Intercultural sensitivity in the integrating suburb of Westville. Durban, South Africa.

To investigate intercultural sensitivity, the Davis Russell-Peters Intercultural Sensitivity Instrument (1994) was administered to 203 participants situated within residences in the formerly white suburb of Westville Durban, South Africa. The subjective experience of the participants was evaluated by comparing demographic variables with a suggested continuum of six stages between ethnocentrism and ethnorelativism. Respondents appeared to traverse the polarities related to their perceptions of reality and its subjective meaning. The preference for ethnocentric attitudes appeared to be a construct employed as a result of categorization and separation caused by former restrictive legislation of Apartheid. and strong cultural and religious anchors. It appears that groups gravitate towards their own cultural group because of the security it offers in times of political unrest and fear. Also, groups appeared to maintain healthy self-concepts and a preference for ethnorelativism, creating a world that values difference and is open to integration with the larger society

A Little Creative with the Broadcast History of Zimbabwe: A Metaphilosophical Approach

A pervasive yet intriguing insight about the birth of broadcast in Zimbabwe is the story in which three engineers stumbled on broadcast through the use of a transmitter initially installed for meteorological purposes [1]. This was immediately followed in 1932, by the opening of broadcast stations in the then Salisbury (now Harare) and Bulawayo [2]. Drawing from the insights of Walter Mignolo in the article titled ‘Epistemic Disobedience,’ the current study sought to demystify the idea that broadcast in Zimbabwe as born in the 1930 as a lie that has been recycled  for far too long. The current paper seeks to prove that the claim that broadcast in the country was born in the 30s is bereft of scientific reasoning and real meaning of broadcast. It is a claim premised on the bigotry of proverbial ‘Boer mentality.’ In the article ‘epistemic disobedience,’ Mignolo exposes the analytic limits of Eurocentrism as a hegemonic structure of knowledge and beliefs [3]. Operating within the structured prisms of Mignolo’s ideas, the current paper finds the assertion that broadcast in Zimbabwe was born in the 30s, a recycled lie bereft of scientific reasoning and the real meaning of broadcast. The engineers who incidentally discovered broadcast in Zimbabwe had been attached to the Rhodesian aviation sector, particularly for periodic whether updates for the few flights that passed through or landed in the then Rhodesia now Zimbabwe [4]. The paper traces the roots of broadcast to the invention of the drum, which is quite ancient [5]. An important finding is that outdated laws and ancient technology are pretty much a feature of the present history of broadcast in Zimbabwe [6]. Technology that should have been decommissioned and relegated to the museums and archives is in use in broadcast in the country [7]. Yet despite this ugly patch to broadcast in Zimbabwe, a promising narrative has emerged [8]. The new narrative is linked to digitization. In simple, digitization relates to the use of digital signals in communication [9].Indeed, the story of broadcast in the country would not be complete without mentioning the alluring promise of technological vibrancy, content creation and the concomitant democratic potential of the sector in the digital age. Quite notably, broadcast is geared for transformation as the country’s new Government led by Emerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa has embraced the Fourth Industrial revolution. The enthralling Fourth Industrial revolution of the digital age is underpinned by a fusion of burgeoning technologies. Notably, the technologies have led to the need for additional spectrum to cater for the increasing volumes of information being transmitted from point to point. In simple and for the purpose of this paper, spectrum is a ‘channel through which communication take place’ [10]. Quite notably, the most significant changes in information and communication occur in broadcast [11]. A pragmatic historical qualitative approach, typifies the philosophy through which the information and data to complete the study were collected. This methodological approach is underpinned by an admixture of document analysis, whose over-arching analytic theoretical framework seeks the underlying issues about broadcast. Notably, the historical study has capacity to analyze often opaque issues especially those that require memory to recreate [12]. This capability lends traction to the historical method.  Further if not for the study’s esthetic qualities, the importance of the current study lie in the widening and deepening of the scope of knowledge in broadcast in Zimbabwe. Philosophy is constituted beliefs framed in the form of theory. As a theory philosophy provides answers arising within the context of a people’s experiences -hearty on masculine-refusing to accommodate other positions in terms of truths even if it means lying through one’s teeths, hence the recycling of a lie regarding broadcast history  in Zimbabwe. Therefore, philosophy has a bearing steeped in the culture of a people their tradition and values implying the possibility of the existence of different philosophies for different communities in as much as they are many cultures. Presumably broadcast in Zimbabwe developed in the context of specific thought processes in terms of theory which in the views of the current study could suggest a distinct Zimbabwean philosophy to the understanding of this sectorin the country

Political Tsunami: An End to Hegemony in Zimbabwe

ON the 16th of November 2017, Zimbabwe woke up to a story which signalled an end to the leadership of long-time president Robert Gabriel Mugabe. Mugabe had been in power since 1980 when Zimbabwe attained independence. Viewed as enigmatic, Mugabe’s political career is characterised by scheming, duplicity and worse he is considered a sheriff in a club of dictators [1]. In other circles, he is viewed as an icon and perhaps, one of Africa’s best nationalists. By squaring up to the might of the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA) over the land issue, Mugabe is viewed as courageous. It is the issue of land that saw the landless majority of black Zimbabweans waging war against British settlers. Before land reform, most of the prime land in Zimbabwe had been in the hands of a minority 400 white farmers of European decent. Notably, Mugabe alongside the late Joshua Nkomo among others led the struggle against colonialism. In some quarters, Mugabe’s leadership can be understood better through a Machiavellian lens. Although there are some positives associated with Machiavellianism, in simple terms particularly in the context of this paper, the concept is a byword for “scheming, plotting and debauchery”. Quite notably, Mugabe’s political career is sometimes associated with the shenanigans of Machiavellian politics. The general view is that Mugabe overstayed his welcome in power, having been at the helm of Zimbabwe’s politics for an uninterrupted 37 years. He is one of Africa’s longest serving presidents such as the late Hastings Kamuzu Banda of Malawi. Having been in power for so long, Mugabe must inevitably have trammelled on some people’s toes and hurt the ego of others. From the UK, the Queen came short of withdrawing Mugabe’s knighthood (an honour bestowed by a British king or queen for one’s achievements or service to his country). This paper is a historical choreography of the fall of Mugabe from political power. Undoubtedly in itself a proverbial “political tsunami”, the departure of Mugabe from politics deserves a context, if not a proper one.A tsunami is a series of tidal or seismic sea waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of water which result in cataclysmic consequences. A recent example is the tsunami that ravaged parts of Asia around 2007. The quest for knowledge about Mugabe’s downfall and the concomitant issues around the event lends traction to the paper. These and other issues are discussed in this paper through the discourse analysis, interviews and informal discussions. Informal discussions can simply be referred to as chats. Notably, chats are a powerful tool for the collection of information despite the clandestine nature through which they operate which appears unethical at face value. The qualitative instruments highlighted above were the analytic tools for the information used to complete this paper

Popularising semiotics.

Semiotics, deconstructionism, structuralism and postmodernism are words which lurk on boundaries of the consciousness of most of us. But they remain shadowy presences except on the rare occasions when we need to wrestle out of them an explanation of just what they are all about. In this issue of Trends we grapple with one of them, semiotics. C. S. Peirce, the American, pragmatist philosopher who coined the term, saw semiotics as a 'method of methods', useful in many disciplines to clarify their own theory and practice. Everyone uses signs and symbols. Everyone thinks they know the meanings of the signs and symbols they use. But why do they have meanings? Where do the meanings come from? Why are the signs and symbols used by one person or group so frequently misinterpreted by others? Semiotics may seem esoteric, but its interests are central to all communication. Consequently all communicators should be concerned with at least some of the problems dealt with semioticians. To guide us on our exploration of semiotics the publishers of Trends, the Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture, have enlisted the aid of Professor Keyan Tomaselli and his colleagues at the Centre for Cultural and Media Studies of the University of Natal, who for some years have been studying the cultural side of semiotics. So eager has their response been that we have devoted two issues of Trends to their reports. The contents of these two issues manifest the views of the authors more than is usual for Trends, and they are not necessarily those of the editors; but the CSCC feels that the perspective of the CCMS deserves both expression and discussion

The politics of discourse and the discourse of politics : images of violence and reform on the South African Broadcasting Corporation's television news bulletins, July 1985-November 1986.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1992.The thesis begins with an examination of the literature on television news, taking particular note of the arguments for and against the 'dominant ideology thesis'. It is the contention of the work that the notion of 'professionalization' is a two sided one: while creating patterns and strategies of repetition and formulaic responses, during the emergency it was conversely used protect the integrity of a cadre of working journalists. In South Africa a State of Emergency was declared on 17 July, 1985, and successively renewed until 2 February 1990. An important element of the Emergency legislation were the stringent media restrictions placed on print and televisual journalists. This thesis examines the content and application of these restrictions, as well as the part played by the Bureau for Information in providing a bureaucratic base for the policy of media containment. The thesis argues that the restrictions, as well as the State of Emergency as a whole, was predicated on the South African Government's understanding that the country was facing a 'Total Onslaught', which could only be countered by a 'Total Strategy'. The empirical section of the thesis examines the manner in which the processes of political violence and reform were imaged on the televisual news broadcasts of South African Broadcasting Corporation, in the period July 1985 to November 1986. Under the discussion of 'Reform' particular attention is paid to P.W. Botha's opening speech to the Federal Congress of the National Party in Durban, 17 August, 1985; as well his opening address to Parliament the following year; followed by an examination of the communication of reforms concerning influx control and urbanisation. In defining political violence a distinction is made between the government's use of the word 'unrest' and 'terrorism', which is contrasted with the critical concepts of 'mass action' and 'insurgency'. The narration of the declaration of the State of Emergency, and some of the main thematic motifs which accompanied reporting in this period, specifically the insistence that the security forces, and through them, the government, was in constant control; and the concept of 'black-on-black' violence as a driving force in the political upheavals, are dissected. This is followed by an analysis of the television coverage of political violence in Durban (August 1985); Crossroads (June 1986) and the contracted 'Unrest Reports' which were regularly broadcast throughout the State of Emergency. In the final chapter, the portrayal of the ANC as a terrorist organisation is examined, together with the attitudes of those who were believed to support them. The thesis concludes with a re-examination of the dominant ideology thesis, specifically as it can be said to have applied to the television news broadcasts discussed in this project

The Public Broadcaster and Democracy in Transformation: The 1996 Spry Memorial Lecture

Abstract: Public service broadcasting's purpose, the object of much debate in South Africa, may be defined as the provision of a universal service of excellent programming while maintaining public legitimacy through an editorial independence from both the government of the day and commercial interests. Since the 1980s, the global media landscape has undergone fundamental changes. Most of the dynamics which today plague public broadcasting are of international import, and the direct result of the intervention of the global economic order. Public service broadcasting must be carried out within the means available to the public broadcaster, and so it is at this point, when the pragmatism of limited financial means meets with the idealism of an all-encompassing mandate, that public service broadcasting's late-twentieth-century contradictions become apparent. This paper tracks this paradox across the re-launch and transformation of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) from a state broadcaster serving the interests of largely "white,'' "coloured,'' and "Indian'' middle classes to a public broadcaster mandated to better serve the country's 11 official language communities. Résumé: Ce que peut être le but de la radiodiffusion publique est une question qui suscite bien des discussions en Afrique du Sud. On peut néanmoins définir ce but comme étant à la fois l'offre d'un service universel de programmation excellente et le maintien d'une légitimité publique en conservant une indépendance éditoriale par rapport au gouvernement au pouvoir et aux intérêts commerciaux. Depuis les années quatre-vingt, l'environnement médiatique global a subi des changements fondamentaux. La plupart des dynamiques qui aujourd'hui influent sur la radiodiffusion publique sont de provenance internationale, le résultat direct de l'intervention de l'ordre économique global. Dans un tel environnement, le radiodiffuseur public ne peut qu'utiliser les moyens à sa disposition pour offrir ses services. C'est à ce stade, quand le pragmatisme des moyens financiers limités confronte l'idéalisme d'un mandat trés vaste, que les contradictions de la radiodiffusion publique au vingtième siécle deviennent évidentes. Cet article examine ce paradoxe en décrivant l'exemple de la relance et de la transformation du South African Broadcasting Corporation (la SABC, c'est-à-dire La Société de radiodiffusion sud-africaine). Originairement un radiodiffuseur d'État servant principalement les classes moyennes blanches, métisses et indiennes, la SABC est devenue un radiodiffuseur public dont le mandat est de mieux servir les onze communautés linguistiques officielles du pays

Currents of power: State broadcasting in South Africa.

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