Popular justice in a "new South Africa": from people's courts to community courts in Alexandra
- Authors: Nina, Daniel
- Date: 1992-03
- Subjects: Justice, Administration of -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Justice, Administration of -- South Africa , Courts -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/72807 , vital:30116 , 187485680X
- Description: Imagine a "new South Africa" in which, to borrow an idea from a former bureaucrat of the US State Department, history has come to an end.3 A new society in which class, race and gender are no longer necessary categories to define the social phenomenon. South Africa will be, then, the "terrestrial paradise". However, I am afraid to remind the reader that in this particular African country, history has not come to an end. This country experiences the most open and rude expression of struggle (class, race and gender), and it is difficult to foresee that in this period of transition, history or the struggle, will come to an end. Popular justice vis ei vis state justice is, perhaps, one of the best examples in which the struggle between the oppressed and the oppressors is manifested. But the popular justice that I am thinking of, is that particular experience of "people’s legality" that has emerged in South Africa since the popular revolts of the mid-1980s. It could have its origins in African (customary) traditions (Bapela, 1987), but the cultural experience that emerged during the last decade went beyond its traditionalist roots (Suttner, 1986). Thus, the distinctive element of popular justice is that it has been ingrained in a democratic movement for empowering the people. What people?4 Whose justice? In the specific context of South Africa, by people I understand the working class and working classes, unemployed and marginal sectors, and different social sectors that are struggling for equality (ie the youth, women, gays and lesbians, and others). By justice, I mean the development of a new legality that will take into consideration the many gains that have been achieved within the Western legal system of "rights and obligations" (Pashukanis, 1978:100), and that goes beyond that model in the construction of a democratic society with wider social participation. So far, it has been in South Africa’s black townships that an incipient expression of popular justice has emerged.6 The 1980s people’s courts represented a synthesis of a popular project defining its own structures of legality. State repression over these popular structures did not represent the end of the project. In contrast to other points of view that have viewed this experience as a prefigurative enterprise that did not accomplish its aims (see in general Allison, 1990), I argue that the experience of popular justice of the 1980s laid the foundation for a (long term) project leading towards a radical conception of democracy (Laclau, 1990:chapter 6). , Occasional papers (University of the Witwatersrand. Centre for Applied Legal Studies) ; v. 15
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992-03
- Authors: Nina, Daniel
- Date: 1992-03
- Subjects: Justice, Administration of -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Justice, Administration of -- South Africa , Courts -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/72807 , vital:30116 , 187485680X
- Description: Imagine a "new South Africa" in which, to borrow an idea from a former bureaucrat of the US State Department, history has come to an end.3 A new society in which class, race and gender are no longer necessary categories to define the social phenomenon. South Africa will be, then, the "terrestrial paradise". However, I am afraid to remind the reader that in this particular African country, history has not come to an end. This country experiences the most open and rude expression of struggle (class, race and gender), and it is difficult to foresee that in this period of transition, history or the struggle, will come to an end. Popular justice vis ei vis state justice is, perhaps, one of the best examples in which the struggle between the oppressed and the oppressors is manifested. But the popular justice that I am thinking of, is that particular experience of "people’s legality" that has emerged in South Africa since the popular revolts of the mid-1980s. It could have its origins in African (customary) traditions (Bapela, 1987), but the cultural experience that emerged during the last decade went beyond its traditionalist roots (Suttner, 1986). Thus, the distinctive element of popular justice is that it has been ingrained in a democratic movement for empowering the people. What people?4 Whose justice? In the specific context of South Africa, by people I understand the working class and working classes, unemployed and marginal sectors, and different social sectors that are struggling for equality (ie the youth, women, gays and lesbians, and others). By justice, I mean the development of a new legality that will take into consideration the many gains that have been achieved within the Western legal system of "rights and obligations" (Pashukanis, 1978:100), and that goes beyond that model in the construction of a democratic society with wider social participation. So far, it has been in South Africa’s black townships that an incipient expression of popular justice has emerged.6 The 1980s people’s courts represented a synthesis of a popular project defining its own structures of legality. State repression over these popular structures did not represent the end of the project. In contrast to other points of view that have viewed this experience as a prefigurative enterprise that did not accomplish its aims (see in general Allison, 1990), I argue that the experience of popular justice of the 1980s laid the foundation for a (long term) project leading towards a radical conception of democracy (Laclau, 1990:chapter 6). , Occasional papers (University of the Witwatersrand. Centre for Applied Legal Studies) ; v. 15
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992-03
Preparing for national elections: workbook: a civic education programme
- University of the Western Cape, Centre for Development Studies
- Authors: University of the Western Cape, Centre for Development Studies
- Date: 1992-03
- Subjects: Elections -- Planning -- Handbooks, manuals, etc. , Election monitoring -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/72868 , vital:30125
- Description: Today Namibia is at the crossroads of its independence. The agony of death and destruction that the Namibians have endured for the past 105 years of colonial oppression is about to come to an end and freedom is in sight. The process of transition to independence has already started. On 1 November 1989, the Namibian people will exercise their long-denied right to self-determination by electing their own leaders who. by virtue of being elected by the masses will have the sovereign right to draft the constitution of independent Namibia. This will bring about a new political and socio-economic order. The task before the Namibian people is to seize this historic opportunity and ensure that they join hands to safeguard the revolutionary gains we have made in bringing our country to the threshold of independence. Seizing this opportunity means, first, to register as a voter, and second, to vote and send to the Constituent Assembly men. and women with a revolutionary will, honourable record, vision for a better future, integrity, experience and proven ability to fight for the interests of the broad masses of the Namibian people. Such men and women are to be found in SWAPO. SWAPO has stood tall in the face of formidable odds over the last twenty-nine years of its struggle to free Namibia. Because of this fact. SWAPO had participated in the formulation of Resolution 435 and fought bravely for the last 11 years for its implementation. The motivating force behind this struggle has always been to guarantee that power is given to the Namibian people to decide the future of our country' through free and fair elections. Now that Resolution 435 is being implemented, the Central Committee of SWAPO has the honour to place before the people of Namibia its concrete programme of action in the form of SWAPO’s policy positions on a broad spectrum of political, economic, social and cultural issues. Together, these policy'positions form SWAPO's Election Manifesto. , sponsored by the Centre for Development Studies, University of the Western Cape & the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, November 6-16, 1991
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992-03
- Authors: University of the Western Cape, Centre for Development Studies
- Date: 1992-03
- Subjects: Elections -- Planning -- Handbooks, manuals, etc. , Election monitoring -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/72868 , vital:30125
- Description: Today Namibia is at the crossroads of its independence. The agony of death and destruction that the Namibians have endured for the past 105 years of colonial oppression is about to come to an end and freedom is in sight. The process of transition to independence has already started. On 1 November 1989, the Namibian people will exercise their long-denied right to self-determination by electing their own leaders who. by virtue of being elected by the masses will have the sovereign right to draft the constitution of independent Namibia. This will bring about a new political and socio-economic order. The task before the Namibian people is to seize this historic opportunity and ensure that they join hands to safeguard the revolutionary gains we have made in bringing our country to the threshold of independence. Seizing this opportunity means, first, to register as a voter, and second, to vote and send to the Constituent Assembly men. and women with a revolutionary will, honourable record, vision for a better future, integrity, experience and proven ability to fight for the interests of the broad masses of the Namibian people. Such men and women are to be found in SWAPO. SWAPO has stood tall in the face of formidable odds over the last twenty-nine years of its struggle to free Namibia. Because of this fact. SWAPO had participated in the formulation of Resolution 435 and fought bravely for the last 11 years for its implementation. The motivating force behind this struggle has always been to guarantee that power is given to the Namibian people to decide the future of our country' through free and fair elections. Now that Resolution 435 is being implemented, the Central Committee of SWAPO has the honour to place before the people of Namibia its concrete programme of action in the form of SWAPO’s policy positions on a broad spectrum of political, economic, social and cultural issues. Together, these policy'positions form SWAPO's Election Manifesto. , sponsored by the Centre for Development Studies, University of the Western Cape & the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, November 6-16, 1991
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992-03
Rhodeo: 1992 - March
- Date: 1992-03
- Subjects: Grahamstown -- Newspapers , Journalism, Students -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Activate , Rhodes University -- Students , Student newspapers and periodicals -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14768 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019640
- Description: Rhodeo is the Independent Student Newspaper of Rhodes University. Located in Grahamstown, Rhodeo was established in 1947, and renamed in 1994 as Activate. During apartheid Rhodeo became an active part of the struggle for freedom of expression as part of the now defunct South African Student Press Union. Currently Activate is committed to informing Rhodes University students, staff and community members about relevant issues, mainly on campus. These issues range from hard news to more creative journalism. While Activate acts as a news source, one of its main objectives it to be accessible as a training ground for student journalists. The newspaper is run entirely by the students and is published twice a term. Activate is a free newspaper which receives an annual grant from the Rhodes University Student Representative Council, however, majority of its revenue is generated through advertising.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992-03
- Date: 1992-03
- Subjects: Grahamstown -- Newspapers , Journalism, Students -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Activate , Rhodes University -- Students , Student newspapers and periodicals -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Text
- Identifier: vital:14768 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019640
- Description: Rhodeo is the Independent Student Newspaper of Rhodes University. Located in Grahamstown, Rhodeo was established in 1947, and renamed in 1994 as Activate. During apartheid Rhodeo became an active part of the struggle for freedom of expression as part of the now defunct South African Student Press Union. Currently Activate is committed to informing Rhodes University students, staff and community members about relevant issues, mainly on campus. These issues range from hard news to more creative journalism. While Activate acts as a news source, one of its main objectives it to be accessible as a training ground for student journalists. The newspaper is run entirely by the students and is published twice a term. Activate is a free newspaper which receives an annual grant from the Rhodes University Student Representative Council, however, majority of its revenue is generated through advertising.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992-03
The Educational Journal
- Date: 1992-03
- Subjects: Education –- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government , Government, Resistance to -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/37586 , vital:34195 , Bulk File 7
- Description: The Educational Journal was the official organ of the Teachers' League of South Africa and focussed on education within the context of a racialized South Africa.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1992-03
- Date: 1992-03
- Subjects: Education –- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government , Government, Resistance to -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/37586 , vital:34195 , Bulk File 7
- Description: The Educational Journal was the official organ of the Teachers' League of South Africa and focussed on education within the context of a racialized South Africa.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 1992-03
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