Born free: an exploration of national identity construction in post-apartheid South Africa: the case of the youth born from 1990

• Main Author: Ngonyama, Lulama Smuts
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 2012
• Subjects: Nationalism > South Africa; Youth > Political activity > South Africa
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020349

National identity in South Africa is, and has been, a complex concept, with diverse and contested attempts at its embodiment. This research extends the discourse of identity politics in the post 1994 democratic South Africa to beyond the discourse of racial politics, and notions of oppressor and oppressed to the complexities of resistance and the eventual establishment of a democratic South Africa. The research draws on the views and experiences of young South Africans, born after 1990, regarding what constitutes a South African identity. The research participants represent the socio-cultural and economic spectrum of the city of Cape Town, in the Western Province of South Africa. Schools were chosen across this spectrum to allow for heterogeneity of research sample to reflect the different population groups that comprise the South African population. The areas the schools were chosen from included those that existed during the apartheid era and those that have since been developed. Schools included were those historically delineated according to apartheid-constructed racial groups, and one that was established after 1994 as a non-state school. The exploration of the data reveals a population of young people who have moved beyond the imposed identities created by the apartheid system to an actively inclusive conception of what it means to be a South African in a post-apartheid context. Additionally, the research shows that this inclusive national identity also allows for the acknowledgement and expression of the diversity of cultures and languages existent in South African society. There is also an understanding that socio-economic issues such as poverty, poor education and continued imbalances from the Apartheid era need to be addressed to ensure a stable and unified South Africa. Therefore, the research found that this research contends that young people born after 1990 are committed to a respectful and representative national identity that affords all South Africans an equal place in society.