Browsing by Author "Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed."

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Caste, class and community : the role of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha in (re)making Hinduism in South Africa, 1912-1960.
(2010) Gopalan, Karthigasen.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
No abstract available.
“Colours Do Not Mix”: segregated classes at the University of Natal, 1936-1959.
(University of KwaZulu-Natal., 2011) Bhana, Surendra.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
This paper examines segregation in university education with special reference to the circumstances around which separate classes were introduced for Blacks in 1936 at the NUC and continued until 1959, some nine years after the institution achieved university status. It examines the roles of various individuals, most particularly Mabel Palmer (1876-1958) who, as organizer, was instrumental in persuading politicians, administrators, and academics to run segregated classes; and of E. G. Malherbe, who as Rector of the University of Natal from 1943-1965 defended them as the only practical alternative to a segregated university.
Community, identity, and memory: Group Areas and the forced relocation of "Coloureds" to Woodlands, Pietermaritzburg, 1960 - 1990.
(2021) Msweli, Qhelani Banzi.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
This dissertation investigated the impact of the Group Areas Act (GAA) of 1950 on the Coloured community in Pietermaritzburg. The implementation of Group Areas resulted in the residents of Pietermaritzburg being rehoused in racially segregated townships and suburbs. The township of Woodlands was established for Coloureds. This dissertation uses oral history and a life history approach, supplemented with archival research, to examine the experience of the Coloured residents of Pietermaritzburg before the implementation of Group Areas, the experience of forced removals, how residents coped with the pain of being moved from their old communities. In contrast, others were pleased with the better quality housing and amenities they were given and how they reestablished aspects of community life in Woodlands, including building places of worship, sport, and education. This study, more broadly, explores the idea of community, showing how it comes into being, race as a social construct as what is considered Coloured has always been subject to change, and the (re)making of Coloured identities that resulted from the residents of Woodlands being placed in a defined physical space and having to work together to build institutions and infrastructure in their township. This study shows that while many take for granted the apartheid-era racial categorisations such as Coloured, African, Indian, and white, identities are multiple and fluid. Group Areas were instrumental in concretising the essence of being Coloured, but in the post-Apartheid period, that category, too, is subject to change. Finally, this dissertation considers the attitudes forged amongst Coloureds concerning the African and Indian residents of Pietermaritzburg in particular, showing that ideas of a racial hierarchy were embraced by some Coloureds and were not confined to whites.
Constraints on multiparty democracy in Zimbabwe: opposition politics and Zanu-PF (1980-2015).
(2018) Rwodzi, Aaron; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
This study is informed by Gramsci’s hegemony theory complemented by instrumentalism to analyse the constraints on multiparty democracy under the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government. Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 was led by President Robert Gabriel Mugabe for 37 years up to 2017 when the military edifice deposed him. Electoral contests between the Mugabe-led ZANU-PF and pro-democratic opposition parties, inclusive of those that were formed out of ZANU-PF, gave the opposition no chance of gaining power. The closest the opposition came to winning was the March 2008 harmonised elections when the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) broke ZANU-PF parliamentary hegemony, and when Morgan Tsvangirai beat Mugabe for president, only to be prevented from forming a government on grounds of electoral technicalities. This dissertation is premised on the constraints on the institutionalisation of multiparty democracy in Zimbabwe. It analyses the efficacy of the growing opposition to ZANU-PF rule and how the liberation narrative espoused by ZANU-PF critically hampered the development of democratic traditions. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of attendant challenges to effective multiparty democracy in Zimbabwe in view of the military takeover in 2017. It is a study that transcends the narrow confines of analysing ZANU-PF alone and blaming it for mayhem in the country. Rather, the research posits that the governance crisis in Zimbabwe is a shared responsibility. The shortcomings in the objectives, strategies and modus operandi of opposition political parties in Zimbabwe and the strength of ZANU-PF are analysed. The extent to which opposition parties were sponsored by western countries to effect regime change, and the extent to which their political programmes were largely driven and shaped by internal considerations and reflected the ‘will of the people’, were evaluated. The thesis considers ethnic divisions and post-independence inheritances in making conflict inevitable. It argues that ZANU-PF built up strong liberation narratives designed to entrench its hegemony, with media portrayal of opposition parties and ZANU-PF to serve different ends. Finally, the role of the military in Zimbabwean politics, oftentimes characterised by unremitting violence, is considered as militating against peaceful democratic politics and a smooth political transition after the 2018 elections.
Demystifying the Muslimah : changing subjectivities, civic engagement and public participation of Muslim woman in contemporary South Africa.
(2015) Asmal, Fatima.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
This study interrogates the validity of generalizations about Muslim women. While Islam is undoubtedly important in the lives of most practising Muslim women, rather than regarding their actions and behaviours as governed by Islamic law, the study seeks to historicise their experiences through a life history approach of five women engaged in the civic life of their communities (however widely this may be defined) and in public participation in various ways. Using oral history as a methodology, it investigates what drew these women to civic participation; the nature of their participation in terms of the organisations they are members of and the activities they are involved in; the stimulus for civic engagement and public participation and their achievements in this regard as well as the impact of participation on their identities and subjectivities. Most existing work on Muslim women deals with issues such as sexuality and reproductive choices, the AIDS pandemic or conversion to Islam. This study adopts a life history approach to understand multiple aspects of the women’s lives, including and especially their civic and public engagement.
The destruction and remarking of 'community' : a case study of the magazine barracks residents' relocation to Chatsworth.
(2016) Gopalan, Karthigasen.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
The forced removals resulting from the implementation of the National Party Government’s Group Areas Act (1950) have had drastic implications for millions of South Africans across the country. Not surprisingly, there is a rich body of research on the motives, as well as the political and economic consequences, of this destructive piece of legislation. This study sought to move beyond these broader approaches which examined Group Areas from at a macro-level, by focusing specifically on the subjective experiences of one particular social group, who were affected by forced removals and how they rebuilt their lives. It focuses on South Africans of Indian decent (hitherto referred to as Indians) who were employed by the Durban Corporation, and lived in the Magazine Barracks which was one of several labour barracks located around the city of Durban during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From the 1880s, low-paid Indian municipal employees lived in overcrowded conditions in the poorly built barracks. However, they adjusted to this lifestyle and devised mechanisms to cope with their daily challenges through voluntary networks and a strong culture of sharing and self-help. During the 1960s, the approximately 10 000 residents of the Magazine Barracks were displaced and relocated to Chatsworth, where they were split up and accommodated in different sections of the mammoth housing scheme. This has had drastic implications for former residents of the barracks and this study probes into the ways in which they responded to laws which were impose upon them.
Elizabeth Georgina Firmstone : biography of a "great" South African teacher.
(2014) Fynn, Ramon Mark.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
Press reports and many academic studies suggest that South Africa’s education system is in crisis, with the blame often laid at the feet of teachers. The current criticism of teachers goes against my own experiences during my primary and high school education as well as at university level, where I was privileged to be taught by highly motivated and inspiring teachers; teachers who came to class well organised and well prepared, who stimulated us intellectually, knew their subject matter, instilled discipline in the class, but who also showed us love and tenderness. It is through this experience that this study was born. It focuses on constructing a (partical) biography of Mrs Elizabeth Georgina Firmstone, covering her family life, education and teaching career. This study is based primarily on oral history, which includes interviews with Mrs Firmstone and several of her former students. It is through oral history that we see the voice of a teacher who has to a certain extent faded away in the background of our society. This study sheds light on why Mrs Firmstone can be regarded as a “great” teacher while providing a lens to examine broader issues such as race identities before and during the period of apartheid, the role of missionaries in education, and the end of apartheid and what this has meant for education in South Africa. This study provided an opportunity to engage more critically with the craft, possibilities and limitations of biographical writing as we are left with many gaps in the story due to the absence of sources. Finally, the lessons from the life of Mrs Firmstone shed light on what teachers can learn from their predecessors.
Exploring the migration experiences of Muslim Yao women in KwaZulu-Natal, 1994-2015.
(2016) Mbalaka, Joseph Yusufu.; Hiralal, Kalpana.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
There is very little to no research accessible on Muslim Yao women in South Africa; the available literature focuses primarily on Muslim Yao male migrants. This study critically examines the lived migration experiences of Malawian women in South Africa. This research is contextualized within the larger narrative of migration to South Africa in the post-apartheid period and experiences of many migrant communities in recent years. It will interrogate and explore the migration experiences of Muslim Yao women in KwaZulu-Natal between 1994 and 2015. The Yao form the largest proportion of the Muslims of Malawi and have a long tradition of emigrating from their original homeland to other regions, including South Africa. This study aims to historicise their experiences through a life history and narrative approach of the women who have migrated to Durban. These are Muslim Yao women who are engaged in the civic life of their communities and in public participation in various ways. Key themes examined in this dissertation include the reasons for their migration to South Africa, the challenges and constraints they face as immigrants, and how Yao Muslim women are negotiating their identity in multiple contexts – with fellow Malawians, other, predominantly Indian, Muslims, and black South Africans with whom they are in contact in various settings on a daily basis. The complex and complicated triangular relationship between Malawian women, local indigenous peoples (officially designated as “Black African” in the census), and Indians is explored in this study. Currently there is little work of the kind envisaged here, as most existing works on post-apartheid Muslim Yao migrants deal primarily with men. These studies focus on limited aspects of the lives of Muslim Yao women in South Africa. This study will contribute to our understanding of Malawian women migrants in South Africa. The working hypothesis of this study is that in the process of creating a new life in South Africa, Malawian women are contributing to the economy of Malawi through remittances in significant ways, engaging in the civic life of their communities in very public ways and changing perceptions of Islam as being predominantly an “Indian” religion in KwaZulu-Natal. In addition, this study will add to current debates on migration by focusing on issues of gender, identity, and agency in Africa.
Jonathan O Chimakonam: intellectual biography of an African philosopher.
(2021) Shabane, Lindokuhle Emmanuel.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
This dissertation studies the life and work of Nigerian-born philosopher and logician Jonathan Okeke Chimakonam, who is currently a Professor in South Africa, and is considered a direct heir of the concepts and ideas of the debates that took place from the 1970s to 1990s on whether or not African philosophy existed. This dissertation studies that debate and tracks how the ideas and concepts from it shaped Chimakonam’s philosophical outlook. When a young Chimakonam joined the academia, he decided to focus on one existential problem: ‘Where is the African mind?’ This dissertation reads Chimakonam’s search for the African mind as the direct influence of the debate on the existence of African philosophy. As this dissertation shows, Chimakonam has argued that the greatest threat faced by Africa today is the vitiation of African thought systems along with their logic. He believes that one of the consequences of this decline is that some African leaders commit crimes and atrocities because they use Western logic. This may have been avoided if they used an African logic. To Chimakonam there was always a mismatch between African and Western logic such that anything an African does on the bedrock of Western logic will be tainted, inauthentic, and unoriginal. If Africans are seeking originality, they should base their ideas on African logic. Since Chimakonam saw this as a matter of urgency, he constructed a logic from which African systems of thought could emanate. He called the prototype of that logic Ezumezu logic. This newly drawn logic needed a methodology that explained it, and Chimakonam proposed conversational thinking, a method of philosophizing that comes from Ezumezu logic; it is a concrete way of applying Ezumezu logic. This dissertation tracks the development of Chimakonam’s idea of African philosophy which is situated in the broader debate on the rationality of Africans. It further argues that Chimakonam’s ideas on African logic can be understood to be progressing from radical relativism, which is a belief that there is a peculiar African logic inaccessible to other cultures, to a measured relativism, which is a belief that though logic may be relative it can also be universalizable.
Memories of everyday life and forced removals in South Africa: a case study of Cato Manor, Durban, c. 1930-1960.
(2020) Ngidi, Mphumeleli Aubrey.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
This study interrogates the historical geography of Cato Manor in Durban which, like District Six in the Cape and Sophiatown in Gauteng has a deeply entrenched history of community destruction under the infamous Group Areas Act of 1950, which pioneered forced removals. Passed by the orchestrators of apartheid, the National Party (NP) government, this Act destroyed many established multi-racial communities to serve its purpose of building separate communities based on racial categorisation; that is, Whites, Africans, Indians, and Coloureds. Cato Manor, popularly known as Mkhumbane and located a few kilometres from Durban, was witness to forced removals where a long-settled community of Africans and Indians, and a small number of Coloureds, who had lived together for many years were resettled and relocated to townships such as KwaMashu and Umlazi for Africans, and Chatsworth and Phoenix for Indians. The study examines Cato Manor’s historical development and offers insights into the legacy of segregation from the pre-apartheid era. In examining everyday life in Cato Manor/Mkhumbane, a picture emerges of how former residents developed a sense of place, establishing religious institutions, schools, community halls and various welfare support organisations, notwithstanding the myriad of challenges they faced. Mkhumbane emerged as one the epicentres for the production of a vibrant popular culture among Africans in Durban. Beer brewing and the consumption of beer was a central component of this culture and was the main economic strategy through which many urban African women survived. The bosses and apartheid authorities wanted African men to drink, but on their terms. They sought a monopoly of the beer trade by brewing the beer and selling it in their beer halls and did not tolerate home brewing by women as it constituted an economic threat to the state, and gave women a freedom that the state could not countenance. Beer became a compelling reason for raids in townships and hostels across the country. When women’s livelihoods came under threat they took to the streets to protect their socio-economic interests. The 1949 riots were a major episode in Cato Manor’s history. Memories of the tensions between African and Indian communities from 1949 continue to impact race relations in the contemporary period, and this study investigates how this conflict is remembered today. One of its concerns is the evolution of the Group Areas Act in Durban and how its implementation contributed to the destruction of Cato Manor, the relocation of its residents, socio-political, economic and cultural conditions in KwaMashu where many Cato Manor residents were resettled, how the forcibly removed residents negotiated challenges in their new environments, and how this process of relocation is remembered by displaced people. Oral history is an important research tool in this study. While there are many macro studies on the impact of forced relocations nationally, this study focuses on a sample of individuals at a personal level, and, using the qualitative methodology of oral history, reconstructs the impact of forced relocations at a micro level to enhance understanding of the removals. In addition to oral history, local newspapers in the Zulu language form a key part of the interpretation of the life and times in Cato Manor. The study considers the reliability of oral history as a source of information, its value, and how it can transform how we study the past when it is moved from the margins to the centre of historical research. It is a vital means to capture respondents’ memories as well as their experiences of the near past. Oral history can play a crucial role in documenting the story of marginalised communities and in the process adding to social history narratives in the KwaZulu-Natal region.
Military intervention and international law : a critical analysis of the role of the international community in political uprisings in Libya and Syria.
(2014) Simura, Blessing.; Nadvi, Lubna.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
The role of the international community in internal crises of sovereign states has been a subject of great debate in international relations studies. The legality and morality (from a United Nations Charter and customary international relations perspectives) of military intervention, either actively or through the support of an uprising or a rebellion, has been a subject of debate. The major debate on the role of the international community has been on the subject of military intervention for humanitarian purposes. Military intervention for humanitarian purposes which was popular in the 19th century and was seen by scholars as the justification of the military interventions in Iraq, Somalia and Kosovo during the 1990s was rekindled with the Arab Spring and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states’ intervention in Libya and the alleged military support to Libyan rebels. NATO member states’ intervention in Libya polarized the Security Council and led to paralysis on the Syrian crisis. This thesis critically analyses the concept of military intervention for humanitarian purposes taking into consideration the transformations that have taken place in the international system specifically on the concept of sovereignty, human rights, and the United Nations (UN) law as well as the rise of the “Responsibility to Protect” as the repackaging of the concept of military intervention for humanitarian purposes. The research argues that the concept of military intervention for humanitarian purposes is controversial and has not gained full recognition by member states of the UN. It also argues that the concept of military intervention for humanitarian purposes is subject to abuse by ambitious powers. Its use in Libya was controversial. However, the international community could have learnt from the Libyan mistakes to come up with an accepted intervention programme in Syria in order to save civilian lives.
The Natal inter-race tournament of the 1950s : reinforcing or undermining race identities?
(2013) Ngidi, Mphumeleli Aubrey.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
This dissertation focuses on the inter-race soccer tournament which was held in Natal between 1946 and 1960 under the auspices of the Natal-Inter-Race Soccer Board. The tournament was played between Coloured, Indian and African teams chosen from players across Natal. The tournament was played at an important time in African-Indian relations in the province. This was a time of growing tension on the ground between ordinary Indians and Africans as well as political co-operation across racial lines. This thesis provides a narrative history of the tournament and, as such, makes an important contribution to the historiography of soccer in South Africa. None of the major works on South African history focus on this tournament and, in fact, get some of the details wrong. This thesis provides the results, some outstanding players and administrators, playing styles, as well as the importance of sport as a source of power and patronage for Black sports administrators, which explains the reluctance of some to embrace non-racialism. The story of the Natal-Inter-Race Soccer Board and its tournament makes a valuable contribution to the growing field of the historiography of South Africa soccer.
Political Islam in the 21st century : an analysis of the contestation between "militant and "progressive" Islam, with particular emphasis on forms of political expression amongst Muslims in post-apartheid South Africa.
(2009) Nadvi, Lubna.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
The political events that unfolded on September 11 200 I, marked a turning point in world history. The attacks on the United States brought into sharp focus, the very complex issue of political violence being perpetrated by elements from within the Muslim world, and the project of what is commonly referred to as Political Islam. These events have subsequently led to an intensification of scrutiny of Muslims globally, by the Western world, as well as the establishment of heightened security measures by many governments, with Muslims being subjected to increasing levels of suspicion and the curtailment of civil liberties. Accompanying this scrutiny of Muslims, has been the United States led "War on Terror," which has further fuelled anger and resentment within the Muslim world, and inspired the carrying out of further attacks of political violence against Western targets such as Britain and Spain, by Muslim militants. This thesis attempts to locate the unfolding of these acts of political violence, within the broad framework of an examination of what constitutes the arena of Political Islam (which is seen as the interface between the Islamic faith and political activity by Muslims), and to interrogate two streams of political expression within Political Islam. These are Militant Islam and Progressive Islam. This interrogation will attempt to take into account the historical development of political thought and action within the Muslim world, and Islam's encounter with the projects of colonialism, empire and orientalism, in order to understand and offer some analysis around the possible reasons for the phenomenon of contemporary political violence emanating from the Muslim world. The study will also argue that progressive expressions of Islam are more representative of the essence of Quranic teachings and that militancy, while sometimes necessary, is not an ideal way for Muslims to engage politics. The case study within which the broader theoretical argument unfolds, is the post-apartheid South African Muslim context. This case study examines how SA Muslims are expressing themselves politically in a democratic dispensation, and whether they are inclined towards militant or progressive expressions, as a faith based community engaging politics. The thesis concludes by offering suggestions for how SA Muslims can advance a peaceful progressive political agenda, which acts as a model for Muslim communities elsewhere.
A socio-historical and ethnographic study of the migration of Hindus from the greater Durban area to the greater Johannesburg area, South Africa.
(2019) Ramjettan, Trivern Hunsraj.; Vahed, Goolam Hoosen Mohamed.
This dissertation examines the migration of Hindus from the Greater Durban Area to the Greater Johannesburg Area, South Africa, in the period since the 1970s, and whether and how this has led to transformation in their practices and beliefs. A socio-historical and ethnographic approach is brought to bear, exploring sub-research questions that inquire into the historical migration of Indians from the then Colony of Natal to the Transvaal, their adaptation to the new setting, and Hindu experiences within neo-Hindu organisations and traditional temples, priests and festivals. The study employs a constructivist grounded theory methodology to develop a theory on the evolution of Hinduism between these cities as a result of this migration. Constructivist theory emphasises the interrelationship between researcher and participant and the mutual construction of meaning, while grounded theory seeks to construct novel theory that is inductive and derives from the data. The grounded theory approach contributes to diaspora studies, the body of knowledge on the evolution of Hinduism, and to understanding migration, settlement and belonging.