SIT Study Abroad Cape Town: Multiculturalism and Human Rights

Stronger Together …congratulations Bokke!

The Union Buildings, the seat of the executive branch is also an active sight for social justice activism. There is an active protest by the Khoisan that have been going on since 2018!

The Marikana Masacre, exhibition in the courtyard at Number 4 Prison Museum, Constituional Hill, Johannesburg! Watch this documentary for more context but content may be too graphic for sensitive viewers https://youtu.be/sAXzs40WJ6A

Spring 2023 students on the visit to Pretoria, the Union Buildings where they observed a protest by the Khoisan! The group also visited the Constituional Hill where they saw an exhibition about the Marikana Masacre. Back in Cape Town the students are now in their second Homestay in Bo Kaap, one of the best views of Table Mountain and Cape Town!

August is women’s month in South Africa. We also pay tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women. A system meant to control women even further and reduce women to passive beings, at the mercy of men. This year’s we are celebrating Women Month under the theme: “Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights for an Equal Future”. The concept of Generation Equality is a global campaign and links South Africa to global efforts to achieve gender equality by 2030!

Twenty-seven years into democracy, we find ourselves at an interesting moment to examine both the progress and challenges faced by South Africa. Twenty-seven years is also the number of years Nelson Mandela spent incarcerated, most of which spent on Robben Island. Large-scale war was averted, and a negotiation process brought about a peaceful transition to a democratic system, yet socioeconomic issues remain a problem. Development policy aims to promote economic growth and social transformation, yet socioeconomic issues dominant the public discourse daily. Discriminatory legal and institutional practices of the colonial and apartheid areas have been effectively challenged, and a new, progressive constitution, with a bill of rights put in place. Yet these rights are yet to be fully enjoyed but many South Africans and remain a privilege for the elite. South Africa now faces new challenges, including an education system in crisis, unemployment, one of the highest Gini coefficient in the world and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic. All of which are placing considerable strain on the resources and the social fabric of society.

Recently South Africa has been inundated with several student-led protests, starting with at the end of 2015. The year 2016 was dominated by the protests, in which the students among other things demanded a free and, decolonized education system. In response the government announced “a free education” policy for lower income first year students attending university. The pragmatics of implementing this policy are yet to be tested, and at the beginning of each academic year since then, students protest directly related to this policy erupt. The protection of human rights is enshrined in the Constitution – hailed as one of the most progressive Constitutions in the world – but these rights are challenged by poverty and inequality and further compromised by the nature and makeup of South Africa’s multicultural society (manifested in terms of race, gender, language, ethnicity, religion, culture, and disability.) South Africa today provides a fertile environment for examining these dynamics and reflecting on questions about rights and multiculturalism in the post-apartheid era. Come and learn with us as we unpack some and many of these issues!

June 16th is Youth Day in South Africa, the day commemorates the memory of the South African youths that were killed during the uprisings that happened in Soweto and swept the rest of the country in 1976. Hector Pieterson 13, was a South African schoolboy who was shot and killed during the Soweto uprising, when the police opened fire on students protesting the enforcement of teaching in Afrikaans. On this Youth Day, South Africans honour young people and bring attention to their needs. The Hector Pieterson Memorial Museum is on the excursions lists for the SIT program’s Johannesburg visit.