Bongani Ngqulunga

University of Johannesburg | uj · Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study

In this book, the authors cover both familiar and unfamiliar themes. One of the principal themes running throughout the book addresses head-on the deficiency in the literature highlighted by Saul Dubow, namely, the question of racism and Smuts’s reluctance to implement ‘native’ policies that may have averted future problems, rather than postpone th...

In this book, the authors cover both familiar and unfamiliar themes. One of the principal themes running throughout the book addresses head-on the deficiency in the literature highlighted by Saul Dubow, namely, the question of racism and Smuts’s reluctance to implement ‘native’ policies that may have averted future problems, rather than postpone th...

In this book, the authors cover both familiar and unfamiliar themes. One of the principal themes running throughout the book addresses head-on the deficiency in the literature highlighted by Saul Dubow, namely, the question of racism and Smuts’s reluctance to implement ‘native’ policies that may have averted future problems, rather than postpone th...

The increasing social and political instability in South Africa and an emergent view that links it to the negotiated political settlement invite for a critical review of the ‘South African political miracle’. A central question such a review should attempt to address is whether the political settlement dealt fundamentally with the legacy of colonia...

The purpose of this article is to examine the role played by General JC Smuts, the prime minister of the Union of South Africa at the time, in the incident known as the Bulhoek Massacre which took place in May 1921. The discussion locates the Bulhoek incident in the broader context of Smuts’s attitude towards black people in South Africa. It explor...

This special issue is part of the collaborative research project initiated by the Chair in Epistemologies of the Global South with Emphasis on Africa, based at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, and the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS), based at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. The collaborative project is entitle...

The historiography of the African nationalist movement in South Africa tends to focus on the struggle for political liberation. What gets marginalised, often, is that early African nationalists envisioned their political mission as not only bringing about inclusive freedom, but also to establish what they called ‘the ‘New Africa’ or ‘the regenerati...

This article discusses attempts by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the leader of Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) for than four decades, to change his political image from that of a Zulu nationalist to that of a elder statesman of South African politics, who advocates inclusive politics. Although Buthelezi's attempts at political transformation have been underway...

Pixley ka Isaka Seme is an ambiguous historical figure who has been praised for the outstanding speech that he delivered in 1906 as a student at Columbia University, and condemned for his lacklustre presidency of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1930 to 1937, which nearly killed the ANC. Because of this mixed and ambiguous record, Seme’s co...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss South Africa’s trajectory of socio-economic development since the advent of democracy a quarter century ago. This is done through a critical discussion and review of major policy interventions that have been implemented to achieve the goal of racial justice. The author argues that while the advent of...

This article discusses the appropriation of Seme’s name and political legacy by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). While Buthelezi has always invoked Seme’s name in his long political career, the analysis in the article focuses on two periods. The first was the 1980s when Buthelezi’s political party, Inkatha Yenkul...