Abstract:
South Africa has recently experienced a series of public protests. The common element is
that violence is becoming evident in these protests. This article uses the June 2016 protests in
the city of Tshwane as an example to address the root causes of such protests. On 20 June
2016, the African National Congress (ANC) announced that the city of Tshwane mayoral
candidate for the 3 August 2016 municipal elections in South Africa is the former public
works minister and ANC National Executive Committee member, Thoko Didiza.
Consequently, public protests in the city of Tshwane emerged immediately after this
announcement. These public protests were very violent, such as protesters killed one
another, burned buses, looted shops and barricaded roads. The root causes of these violent
protests are identified as factionalism, tribalism, sexism, economic exclusion and patronage
politics. The purpose of this article is a practical theological reflection on the root causes of
June 2016 protests in the city of Tshwane. The main aim of this article is a practical theological
solution to the general problem of violent protests.
Description:
Dr Kgatle is participating in
the research project
‘Socio-cultural Readings’,
directed by Prof. Dr Ernest
van Eck, Department of New
Testament Studies, Faculty of
Theology, University of
Pretoria, South Africa.
