#Black Lives (could) matter : Azania as remedy for the state of (dis)ease

Abstract

This study contemplates the widely accepted claim that ‘South Africa’ has successfully parted ways with its history of colonial conquest, settler colonialism as well as colonial-apartheid. The study deploys the Azanian philosophical tradition as an index of Black Political Thought, in order to probe the claim that the 1994 general elections, and the 1996 constitution are anticolonial victories in favour of the indigenous people conquered in unjust wars of colonization. The study reveals that the indigenous people are still on the exterior of the society which celebrates itself as being post-apartheid. Although much can be said about the ineptitude, corruption and maladministration of the government of the African National Congress, this study contends that the problem is in fact even more fundamental than mere incompetence. The study reveals the plight of the children born after 1994 as they are willed into occupying categories of a nation whose subjectivities have yet to come into being, this as an attempt to sustain the claim that the country is undergoing a genuine anticolonial renewal. The study further discusses the historical foundations of ‘South Africa’, and defends a claim central to this study, that ‘South Africa’ is an illegitimate state as it was formed without (and against) the indigenous people. Finally, the study reflects on the significance of the Azanian tradition as a means by which to not only understand what is wrong with living black lives, but also present foundational tenets of a liberated sociality. The principle contention is that liberation remains unfulfilled and we are all compelled to commit to the pursuit of overthrowing white supremacy.