JCH 2009 Volume 34 Issue 3

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  • ItemOpen Access
    Kultuurrade vir 'n demokratiese Suid-Afrika: historiese oorsig oor die konstitutionalisering en institusionalisering van kultuurbelange in 'n plurale samelewing
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Kriek, D. J.
    The South African Constitution provides for the establishment of cultural councils in the country. This article traces the origin of the concept in South Africa and how it developed since it was first proposed round about the mid-seventies of the previous century. Contributions by individuals, commissions of enquiry, political parties, government departments, the KwaZulu-Natal Indaba, the Constitutional Assembly and even the example of the Belgian political system are all investigated and evaluated. To a large extent the article is based on the proposals and contributions made by the author in this regard as well as on the prospects for a future dispensation in which cultural councils for various groups could balance and support one another for the sake of maintaining unity and diversity in society and the state.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Sestig jaar se mynteenmaatreëlswerk in die Suid-Afrikaanse vloot, 1947-2007 (2): die "oorlogsjare", 1966-1989
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Wessels, Andre
    In the history of South Africa the years 1966 to 1989 are characterised by a variety of challenges and concomitant changes, while at the international level the Cold War continued to dominate most relations. Also, from 1966 onwards, South Africa and its defence force became ever more involved in an anti-guerrilla war in the north of South West Africa (today Namibia); a conflict that in due course also spilled over into Angola. The South African Navy’s involvement in the war “up north” was limited, but nevertheless important, and in the home waters, the Navy’s minesweepers (and later minehunters) had to ensure that the Cape sea-route, as well as the approaches to the country’s harbours, were kept free of mines. In this, the second article of a three-part study, a brief review is provided of the South African Navy’s mine countermeasures (MCM) and related work in the years 1966 to 1989. How many MCM vessels did the Navy have? To what extent did the Navy keep abreast with MCM developments internationally? How did the 1977 mandatory United Nations arms embargo affect the country’s MCM capability? What work did the MCM vessels do over and above MCM training? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in this study.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Leaving behind a "twisted soul": the 2008-2009 cholera outbreak in South Africa
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Tempelhoff, Johann W. N.
    Abstract not available
  • ItemOpen Access
    The African National Congress Youth League's (ANCYL's) role as the "kingmaker": a moment of post-Polokwane blues?
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Twala, Chitja
    Abstract not available
  • ItemOpen Access
    Rescinding the moratorium on South African sport: could SACOS prevent it?
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Goodall, Noel; Verhoef, Grietjie
    Abstract not available
  • ItemOpen Access
    Vrees as faktor in die regse blanke politiek in Suid-Afrika: die tweede fase van die era van volwaardige regste politieke partye, 1976-1982
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Du Bruyn, Derek; Wessels, Andre
    The years 1976 to 1982 were traumatic for most South Africans. In June 1976, serious riots broke out in the sprawling Soweto township, and spread to other areas in the country. While some whites then, more than ever before, challenged the apartheid policy, others moved further to the right and believed that only the more rigorous application of that policy would safeguard the future of white people in the country. The National Party government clamped down on black opposition groups, individuals and the media, which in turn led to the country being isolated internationally even more than ever before. The vicious cycle of fear was fed by violence and boycotts, which led to more fear, violence and isolation, and gave impetus to the idea of a “total onslaught”. Right-wing white voters found a new (and apparently very dynamic) home in the Conservative Party, which was founded in 1982. In the meantime, the establishment of Zimbabwe under the rule of Robert Mugabe in 1980, increased external pressure on the beleaguered South African government. In this study, fear as a factor in right-wing white politics in the years 1976 to 1982 is analysed by referring to the above-mentioned and related matters.
  • ItemOpen Access
    Anna Scheepers' struggle for the recognition of the dignity of labour for all workers and for the equality of women in all spheres
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Strydom, Irene; Coetzer, Pieter
    Abstract not available
  • ItemOpen Access
    Wie en wat was die verligtes? die bydrae van At van Wyk en ander verligte Afrikaners
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Blom, Melanda
    In the years after 1948, apartheid was used as a “political instrument” to bring about Afrikaner unity which would foster an exclusive Afrikaner nationalism and ensure Afrikaner domination. As early as 1949, dissident Afrikaner Nationalists were expressing doubts about the morality of apartheid and trying to change Afrikaner thinking. By 1966, “verligtes” (such as Van Wyk Louw, At van Wyk and certain newspaper editors) were urging reform and working for a change in political views. On account of his upbringing and early convictions, At van Wyk at first believed that NP leaders “knew” what was best for the Afrikaners; but later he came to realise that apartheid could only result in humiliation and impoverishment. This was the start of a painful pilgrimage away from his passive acceptance of the destructive forces unleashed by apartheid, yet he never committed himself to multiracial development; what he envisioned, rather, was a just division of power. Despite their estrangement from the NP, the influence of the “verligtes” grew. They did not share the view that Afrikaner power could only be maintained by legislation. From the seventies onward they believed that negotiations with the ANC were essential for the achievement of a democratic system. Their chief heritage was an openness to change, within which Afrikaners could achieve a just share of a democratically elected government in 1994 and survive in their own right.
  • ItemOpen Access
    The Comrades Marathon and politics - a long and winding road
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Labuschagne, Pieter
    Abstract not available
  • ItemOpen Access
    The value of the victim hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa in sharing narratives
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Oelofse, Marietjie; Barnard, Leo
    Abstract not available
  • ItemOpen Access
    Die twis oor die aanwysing van Afrikanerparty-kandidate voor die 1948-verkiesing met spesifieke verwysing na die kandidature van John Vorster en Louis Bootha
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Wasserman, J. M.
    Prior to the 1948 general election the National Party and the Afrikaner Party concluded two agreements on cooperation. The cooperation proved to be challenging especially since the National-Socialist organization, the Ossewa-Brandwag, had successfully, with the full knowledge of the Afrikaner Party, infiltrated the latter. Consequently the National Party, who through its congresses had distanced itself fully from the Ossewa-Brandwag, was in effect as a result of the agreements with the Afrikaner Party, indirectly in alliance with the Ossewa-Brandwag. As a result the practical implementation of the agreements – the appointment of candidates and especially candidates with National-Socialist links, like John Vorster and Louis Bootha, severely challenged the cooperation between the National Party and the Afrikaner Party. However, despite this the National Party-Afrikaner Party combination still managed to defeat the United Party at the polls.
  • ItemOpen Access
    BJ Vorster as voltooier van JBM Hertzog se visie oor gebiedskeiding in Suid-Afrika
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2009) Du Pisani, J. A.
    In this article the link between the land policies of two South African prime ministers, General JBM Hertzog and BJ Vorster, is investigated. Vorster, who was prime minister from 1966 to 1978, completed the territorial segregation plans of Hertzog, who was prime minister from 1924 to 1939. In effect the 1913 Natives Land Act and the 1936 Native Trust and Land Act, with which Hertzog was associated, legalised the dispossession of blacks that had occurred since the seventeenth century and gave statutory status to territorial segregation on a racial basis. Only 13% of South Africa’s total geographical area was reserved for blacks, then comprising 70% of the country’s population, which was hopelessly inadequate and could not provide a sound basis for black development. Thirty years later Vorster came to power at a time when decolonisation had changed the face of Africa and the world. Vorster adhered to Hertzog’s ideas of political and territorial segregation. Despite the fact that the black population had increased to 18 million and that the National Party’s homeland policy aimed at creating independent black states for the different black ethnic groups, Vorster still clung to the 1936 act and pushed on with the land consolidation programme. The number of geogaphical units in the homelands was reduced from 112 to 24 and 1,8 million hectares were added to the homelands during Vorster’s reign. Through territorial segregation both Hertzog and Vorster attempted to deal with the historically uneven distribution of land in South Africa in such a way that the future of the white population would be safeguarded. For them a race-based ideology rather than economic considerations was decisive. Therefore land in the country was not redistributed on a realistic and fair basis. Territorial segregation, as implemented by Hertzog and Vorster, did not provide a morally justifiable and sustainable solution to the South African land question.