The Limits of Reconciliation: Applied Practice and Theory in South Africa

Every year a team of graduate students taking the Applied Practice and Theory (APT) course conducts research on an overseas conflict. The purpose of the course is to give students experience in understanding dynamics of conflict that include issues of violence, injustice, and discrimination, as well as developing research and practice projects on conflict resolution. This year, students decided to conduct research on post-apartheid society in South Africa, with the objective of understanding the current state of intergroup relations and national identity in South Africa and the factors that contribute to them. In January 2011, the team traveled to South Africa to conduct interviews in Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Johannesburg, and Pretoria. Students met and interviewed forty-one experts, learned how to develop a snowball sampling, how to negotiate and organize everyday activities in a different cultural context, and explored South African culture and social life. Every evening the team met for debriefings to discuss interviewsconducted during the day. Students demonstrated an impressive devotion to research, and their dedication to teamwork was incomparable. As a result the team was able to explore the complex relationships between intergroup relations, national identity, economic development, integration of minorities, sport, history education, mass media, religion, and peacebuilding in South Africa. Some of the findings supported our previous knowledge about South Africa’s post-apartheid society while other results were truly surprising.

The majority of our interviewees stated that the concept of Rainbow Nation is no longer relevant to the majority of South Africans. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission did not address the core of the Apartheid issue, and did not fully succeed in bringing reconciliation to society. While mainline churches continue to work on integration, new churches are contributing to religious divides that impact national identity. The legacy of Apartheid is still salient and is reflected in very limited inter-racial interactions; mixing of groups has been largely limited to the middle class in professional/academic shared spaces. Students observed that in public spaces despite a growing tendency for multiracial environments at work and universities, representatives of different races prefer to spend free time, lunches, and dinners with people of their own race. Finally, while the media is free, it does not equally represent all social groups and does not contribute to positive intergroup perceptions.

The team’s conclusions suggest that race is still a contested issue and is strongly related to the interdependency of class and race identities, supported by the persisting economic inequalities. A lack of economic opportunity remains for a majority of non-whites, which is a major concern for South Africa’s future stability. Indians and Coloured are not completely integrated and continue to experience discrimination. They also found that one of the major factors of unifying the nation is rugby, nevertheless lack of resources for development in youth sport programs prevents improvement of intergroup relations. Moreover, youth are not exposed to or interested in the history of Apartheid and South Africa. The team’s research showed that conflict resolution and reconciliation take place within civil society, while peace-building remains a neglected domain at the government level. South Africa is a young democratic nation, which is robust and increasingly optimistic about their capacity to succeed as a nation. However, a more comprehensive approach to peacebuilding should be developed to ensure positive inter-racial relations and cooperation.