Southern Journal for Contemporary History

“Our Experiment”

Matteo Landricina — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Ghana’s independence in 1957 was a milestone for African decolonisation, as well as for the winding up of the British Empire. While the years of Kwame Nkrumah’s government, as well as Britain’s decolonisation, have each been widely discussed, the perspective of bilateral post-colonial relations between Ghana and Britain has so far been underemphasised in literature. In this article, these relations are observed mostly from the perspective of British diplomats and civil servants who interacted with Ghana in the first years after independence between 1957 and 1966. The relationship is analysed through four most significant dimensions in the bilateral relations: Britain’s disagreement with Ghana on internal policies and international standpoints in the light of its Commonwealth membership; the economic level and the backlash to the 1961 budget, which was shaped by a British economist; the military assistance provided by Britain to Ghana, as a significant area of British influence; and the quarrel about Britain’s policies in Southern Africa, which in the course of the Rhodesia crisis led to the severing of diplomatic relations. As Ghana’s first President cracked down against internal opponents and stepped up the support for anticolonial movements and armed groups throughout the continent, Britain’s idea that Ghana might act as a role model for post-colonial relations and nation-building in Africa, as well as Ghana’s expectations for more British support, were equally disappointed.

Towards a history of xenophobia in Zimbabwe

Alois S. Mlambo — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The article explores Zimbabwe’s history of racism, ethnicity, and other forms of “othering” from 1890 to 2020 and argues that, although scholars of Zimbabwe’s past have, hitherto, shied away from using the term, these pathologies amounted collectively to xenophobia. It calls on scholars of the country’s colonial history to investigate the degree to which the above pathologies were, arguably, xenophobic. The article argues that xenophobic tendencies in colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe emanate from a number of key historical developments. These include the establishment of artificial colonial borders at the turn of the 19th century and the creation of an artificial nation-state called Southern Rhodesia, which engendered a new colonial identity that eventually crystallised into an exclusivist Zimbabwean nationalism and the divide and rule segregationist racial colonial policies that promoted national disharmony. Also significant was the development of the settler colonial economy and its insatiable hunger for cheap African labour, which led to labour migration from neighbouring countries and the socio-economic tensions this unleashed. Last was the role of an increasingly parochial Shona nationalism, which claimed the Shona as the real owners of the land and whose proponents advanced a particularistic rendition of the past that is known in Zimbabwean historiography as “patriotic history”. The article then concludes by sketching out the various manifestations of xenophobic tendencies in the country in the period under study. The study is essentially a reappraisal of Zimbabwean history and not a product of new research and fieldwork.

The land question in Botswana

Boga Thura Manatsha — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The land question in Botswana dominated the public deliberations during the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution of Botswana, which was appointed by the President of the Republic of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masisi, on 17 December 2021. In the Constitution of Botswana, the subject of land is only mentioned curtly in section 8. However, in countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, and Mozambique, national constitutions extensively deal with land issues. Batswana’s (citizens of Botswana) sustained and passionate debate suggests that they want the subject of land entrenched in the constitution should it be reviewed. The article is not a critique of the Report of the Presidential Commission in toto. It only analyses the major land issues raised and captured in it. The (illegal) selling of land; the role of the land boards and dikgosi (chiefs) in land administration; the impact of colonial land alienation; the compulsory acquisition of tribal land; the delays in land allocation; and the shortage of (serviced) land, among others, dominated the inquiries. These issues require an academic analysis to contextualise them and guide the national debate further. The article relies on the Report of the Presidential Commission, published works, and official documents from the government of Botswana. It concludes that the “absence” of the subject of land,and or land rights, in the constitution of Botswana is a concern in a liberal democratic society

Revisiting the Past: A History of European Wives in Colonial Nigeria, 1920-1960

Justus Adim Nzemeka — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This article reconsiders the history of European wives in colonial Nigeria. It is an aspect of women’s studies that has elicited scholarly interest in the past three decades or so because of the peculiarities of the subject, gender and colonialism. The paper argues that the poor representations of this group in most colonial literature and male-authored memoirs were not an accurate reflection of colonial Nigeria. European women bypassed the hierarchies of Colonial Service and the trappings of imperial culture in Nigeria to create social inclusion and space. They also introduced British culture, diplomacy, cooperation and collaboration between the colonisers and the colonised. Using primary and secondary sources of data, official documents, journal articles, and internet materials to substantiate its claim, this paper reveals that European women’s history in colonial Nigeria was robust. It establishes that the policy change on White women’s exclusion in British West Africa was inevitable and existential because of interdependence, the challenges of malnutrition, and the desertion of soldiers. The paper concludes that the position of women cannot be overlooked in history, colonial society and culture.

Paradoxical legacies and unattainable futures

Robyn Murning, Robbert-Jan Adriaansen — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This article examines how, over the past two decades, South Africa’s post-apartheid narrative shaped the public’s perception of gender-based violence (GBV) by focusing on three significant events: the Jacob Zuma rape trial, the murder of Anene Booysen, and
the murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana. It is argued that South Africa’s post-apartheid narrative, which was grounded in the hopeful discourses generated during the transition, played a significant role in shaping postapartheid national identities but simultaneously sidelined
the problem of gender-based violence. Despite its hypervisibility in society, violence against women was suppressed and, in some cases, denied due to its incompatibility with the nation’s hopeful visions for the future. The rape and murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana
eventually revealed the limitations of these hopeful discourses and the fragility of South Africa’s democracy. The national response to Mrwetyana’s death pointed to a subversion of South Africa’s contradictory narrative of hope. It revealed the social paradox embedded within South Africa’s democratic nationhood, as embodied by the oversight and denial of gender-based violence at a national level. This article examines how South Africa’s transitional narrative of hope overshadowed the ubiquitous problem of GBV and distorted public perceptions of the problem. It highlights the need for an inclusive and accountable narrative that addresses the root problem of gender-based violence.

African Women Agency gender Based Violence and the law in colonial Harare 1930s to 1950s

Sibongile Mauye — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

African historiography has largely silenced the domestic agency of African women. Studies have shown that urban spaces, particularly in colonial Zimbabwe in the 1940s and 1950s, became centres for high mixed-culture population growth. In addition to local rural urban migration, regional migration from Malawi and Zambia contributed to the population. Growth of manufacturing and the service industry stimulated by the Second World War opened opportunities for several economic activities, thus creating opportunities for women’s empowerment. African women demonstrated agency in their multiple identities as economic players: as informal traders, formal employees, wives and part-time lovers. Due to housing restrictions allotted only to men and later married persons, some women entered into marriages of convenience so called Mapoto marriages; others became entrepreneurs in the local beer brewery, Skokiaan; while others engaged in informal trade and commercial sex work. Amidst all these shifts and turns and processes of urbanisation, gender-based violence found a breeding ground. As will be shown, women were not passive victims of gender-based violence. African women used the colonial justice system to challenge patriarchal male entitlement exposed in sexual and physical violence. Admittedly, that very legal system also identified them as legal minors who were represented by male figures. In spite of these limitations, women redefined their own identity and negotiated their survival in urban spaces. This paper uses largely court records to explore African women’s agency in the face of structural constraints in the colonial urban spaces and within the households. The findings are significant in amplifying the voice of women, who have largely been considered as victims.

Insurance for Social Change? Reflections on Ghana’s State Insurance since 1962

Kwame Adum-Kyeremeh — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This article examines the origins of Ghana’s State Insurance Corporation (SIC) and the National Health Insurance Scheme and their contributions towards the Country’s national development. Relying on the qualitative research approach and bits and pieces of data from multiple sources of historical research, it discusses the nature of the Insurance business before 1962, factors contributing to the state’s participation in the insurance business, and the effects of government’s policies on insurance since the 1960s. The article enables an understanding of the growth of the insurance business in Ghana since the midtwentieth century. It provides historical data to guide decision-making strategies on insurance and explains the outcomes of government and private businesses interests in Insurance policies. It argues that the Ghana government’s participation in the insurance business has, since 1962, contributed significantly to the welfare of citizens and Ghanaian society as a whole.

Book Review Unveiling hidden narratives across southern Africa

Mia Uys — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Book Review Unveiling hidden narratives across southern Africa : Histories of wildlife filmmaking and black presence in the Kruger National Park

Editorial

Lazlo Passemiers, Victor Gwande — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Editorial