ArticlesMediaInequalities, Violence PreventionInequality and Crime: Acknowledging the Violence in DisparityPresident Mbeki's State of the Nation address earlier this month appears to reflect a shift in government's approach and attitude towards crime, partly in response to public pressure and despair at continuing high levels of violence. Government has devoted major resources to the criminal justice system for some time. But the shift in approach and attitude, reflected in the more… Read More CSVRFebruary 21, 2007
ArticlesMediaInequalities, Transitional JusticeValues in South Africa: In Search of Self-RespectIn his Nelson Mandela memorial lecture in late July, President Thabo Mbeki expressed concern about the dominance of acquisitive values amongst South Africans. Mbeki stated that the new political order had inherited from the apartheid years 'a well-entrenched value system that placed individual acquisition of wealth at the very centre of the value system of our society'. Similar concerns were… Read More CSVRSeptember 1, 2006
ArticlesMediaInequalities, PolicingPervasive Violence Reflects Widespread Insecurity About StatusIn his Nelson Mandela memorial lecture on 29 July, President Thabo Mbeki expressed concern about an acquisitive spirit which has taken root amongst South Africans. Mbeki talked of a situation where 'personal wealth, and the public communication of the message that we are people of wealth' becomes 'the means by which we communicate the message that we are worthy citizens… Read More CSVRAugust 20, 2006
ArticlesMediaInequalities, Memory and Memorialisation, Transitional JusticeWhose Heritage Are We Celebrating Anyway?As the 24th of September draws closer, many of us lament the fact that this year, the last holiday in the year, until the December festivities that is, falls on a Saturday, and sadly not a day off work for many of us. Never fear, the annual heritage day bash hosted by government, promises to be the usual eclectic mix… Read More CSVRSeptember 22, 2005
ArticlesMediaInequalities, Social CohesionZuma Saga and the Rule of Law: Justice Must Be Seen to Be TrustedLast week's meeting of the African National Congress executive committee, including the commitment by President Thabo Mbeki and ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma to work together, may provide a way forward for the tripartite alliance in managing internal tensions which have reached boiling point following the judgment in the Schabir Shaik trial. But it is not clear what impact it… Read More CSVRSeptember 20, 2005
PublicationsResearchInequalities, Transitional Justice, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Truth CommissionsDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Violence and transition in South AfricaThis paper examines aspects of structural violence in South Africa and suggests that true reconciliation can be achieved only if these aspects are redressed. The structural violence of the past has vital implications for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's enterprise to acknowledge and rewrite an often denied history of human rights abuses. It raises vital questions as to the nature of economic development and its relation to new and ongoing forms of social conflict. Read More Brandon HamberFebruary 3, 1998
