Chapter 9 - Inkatha and the Hermannsburgers

Summary

Like Bophuthatswana, the KwaZulu Bantustan made its own distinctive mark on the education system within its jurisdiction. It did so with the introduction in 1978 of its Ubuntu-botho (good citizenship) syllabus, and also by establishing Youth Brigades in all schools. Unlike their Popagano experience in Bophuthatswana, the Hermannsburgers did not play a significant role in educational developments at the official Bantustan level. And, unlike the Popagano Commission report which was generally praised by liberals and intellectuals, the 1978 syllabus devised by Mangosuthu Buthelezi's Inkatha party invited much criticism. In the following decade, for example, Praisley Mdluli's study, ‘Ubuntu-botho: Inkatha's People's Education’, and Gerhard Maré's ‘Education in a “Liberated Zone”: Inkatha and education in KwaZulu-Natal’ perceived it as an instrument of propaganda, intended to create loyal Inkatha followers, while Johan Graaff's 1994 report saw it quite simply as ‘An Instrument of War’. Inkatha, the party of Bantustan leader Gatsha Buthelezi, tried to cast it as a syllabus that focused on ‘Education Now for Liberty Tomorrow’ in opposition to the popular slogan ‘Liberation Now, Education Later!’ that had caught fire in the townships under the auspices of the United Democratic Front (UDF) campaign. As a compulsory, non-examinable subject introduced by Inkatha, and taught through a number of textbooks in all years for one hour a week, the opposition it provoked was symptomatic of the violent conflict in the region at the time. It is important to determine what role the Hermannsburgers played in developing this syllabus, and to attempt to understand their educational role during this period.

The 1970s and 1980s were critical years for the Hermannsburgers in Zululand and Natal. With their role in schooling diminishing, in Natal they started to play a larger part in broader cooperative Lutheran activities. During this period when Bantustan policy was put into practice, Hermannsburgers worked closely with the authorities in two areas where Bantustans came into being: the Western Transvaal and Natal/Zululand. Whereas Mangope embraced the idea of self-determination as spelt out within the framework set by the National Party government, Buthelezi took every opportunity to participate in it while simultaneously presenting himself as being in opposition to the entire concept.