Decoloniality, ubuntu and human rights in South Africa: a bridge to social justice

Abstract

After the Berlin conference of 1884, various European countries had agreed on the rules that resulted in the colonisation of various African states.1 Colonisation consisted until the 1960s for many countries in Africa.2 Despite the absence of a physical colonial presence in many African countries, Eurocentric knowledge systems, cultural traditions and habits re‐ mained. The hegemonic knowledge systems that placed European knowledge at the centre of Africa resulted in a political movement known as decoloniality, in the 1960s already, that was centred around the empowerment of African people and the critique of knowledge cre‐ ated by Western Imperialism.3 With the 2015 student protests, there has been a resurgence of debates in South Africa on the progress made by post-colonial governments to eradicate coloniality within its institutions and structures.4 In 1996, South Africa adopted a Constitution that entrenches various fundamental rights and pursues the realisation of social justice.5 The South African debate around the decoloni‐ sation of the legal system is influenced by the fact that the current South African legal sys‐ tem originated, and still retains, parts of the Roman-Dutch and English law which are re‐ garded as conservative and unprogressive. There have been attempts by courts and legislators to integrate African notions, such as ubuntu, into the South African legal system. uBuntu can broadly be described as a commu‐ nitarian ethic that requires an interdependent relationship of care between an individual and the community. The question arises whether the Western liberal approach adopted by the South African Constitution adequately protects human rights and serves the broader consti‐ A.