the Act are stated as, “to make further provision as to the purchase and leasing of land by natives and other persons in the several parts of the Union and for other purposes in connection with the ownership and occupation of land by natives and other persons.” The Act was intended to legalise and legitimise into statute the massive land-robbery starting with settler colonialism itself and the wars of resistance and dispossession. For a period of 250 years the indigenous African people have been fighting spear in hand against mounted gunmen over land, cattle and freedom. The notorious Act was intended to make state law what had already been done by blood, death and sweat. The Act ensured that Africans lost ownership and control of their ancestral land to white settlers. It was intended to confirm what has been achieved with the defeat of the wars of resistance and dispossession. The Act was the cornerstone of separate development. The ruling ANC articulates this point even better in its submission to the TRC that, “it is necessary to emphasise that formal apartheid was preceded by a sustained period of dispossession, denial and subordination. The process of colonial conquest in South Africa lasted for over two centuries; from the destruction of Khoisan communities in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, through the bloody century of warfare in the present day Eastern Cape Province, to the military defeats further north in the late nineteenth century.
    [Show full text]
  • The Expansion of Black Business Into the South A^ I“ N Economy with Specific Reference to the Initiatives of Th National African Federated Chamber of Commerce in The
    THE EXPANSION OF BLACK BUSINESS INTO THE SOUTH A^ I“ N ECONOMY WITH SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO THE INITIATIVES OF TH NATIONAL AFRICAN FEDERATED CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN THE Sheila May Susan Keeble Johannesburg, 1981 ii ABSTRACT Before the mid 1970s African business development was severely limited by Government legislation. This restriction resulted in a dependent African entrepreneurial class unable to compete with White business. The National African Chamber of Commerce (NACOC) formed in 1964 and the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce (NAFCOC), which evolved from this organisation in 1969, were established by Black businessmen who united to fight this restrictive legislation. By the mid 1970s they were in a position, as a strong, united, national commercial body, to press for changes and to initiate business ventures which gained them a place in the South African economy. Nevertheless, despite the co-operation and financial backina of White business, they were unable to bring about any effective changes in Government policy until after the Soweto riots of 1976. The concessions granted to Black businessmen after that time, together with the important role played by the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce, stimulated Black business development in the late 1970s although Black businessmen continued to fight for the removal of all discriminatory legislation affecting Black business. ACKtOflLEDGEMENTS To members of NAFCOC urd in particular Mr S. M. Motsuenyane (President) Mr S. Kutumela Mr S. J. j. Lesolang Mr M. J. Lefoka Mr M. Maubam To Mr J. w. Keeble, founder publisher of African Businas magazine. To Dr. P. L. Bonner for supervising this study.
    [Show full text]
  • The African Patriots, the Story of the African National Congress of South Africa
    The African patriots, the story of the African National Congress of South Africa http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.crp3b10002 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org The African patriots, the story of the African National Congress of South Africa Author/Creator Benson, Mary Publisher Faber and Faber (London) Date 1963 Resource type Books Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Source Northwestern University Libraries, Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, 968 B474a Description This book is a history of the African National Congress and many of the battles it experienced.
    [Show full text]
  • PSM Public Sector Manager Forum
    PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGER PUBLIC SECTOR THE MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC SECTOR DECISION-MAKERS PSM Public SectorManager • THE MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC SECTOR DECISION-MAKERS FOR PUBLIC SECTOR DECISION-MAKERS THE MAGAZINE Minister S'bu Ndebele changing the transport landscape Land reform starts with office reform Lifestyle Advocate · What women drivers want Sandile · Travel Nogxina: · Nice-to-haves serving the nation Why since the dawn of South Africa democracy should invest in clean energy Farewell to the longest - serving DG • OCTOBER 2011 OCTOBER ISSN 2221-6723 PSM Forum 9 772221 672007 R29.95 (VAT INCL) SOUTH AFRICA PSM October 2011 Good medical cover: An invaluable lifeline in times of need. Nobody enjoys paying for it, but can we really do without it? Medical cover is one of those things that nobody set of benefits that are right for you and your family,” notes So you think you don’t need enjoys paying for especially when they are well. Roux. “This will ensure that you get the best possible value We would all rather spend the money on a gift from your medical scheme.” for the family or put it towards a holiday. Just how necessary is it to have medical scheme The first consideration for most people is affordability and a medical scheme? no one should be purchasing benefits that they are not able benefits? Could we do without them or are they to afford. However, you need to keep in mind that you get a necessity? more comprehensive cover on the more expensive options. Mr Steve Roux, a Trustee at the Government Employees “You should also consider the make up, age and health Medical Scheme (GEMS), says that for many people status of your family when choosing an option,” says medical scheme benefits are a “grudge purchase”.
    [Show full text]
  • The New African Movement: the Early Years
    The New African Movement: The Early Years. by Ntongela Masilela The New African Movement was constituted by the historical intervention of New African intelligentsia through political, cultural and intellectual praxis in the construction of African modernity in South Africa. Utilizing the historical constructs of civilization, education and Christianity the New African intellectuals strove to bring about the entrance of the New African masses into modern age of the twentieth century. Practically all the New African intellectuals had been educated in the European missionary system. The establishment missionary education in South Africa, as well as in the rest of Africa, was an expression of the triumph of European colonialism and imperialism over the African peoples and their histories. Although profoundly appreciative of the education imparted by the missionaries, the New African intellectuals who had been educated under its auspices, came to resent and eventually resisted their process of acculturization into Europeanism and Eurocenticism. This resistance entailed a complex process of rejecting Europeanism, which was in effect white domination and hegemony, while embracing European modernity with the intent of transforming it into African modernity. This African modernity would transcendent African tradition while in a state of continual dialogue with it. The New African intellectuals came to be preoccupied with a profound historical conundrum whether it was possible to embrace European modernity while struggling against its hegemonic forms which expressed themselves through colonialism and imperialism. The actuality of the New African Movement was constituted or brought into being by New African intellectuals through the process of appropriating the historical lessons of African American modernity within United States with the intent of displacing and decentering the hegemony of European modernity in South Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • Black Power in South Africa: the Evolution of an Ideology
    Black power in South Africa: the evolution of an ideology http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.crp2b20026 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Black power in South Africa: the evolution of an ideology Author/Creator Gerhart, Gail M. Publisher University of California Press (Berkeley) Date 1978 Resource type Books Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1943 - 1978 Source Northwestern University Libraries, Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, 968 G368bl Rights By kind permission of Gail M. Gerhart. Description This book traces the evolution of Africanist and Black Consciousness thinking, from the ANC Youth League and the Pan Afrianist Congress through the Black Consciousness Movement of the 1970s.
    [Show full text]
  • History of the Black Press in South Africa 1836-1960
    •> • •4 UNIVERSITY OF THE WTTWATERSRAND INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED SOCIAL RESEARCH ADDITIONAL SEMINAR PAPER TITLE: History of the Black Press in South Africa 1836-1960. BY: COUZENS, T. NO: A15 HISTORY OF THE BLACK PHliSS IN SOUTH AFRICA 1836 - 1960 The recent publication by Les and Donna Switzer of their book The Black Press in South Africa and Lesotho: A descriptive Bibliographical Guide to African, Coloured and Indian Newspapers, Newsletters and Maga- zines 1336 - 1976 has meant, in its comprehensiveness and scholarli- ness, a great advance in our overall knowledge of the Black Press in South Africa and puts us in the position where we can begin to see the outlines of the black press's history. Roughly one can define three major periods in this history.: 1. the early origins which were mainly mission-controlled 2. the period from 1884 to 1932 when black newspapers were largely independent though often struggling to survive 3. from 1932 when whites exert increasing influence on the black newspapers (this date can perhaps be pushed back to 1920 with the founding of a newspaper by the Chamber of Mines). It must always be borne in mind that the designation "black press" is a fairly arbitrary one: it is a category extremely blurred at the edges. Despite numerous efforts of segregationists, both black and white, in South Africa, social activity has never been completely racially exclusive. Thus, what are often referred to as "white news- papers" such as The Rand Daily Mail or The Sunday Times are incorrectly described as such - certainly in terms of their readership.
    [Show full text]
  • The Emperor Is Naked
    The Emperor is Naked ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes” is one of the most enduring tales by Hans Christian Andersen. It tells the story of a fashion-obsessed Emperor who has no time to govern his country, care for his people and show leadership. With a coat to show off “for every hour of the day”, he spends all his time and money on clothes. One day two swindlers come into town posing as master weavers. They claim to make clothes out of the most fabulous fabric. The clothes made from this fabric became invisible to anyone “unfit to hold office” or who is “unpardonably stupid”. Such clothes, the Emperor reasoned, should enable him to discover not only those in his service unfit for office, but how to distinguish the clever from the stupid. Without hesitation, the Emperor advances huge sums of money for this wonderful “fabric” to be manufactured. Soon, through astute marketing, the weavers ensure everyone in the city knows of their wondrous creation. The entire population is curious to see who among them will be found unfit for office and stupid, nogal! It isn’t long before the Emperor wants to satisfy his own curiosity. He starts out cautiously. Despite feeling pretty sure of himself as clever enough and fit for office, he sends an old and supposedly honest minister to check things out first. The minister finds the swindlers busy “at work”. But where are the looms? Where is the cloth? Yet curiously, the swindlers’ hands are “weaving” furiously. “Look at this wonderful work!” the swindlers tell the minister.
    [Show full text]
  • African Histories and Modernities
    African Histories and Modernities Series editors Toyin Falola The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, USA Matthew M. Heaton Virginia Tech Blacksburg, USA This book series serves as a scholarly forum on African contributions to and negotiations of diverse modernities over time and space, with a particular emphasis on historical developments. Specifcally, it aims to refute the hegemonic conception of a singular modernity, Western in ori- gin, spreading out to encompass the globe over the last several decades. Indeed, rather than reinforcing conceptual boundaries or parameters, the series instead looks to receive and respond to changing perspectives on an important but inherently nebulous idea, deliberately creating a space in which multiple modernities can interact, overlap, and conf ict. While privileging works that emphasize historical change over time, the series will also feature scholarship that blurs the lines between the histori- cal and the contemporary, recognizing the ways in which our changing understandings of modernity in the present have the capacity to affect the way we think about African and global histories. Editorial Board Aderonke Adesanya, Art History, James Madison University Kwabena Akurang-Parry, History, Shippensburg University Samuel O. Oloruntoba, History, University of North Carolina, Wilmington Tyler Fleming, History, University of Louisville Barbara Harlow, English and Comparative Literature, University of Texas at Austin Emmanuel Mbah, History, College of Staten Island Akin Ogundiran, Africana Studies,
    [Show full text]