Traditional healers , their services and the ambivalence of South African youth

Abstract: In the aftermath of the Marikana massacre in 2012, a number of observers raised questions about young men’s traditional beliefs. Did young miners apply muthi on their bodies believing that they would be invincible in the face of police bullets? How do young men generally, in the course of wrestling everyday challenges, draw on ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ medicine? The findings in the literature seem to be contradictory and mediated by age differentials, educational levels, and place of residence. In this article, both qualitative and quantitative evidence is drawn upon to offer insight into the views of young men in a particular site: Chiawelo, in Soweto. The study suggests that while young men do not hold a special place for traditional healers in their lives, their insecure life circumstances and the dynamics of the groups to which they affiliate, lead them when necessary to consult traditional healers for immediate or out-of-the-ordinary help, particularly if trusted institutions do not provide satisfactory assistance. The study links and uses the theoretical constructs, ‘socialisation’, ‘habitus’ and ‘anomie’

‘Getting involved on campus’ : student identities, student politics, and perceptions of the Student Representative Council (SRC)

Abstract: Since 1976 when school students in Soweto took to the streets in active defiance of the apartheid state, students as a political constituency have always been admired, noted and feared for the political positions they have taken and campaigns launched. South African student organisations in the 1980s and 1990s a ligned themselves with mass democratic movements and engaged with and shaped their agendas. Commentators suggest however, that the nature and character of student organisations have changed in post-apartheid South Africa, and consequently, also students’ interest in ‘getting involved’. With regard to SRCs, while many authors argue that SRCs are no longer a ‘revolutionary force’ and have become either retrogressive or disempowered, others suggest that more effort needs to be made to understand the content of ‘new’ SRCs in post-apartheid South Africa and their appeal to diverse student populations. This paper seeks to establish the attitudes of University of Johannesburg (UJ) students towards voting for, and supporting, the Students Representative Council (SRC), and, for involving themselves in student politics at UJ. In making sense of students’ perceptions, the paper probes differences and similarities in terms of four key factors: gender, race, year of study, and residential background

Sangomas are after people’s money: family and community discourses around the South African Youth

Abstract: In 2012, Bishop Joe Seoka of the Anglican Church in South Africa, and former president of the South African Council of Churches (SACC), dismissed claims that young people in Marikana (where 34 mineworkers were massacred by the South African police during a protest for better wages on August 16, 2012) used muthi (traditional medicine provided by sangoma/inyanga) to protect themselves against bullets—reasoning that they were too well educated to believe such. His contention provoked social observers, who further raised questions not only on the views of the educated and non-educated towards traditional belief systems, but on how sangomas are talked about in families and across communities. This study looked at whether young people in Chiawelo, Soweto, think sangomas are helpful within their community or not. In addition, it looked at whether young people think or believe sangomas can improve or depreciate the lives of community members (expressly during sicknesses). Findings in the literature suggest that socialisation helps shape young people’s views and expressions towards traditional healers within their families and communities. Through in-depth interviews with 11 young men and four key informants in Chiawelo, a site in Soweto (South Africa), evidence about different types of socialisation and its influence on young men’s lives is drawn out in this article. The study suggests that although both primary and secondary socialisation helped shape young people’s views towards traditional healers, observation and interpretation often dictate in the way young men in Chiawelo view traditional healers. The study contests “socialisation” and “habitus” as theoretical frameworks