Born (Un)free: The Construction of Citizenship of South Africa’s First Post-Apartheid Generation—Views of University Students

Abstract

South Africa is in the midst of a mass transformation project. This project aims to transform society to an inclusive and united polity based on the principles of non-racialism, equality and diversity. This project, underpinned by the political agenda of the National Democratic Revolution, however has not been easy. At the dawn of democracy, South African society was deeply divided socially, politically and economically along racial lines. The transformation project therefore necessitated all-encompassing political, social and economic change. Politically South Africa is a multiracial, politically inclusive and democratic society. However, substantive progress on reducing racialised inequality and poverty has been lacking, which severely undermines a sense of national identity and national identity construction independent of race. It is in this context that this paper presents findings from an empirical survey conducted among university students in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, on their perception of race relations and quality of life as the first generation to have grown up exclusively under ANC rule and its stated commitment of non-racialism.

Notes

1. Since 1994, the ANC has released various documents dealing with the centrality of nation-building in South Africa. Nation formation and nation building: The national question was released in 1997, and in 2005 the ANC released a discussion document entitled the national question.

2. In vivo coding is a qualitative coding technique that labels specific words as codes in the open-ended questions or interview transcripts. Thus, themes are generated on the basis of what participants state in the open-ended questions. The aim is to ensure that “ … concepts stay as close as possible to research participants’ own words or use their own terms because they capture a key element of what is being described” (http://sage-ereference.com/view/research/n240.xml).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and National Research Foundation (90827).

Notes on contributors

Joleen Steyn Kotze

Joleen Steyn Kotze is a Senior Research Specialist in Democracy and Social Cohesion at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow at the Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State. As an NRF Y2-Rated NRF Researcher, Joleen Steyn Kotze’s academic interests are substantive democratisation and socio-political and socio-economic dynamics in post-authoritarian contexts. She has published numerous articles and book chapters, and delivered papers on democratisation in a non-Western context, democratic development, deepening democracy, and political culture and democratisation. She is the former President of the South African Association of Political Studies (2014–2016) and the current editor of Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies. Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Gary Prevost

Gary Prevost is a Professor of Political Science at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University (USA) and Research Associate in Political and Conflict Studies at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. He is the author of numerous books and articles on politics in Latin America and South Africa with a primary emphasis on social and political movements. Email: [email protected]