Focused analysis of the July events was presented at the Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) interactive Transforming our Heritage Webinar which took place on Thursday, 21 October 2021 on Microsoft Teams.

The panellists at the webinar were Ms Kanya Padayachee (Gandhi Development Trust), Mr Nicholas Bhekis’gcino Nzama (Business Strategist: Inspirational Institute), Professor Monique Marks (Head of the Urban Futures Centre at DUT), Prof Keolebogile Motaung (Director of Technology, Transfer and Innovation at DUT), Crispin Hemson (Director of the International Centre of Nonviolence) and Prof Nceba Gqaleni, (Project Manager: Research, Innovation and Engagement at DUT).

Welcoming the guests to the session and setting the context of the webinar was the moderator of the event, Dr David Mohale, Director: Special Projects, Office of the Vice-Chancellor at the DUT.

“Tonight’s topic (Transforming our Heritage) is very important. We have a team of capable experts here who will help us unravel it; part of they will help us answer is the question: what do we mean by transformation of our heritage; who is “our” in this phrase?”, he said.

He reminded the audience about the recent unrest in July in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng Provinces in which a number of lives were lost, many were left injured and critical infrastructure was destroyed, thus bleeding the already degenerative economy. “Could it be that violence is part of our heritage as a nation? he asked.

“The role of the university both in principle and in practice is to try to ensure that solutions are found. It is against this background, I believe, that we are having conversations on what we think is our heritage as a nation; and we do acknowledge that the topic suggests that we have a rich history of violence and it is within this context that we try to make sense of exactly what we had experienced in July this year,” he said.

Officially welcoming the invited academic guests and attendees to the virtual webinar on behalf of Professor Sibusiso Moyo-Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research, Innovation and Engagement was Prof Cheryl Potgieter, Head of the GenderJustice, Health and Human Development and the Research and Doctoral Academy (RADLA). She gave her own remarks in relation to the topic, saying that when she read the title of the seminar and the blurb, the following questions immediately came up for her. “The question that emerged is what do we mean by heritage? Is there one or multiple ways to understand heritage? Should we be talking of heritages and not heritage? Is heritage a notion, a construct that is socially constructed, and how fluid is this notion of heritage? What do we mean by culture is a question that needs ongoing engagement?

Prof Potgieter also spoke to how the Nationalist Party put that little (s) to culture and came up with cultures but used the difference to divide and rule. She cautioned that we should use the construct to build social cohesion and not divide and rule. She deliberated if the civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in July was linked to histories of inequality and violence, and the deep inequalities linked to race, gender, sexual orientation, class and of course poverty. She concluded that the important timeous seminar is about our past but more importantly speaks to how do we build a future that belongs to all who live in our beautiful country.

Giving more perspective and understanding of the Indo-African relations for heritage transformation was the first panellist of the webinar, Ms Padayachee from the Gandhi Development Trust. She describes herself at the political and social activist who was involved in the anti-apartheid and teacher union movements through the 80s and 90s.

“24th September, a democratic South Africa celebrates Heritage Day, formally Shaka Day in commemoration of King Shaka, a gallant conqueror and founder of the Zulu Empire. In attempting to forge a more cohesive and inclusive society, the democratic government declared the day and the month a celebration of South Africa’s roots, more especially its rich dynamic and diverse cultures; but as a subject of this webinar demonstrates this is not the only facet of our heritage, it is also fraught with histories of division and violence that seems to suggest a causal link between our problematic past and our present. In this context the question we grapple with is how to address these histories? In trying to do that I believe that our point of departure should be an exploration of this history that manifestly informs the present, particularly the gruesome demonstrations of the July uprisings that reared in some parts of this country amidst direct and veiled references to a terrible history of conflict, suspicion and racism between the Indians and Africans,” she said.

Giving his remarks on the recent violent protest action that took place in July was Mr Nzama, who reported on his intervention in Botha’s Hill, July 2021, and its implications.

“I said to my wife that I am going out to the fire pit to see what’s happening and what I can do. My family was worried, you are going out but you are also black and you can see that there are issues of every black person being stopped. The immediate worrying factor was that there were only two entrance points to Embo which were blocked, controlling who goes in and out. You block those two entry points, you block everyone out, so that was basically the biggest worrying factor. So I intervened by getting firstly the neighbourhood heads around the fire pit to say let’s talk, how can we resolve this? My question was that knowing the history of this country and the demarcations of how people were displaced by the apartheid government, how do you know a non-resident of Hillcrest who is white or is just because a white person is white you assume they are a resident and if it’s a black person you going to ask who they are? Let’s not use that approach at all. Let’s rather use an approach that says we are not going to allow bakkies through that are carrying masses of people, not going to allow taxis through that got no number plates. The Taxi Association themselves came on board, saying that, if any taxi is caught carrying looters, that taxi will be banished from the Association,” he said.

He conveyed that the engagement with all the various stakeholders became meaningful because everybody understood what was needed to achieve and that was to stop criminality which was the goal. He also spoke of the success of mobilisation in the area as well as the need to build a better country not just for oneself but for the sake of the next generation.

Adding to the conversation was Prof Marks who conveyed on her talk on: The Mandela legacy as part of our heritage.

“I can claim to come from an Eastern European/Middle Eastern Jewish cultural heritage. This has shaped my thinking in many ways, and my ways of being. This heritage also shapes the ways that others perceive me. Yet, when I think of heritage, I am far more inclined to consider what it is that binds me to others, a collective heritage if you will. Thinking about this takes me to the legacy of Nelson Mandela, as an icon who passed down ways of thinking and being that have been inspirational and are in many ways normative,” she said.

The focus of her talk was more on the philosophic and humanistic legacy of Madiba and what needs to be done to retain and build this legacy so that it truly is everyone’s collective heritage.

“When I think back on what Madiba fostered and what qualities made him perhaps the greatest global icon in our living history, three words come to mind. They are forgiveness, hope and healing,” she said.

Prof Marks spoke further on going forward and keeping the Mandela legacy alive for South Africa’s collective heritage.

“Madiba dreamed of an Africa that was at peace with itself. How do we dream this into reality as a way of honouring his legacy? How do we move from being a society in decline to a society that is prosperous? We do this by building hope, forgiveness and healing with a lens that sees hurt and unease and the future burdens.

Going forward, what is required at the most basic level is integrity, transparency and sacrifice. This is needed in all spheres of society, especially government as we enter into our local elections and confront real uncertainty about our national government given massive corruption and integrity commissions. This past July will go down in history as a time before and a time after. Let it also be an opportune moment to fix what is so very broken,” she stressed.

She further relayed that she is aiming to establish ‘platforms at truth’ in localised communities, and also at DUT.

“DUT is already planning its first platform of truth to hopefully take place in November this year. This will provide a space for students to talk of past, present and future hurts, but also of hopes. It is an opportunity for creating unity through diversity,” added Prof Marks.

Explaining how the past informed this conflict and what everyone can do to move ahead was Mr Crispin Hemson.

“KwaZulu-Natal is a society caught in chronic violence, there are long histories that have ensured that violence is reproduced, from colonialism to apartheid; the problem is not ‘bad people’ but patterns and systems that maintain violence. Violence is present in many spaces and can rapidly become visible,” he said.

He spoke of the theory of chronic violence, which describes well our context, in which taxi violence, political violence, gender-based violence connects with each other.

“Violence becomes embedded in multiple social spaces, undermines social relations, and provokes destructive behaviours that become perverse norms among vulnerable populations, some of which can be transmitted intergenerational. Violence obstructs and undermines public engagement, citizenship and social support for democracy,” he said.

Hemson explained that the July violence did not ‘just happen’; it was planned by people who knew how to use social divisions for their own purposes. He then addressed the racialised attacks, speaking of vigilantism based on crude, racial stereotyping, unrelated to the actual threat of looting. Hemson argued, though, that many people are working constantly to free themselves from these relationships and there is a need to create spaces based on nonviolent norms, not least within education.

Focusing her presentation on: Reclaiming the resources of our cultures was Prof Motaung who outlined her talk on the two distinctive polarities, her heritage as Motswana, passing on the baton of knowledge, liberation and transforming one’s heritage. She indicated that today, South Africa has a society full of children who do not know their African languages, as it was not “cool” to speak Setswana or Sesotho.

“Also, nowadays when a person speaks their fluent mother tongue, we are the first ones to ‘geographically’ place the person in a particular province, as if it is impossible to know your mother tongue fluently – anywhere in the world. African languages are an important inheritance, a legacy that we have forgotten to carry on from one generation to the other. Instead we chose to remember the fights, the violence and forgot what we were fighting for,” she said.

Concentrating on the African knowledge systems perspective was Prof Gqaleni, who gave insight into the powerful Coat of Arms saying and meaning which can be found in logos and letterheads of government, a very powerful saying which talks to what South Africa will be dealing with.

“ǃke e꞉ ǀxarra ǁke; ‘Diverse People Unite’ is a very powerful statement that talks to who we aspire to be as South Africans in South Africa. Where we come from as people of South Africa and if I was a Minister or Director in Heritage, this is one of the most important dialogues one would have as to what it means if you are in KwaZulu-Natal. What does it mean if you are in Cape Town, what does it mean in various parts of our country?” he said.

He made mention of the Cradle of Humankind which talks to the fact that South Africans have a shared humanity that includes compassion for each other. He also spoke on the education in South Africa mentioning that there is something wrong with how South Africans were taught and how they are currently teaching history. He mentioned that the Ministerial Task Team on education has zeroed in on this point.

“I was wondering why we were so slow to build on it that when history is taught correctly it has these three elements that could help us achieve which are developing critical thinking skills, particularly those relating to evidence. To develop identity, with a focus on Pan-Africanism and nation building; and social cohesion: which is the ability to transcend racial, class and ethnic barriers by recognising the problem of prejudice and the issues facing a multi-cultural society,” he said.

After much deliberation, an insightful question and answer and closing remarks session ensued with the presenters and attendees.

Giving the vote of thanks was Dr Mohale, “I am happy we had this session where we shared many difficulties that we are facing as a nation but we do note that the university’s idea is to find solutions to the problems that do exist. Life is complex; at times when you find solutions to existing problems you may unintentionally create new problems, but this conversation took part as our practical measures as a university in search of ways to improve lives and livelihoods. We said that we are not going to wait until 2030 to start to make an impact and you will be aware that as part of the first perspective we are trying to cultivate an institutional culture that is rooted on strong, robust engagements and it is against this context that we are having this conversation.”

He expressed that he is aware of the call that has been made by Prof Potgieter, together with other DUT colleagues, to also occupy spaces as far as the public discourse is concerned; and to raise views no matter how controversial they are as a university and activists of knowledge production to not be afraid to raise uncomfortable questions which DUT has that moral obligation.

“I want to thank the organisers of the webinar, the presenters who had made sure to enrich our minds so that we are better informed,” he said.

Pictured: Dr David Mohale, Director: Special Projects, Office of the Vice-Chancellor, DUT.

Pictured: Ms Kanya Padayachee from the Gandhi Development Trust.

Pictured: Mr Nicholas Bhekis’gcino Nzama, a Business Strategist.

Pictured: Prof Keolebogile Motaung, Director of Technology, Transfer and Innovation at DUT.

Pictured: Prof Nceba Gqaleni, Project Manager: Research, Innovation and Engagement at DUT.

Pictured: Mr Crispin Hemson, Director of the International Centre of Nonviolence.

Pictured: Professor Monique Marks, Head: Urban Futures Centre.

Waheeda Peters