Living in Cape Town during an important election year has presented me with a unique ability to engage with South African politics. I have met many citizens who have actively voiced their political concerns and opinions. My post-colonial history course has given depth and context to these modern-day political opinions. My largest takeaway has been that South Africa’s largely peaceful transition from a racial apartheid state to an active democracy is a miracle of modern human interaction. As a modern nation-state, South Africa once represented a culture of hateful separation and inefficient social stratification. However, South Africa now occupies a space in our collective global consciousness as a bastion of dynamic and non-violent responses to extreme political stress and oppression.
When considering the transition from a strictly racialized settler-colonial state, I’ve been forced to consider how the new and burgeoning democracy can make meaningful reparations to its residents. One compelling response to this national inquiry has been the matter of land expropriation without compensation. The constitutional amendment in question would allow for governmental authorities to expropriate underutilized or unnecessarily owned land for the benefit of the common good. Although the de-colonial sentiment of land-based reparations has taken a strong hold in South Africa, especially among black communities, it has been largely contested by white Afrikaaner populations and by those holding traditional modes of power because of its radical and concrete nature. Despite this resistance, the recommended constitutional amendment has solidified itself as a compelling political and social issue, finding itself at the forefront of platform announcements for all three major South African political parties.
In my view, the current political landscape in South Africa represents a raw and authentic mode of democracy in which even those citizens at the margins of society feel a strong sense of political efficacy despite centuries of sociopolitical subjugation. As a visitor in South Africa, I see that the state and citizens make immense efforts to assure outsiders that the country has loftier and more equitable goals for itself; however, I hope that the efforts to address inequality can be prioritized over creating an outward image that pleases the Western gaze. Attempting to please the Western gaze is a form of posturing that often only serves to replicate systems of violence as opposed to questioning and/or denouncing them. As this year’s elections are underway, I’m excited to witness the power of collective action and the power of collective interest in creating a better and more equitable society. I truly hope that this round of discussions and debates can lead to better material conditions for those at the margins of the country’s society and solidify South Africa as a representative of peace and equity in the collective global consciousness.
Taylor Davis (NHS'20) majored in health care management and policy and minored in disability studies. Davis studied at the University of Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa in spring 2019 and took part in the Junior Year Abroad Network.
