South Africa has seen a number of Commissions of Inquiry in the post-apartheid era. Dale McKinley has posed the question: ‘Commissions of Inquiry or Omission?’ McKinley’s concern is ‘whether Commissions have achieved anything other than to soak up large amounts of public monies, to control and manipulate public opinion and attention, to avoid political accountability and individual responsibility, to cover-up criminal behaviour, and generally act as vehicles for doing little to nothing?’ This seminar series seeks to highlight the impact of Commissions in a sustained discussion on corruption and democracy in South Africa.

 

Seminar: Race, cricket and nation in post-apartheid South Africa and reflections on the King Commission

Speaker: Professor Goolam Vahed

Facilitator: Dr Gerard Boyce

Date: Wednesday 20 September 2017

Time: 12h30-14h00

Venue: CCS Seminar Room A726, Level 7, Shepstone, Howard College, UKZN

 

This seminar is based on a paper entitled ‘There is plenty of play left in South Africa’s race game’: Race, cricket and nation in post-apartheid South Africa which focuses on charges of match fixing in April of 2001 by Indian police against Hansie Cronje, cricket captain of South Africa. It also considers the Commission of Inquiry that followed in order to probe the construction and persistence of race stereotypes in South Africa.

 

Goolam Vahed is Professor in History, Society and Social Change in the School of Social Sciences. Among his research interests are: the making of Indian identities in South Africa, the colonial encounter between Indians, Africans and whites in KwaZulu-Natal; the transformations of Indian identities in South Africa; Islam and Muslims (particularly KwaZulu-Natal), and the role of sport and culture (particularly cricket) in South African society. He has published widely in this area including: Many Lives. 150 Years of Being Indian in South Africa. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and Shooter, 2010 with Thembisa Waetjen and Ashwin Desai; Curries Fountain. Sport, Politics, Identity. Durban: DUT, 2013 with Len Rosenberg and Sam Moodley; Schooling Muslims in Natal. State, Identity and the Orient Islamic Educational Institute. Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2015 with T. Waetjen and most recently, The South African Gandhi. Stretcher-Bearer of Empire. Stanford University Press and New Delhi: Navayan Publishing, 2016.