Xhosa mindsets

Jeffrey Peires:

"So exactly does the rivalry of the two men [Makana and Ntsikana] foreshadow the struggle for the Xhosa mind in the nineteenth century that the contrast between them would surely be taken for a myth if it were not known to be a reality."

The same "struggle for the Xhosa mind" has continued right up to the present day, now fortunately undertaken not through warfare but through democratic elections.

During the apartheid years, Black Consciousness, championed by "new-age prophets" like Steve Biko, argued that Whites should be left out of any "final solution" in South Africa.

The schism between the ANC (African National Congress) and the PAC (Pan Africanist Congress) is based on this difference of opinion.

The PAC rejects the Freedom Charter (Kliptown) which allows for the participation of Whites in any national dispensation.

The ANC, and to this extent Ntsikana's argument, has won the day.

However, Makana is the more reverred of the Xhosa prophets.

The post-apartheid era, typified by a spirit of openness, tolerance and democracy, would appear to resolve this long-standing struggle for Black South African minds.

Nevertheless, this struggle for mindsets continues to underlie deep divisions in Black South African accommodation with White South Africans in the post-apartheid period, expressed politically as ANC vs PAC and ANC vs. Inkhata.

The divisions qualified the degree to which White South Africans should be allowed to participate in the liberation struggle.

They continue to qualify the degree to which White South Africans should be permitted to participate in the running of the 'new' South Africa.

Only time will reveal just how long-lasting the debate will be.

Only time will reveal just how deeply entrenched are such schisms in the Black South African psyche.