Redress and reconciliation in South African education : The case for a rights-based approach

Kurzfassung/Abstract

The Bantu Education Act has been described by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as “the most evil of all pieces of apartheid legislation”. Following a recent call for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) for education in South Africa, numerous questions arise not only about the possibility but also about the plausibility, content and aims of such a commissioned investigation. This paper examines the epistemological, ethical and political ramifications of this approach. It argues that, given a certain ambiguity in the meaning of the term and given certain problems in the TRC process, the possibility and plausibility of such redress depend to some extent on a suitable ‘running partner’ for the idea and the process of reconciliation. After discussing and dismissing several such ‘partner’ ideas and principles, like ubuntu or botho, communalism and the common good, this paper examines and defends a rights-based approach that establishes rights as the backbone of redress and reconciliation as its heart