Overview

Twenty-five years after the delivery of political democracy, the Edenic projects of nonracialism and the Rainbow Nation have failed because there was no fuller appreciation of what is meant by ubuntu. The version of ubuntu that was used and applied after 1994 should have focused first on re-empowering the Black social groups but instead, attempts were made through the defunct Truth and Reconciliation Commission, 1995 Rugby World Cup, 1996 Africa Cup of Nations, and 2010 FIFA World Cup. That understanding of ubuntu was a sanitised quick fix that could not undo centuries of dehumanisation, as characterised by apartheid. This book presents the true meaning of ubuntu, which has its roots in communitarian societies and their value systems, and redefines it within the premises of lived African experiences. As part of an international benchmark on the viability of local value systems aimed at a fulfilled citizenry, the book compares ubuntu to its counterparts of Jantelagen in Sweden and Confucianism in China. It emphasises that society is a lived space beyond the activities of monetary capital production and seeks to empower South Africans to become dignified, fulfilled citizens.

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9781928341888

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'This work is a valuable contribution to research in value systems and developmental problems in general and China-South Africa relations in particular. I highly recommend this book to teachers and students of South African affairs and China-South African relations.' --Dr. Abdulaziz Y. Lodhi, Emeritus Professor, Uppsala University, Sweden 'I humbly wish to express a deep regret that this book wasn't available to us as the African National Congress and the Mass Democratic Movement were preparing for governance in a free South Africa. This invaluable compendium scrutinised closely and, alongside the Freedom Charter, would have and still can form a substantial blueprint for a future away from both the hostile past and moribund present. The two documents would have given our government a clear and better vision to unambiguously prioritising first and foremost strategies, policies and actions inwardly directed in favour of the most dehumanised and severely brutalised victims, the Black majority.' --Ambassador Lindiwe Mabuza

Author Information

Prof. Paul Z. Tembe is a Senior Research Fellow at the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs and an Associate Professor at the Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University, China. He was recently appointed as Visiting Associate Professor at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing. Tembe has an MA in Kiswahili Studies from Uppsala University and a Ph.D. in Chinese Studies from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is professionally fluent in English, Mandarin, Portuguese, Kiswahili, Swedish, Sesotho, Xitsonga, and isiZulu.

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