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03 April 2018 Photo Valentino Ndaba
Stanley Trapido seminar interrogates being Chinese in SA
Miyanda Simabwachi (PhD student), Prof Karen Harris (guest speaker), Eleanor Born-Swart (PhD student), and Prof Neil Roos of the International Studies Group at the Stanley Trapido seminar.
Speaking at the Stanley Trapido seminar hosted by the International Studies Group, Prof Karen Harris from the University of Pretoria’s Department of Historical and Heritage, underscored how South Africa-born Chinese (SABCs) have historically been relegated to the periphery of South African society as far as access to opportunities is concerned. She presented a paper titled: “BEE-ing Chinese in South Africa: Black not White?” at the second seminar in the annual series on Monday 19 March 2018 at the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS).

“Chinese are not black enough under the new government and were not white enough under the old government,” said Prof Harris who specialises in the field of overseas Chinese studies as well as heritage tourism. Her paper focused on how this miniscule population group suffered discrimination under segregation and apartheid, and has continued to experience systematic discrimination in relation to education, employment, ownership of property, trading business and voting rights, separate amenities, freedom of movement and marriage, over a period of three centuries.

Prof Harris argued that the manner in which Chinese were treated pre-1994 is similar in the democratic dispensation. “They still have no rights and no place in the broader South African society.”

To drive her point home, Prof Harris made reference to legislations, namely the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment and the Employment Equity acts. These laws were an attempt to promote equity and fairness in the labour market and trade, to give members of society who were discriminated against access to employment opportunities across the board post-apartheid. However, the discord ensued when the Chinese discovered that they were not accommodated in this deal, despite being categorised as previously disadvantaged.

Passive resistance towards these injustices reached an apex during a 2008 High Court case which led to 18 June being declared Dignity Day by SABCs. Prof Harris recounts this history as follows: “On 18 June we have the Chinese locals being declared black by Judge Cynthia Pretorius. It was claimed that according to the decision the Chinese fell in the definition of black people in the constitution, allowing them to now enjoy the full benefits of black economic empowerment.”

These prestigious annual seminars serve to honour the life and work of Stanley Trapido – a leading South African historian and Oxford University lecturer. Trapido’s personal library was donated to UFS on his death.

News Archive

Traditional medicine can play important role in modern drugs discovery
2014-11-11

Indigenous knowledge possesses a great potential to improve science. Making use of this source may lead to advanced technological innovations. This is according to Dr Sechaba Bareetseng, UFS alumnus and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Manager at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
Dr Bareetseng recently addressed the seventh annual IKS symposium on the Qwaqwa Campus.
“Interfacing indigenous and local knowledge with scientific knowledge has the potential of encouraging and developing inventions, especially in the pharmaceutical industry,” said Dr Bareetseng.
 
“Such interfacing can also enable access to both sets of knowledge without any discrimination whatsoever. It would also encourage co-existence that would improve understanding between the two.”
 
“Traditional medicine,” said Dr Bareetseng, “can play an extended role in modern drugs discovery as it is already happening in Botswana and New Zealand. These two countries are leading this wave of new thinking in as far as drug development is concerned.”
 
Dr Bareetseng also called on established researchers to start embracing the local communities into their research.
 
“Contemporary scientific research demands that local communities must co-author research conducted within and with them by the universities and research institutions. This would help in maintaining trust between the researchers and the communities that feel exploited. Regular feedback would also make communities feel part of the developments,” Dr Bareetseng argued.
 
He further called on the pharmaceutical companies specifically and researchers in general to convert valuable indigenous knowledge and resources into products and services of commercial value. “Plants, the ecosystem and indigenous knowledge must be preserved to provide a source of income for the local communities. Communities must also be protected from foreign exploitation of their intellectual property.”
 

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