Ideological objectives underpinning imbizo as a model of communication and governance

In 2001, the South African government adopted an imbizo (plural: izimbizo) as a model of communication. Imbizo is a Zulu word for a traditional community gathering called by the chief to solve pertinent community issues. The word imbizo has its variants in many African languages in South Africa, e....

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Main Author: Jeffrey Mabelebele
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Johannesburg 2022-10-01
Series:Communicare
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Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1749
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author Jeffrey Mabelebele
author_facet Jeffrey Mabelebele
author_sort Jeffrey Mabelebele
collection DOAJ
description In 2001, the South African government adopted an imbizo (plural: izimbizo) as a model of communication. Imbizo is a Zulu word for a traditional community gathering called by the chief to solve pertinent community issues. The word imbizo has its variants in many African languages in South Africa, e.g. pit o in Sepedi, kgotla in Setswana and Sesotho. In African indigenous communities, imbizo is used as a platform to resolve pertinent community challenges through honest engagement between the subjects and leadership. In this article, the ideological nuances of the government’s decision in 2001 to appropriate imbizo as a model of communication and governance are explored. It is argued that, at face value, imbizo is presented by government as a communication and governance model to deepen participatory democracy and public participation especially for the poor. It is argued in this article that the government’s appropriated imbizo appears to be used to deepen the ideological positions of the government and ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) amongst the masses. It is further argued in this article that an imbizo is used by government of South Africa for the attainment of four interrelated ideological objectives. • It is a vehicle to advance the political strategy of the ANC. • It is used as an expression of the African Renaissance paradigm. • Imbizo expresses the ideology of African unity. • It is used as a manifestation of participatory democracy
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spelling doaj-art-7fa47fe931834de0acf90135c7f59c402025-01-20T08:52:10ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502022-10-0125210.36615/jcsa.v25i2.1749Ideological objectives underpinning imbizo as a model of communication and governanceJeffrey Mabelebele In 2001, the South African government adopted an imbizo (plural: izimbizo) as a model of communication. Imbizo is a Zulu word for a traditional community gathering called by the chief to solve pertinent community issues. The word imbizo has its variants in many African languages in South Africa, e.g. pit o in Sepedi, kgotla in Setswana and Sesotho. In African indigenous communities, imbizo is used as a platform to resolve pertinent community challenges through honest engagement between the subjects and leadership. In this article, the ideological nuances of the government’s decision in 2001 to appropriate imbizo as a model of communication and governance are explored. It is argued that, at face value, imbizo is presented by government as a communication and governance model to deepen participatory democracy and public participation especially for the poor. It is argued in this article that the government’s appropriated imbizo appears to be used to deepen the ideological positions of the government and ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) amongst the masses. It is further argued in this article that an imbizo is used by government of South Africa for the attainment of four interrelated ideological objectives. • It is a vehicle to advance the political strategy of the ANC. • It is used as an expression of the African Renaissance paradigm. • Imbizo expresses the ideology of African unity. • It is used as a manifestation of participatory democracy https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1749imbizocommunicationZulu wordcommunity gatheringresolve pertinent community challengessubjects and leadership
spellingShingle Jeffrey Mabelebele
Ideological objectives underpinning imbizo as a model of communication and governance
Communicare
imbizo
communication
Zulu word
community gathering
resolve pertinent community challenges
subjects and leadership
title Ideological objectives underpinning imbizo as a model of communication and governance
title_full Ideological objectives underpinning imbizo as a model of communication and governance
title_fullStr Ideological objectives underpinning imbizo as a model of communication and governance
title_full_unstemmed Ideological objectives underpinning imbizo as a model of communication and governance
title_short Ideological objectives underpinning imbizo as a model of communication and governance
title_sort ideological objectives underpinning imbizo as a model of communication and governance
topic imbizo
communication
Zulu word
community gathering
resolve pertinent community challenges
subjects and leadership
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1749
work_keys_str_mv AT jeffreymabelebele ideologicalobjectivesunderpinningimbizoasamodelofcommunicationandgovernance