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A place to feel at home: A social perspective on the family hearth in Africa by Dr Attie van Niekerk
[top] [end]'I am an African' and modernisationThe National Electrification Drive was announced by ESKOM, the South African Electricity Utility Company, in 1991, with the aim to electrify 3 million houses in 5 years. The Drive formed part of a 'kick-start' approach for development in Southern Africa, as opposed to an approach of gradual or sustained growth. How does this strong emphasis on modernisation relate to the opening words of vice-president Mr Thabo Mbeki, when he introduced the new Constitution to Parliament with the words 'I am an African.'The idea was that the massive electrification of houses, together with the provision of formal housing and mass education, would create a breakthrough towards modernisation: economic development, job creation, better education and communication (e.g. TV), a decline in the birthrate and less air pollution (Morgan, 1992; Van Gas, 1992 and Van Wyk, 1993). The two goals, Western modernisation and Africanisation, have both been very influential in Africa the past century. Modernisation is taking place in all spheres of life. At the same time, Africanisation has increased in the past few decades in the churches, in medical care (e.g. the new prominence of the sangoma at the grassroots), in politics, etc. The conflict between the two cultures has remained a central theme in modern African literature all over the continent. According to Lovemore Mbigi (1995: 93-100), affirmative action in South Africa does not merely aim at a greater role for black people in Western institutions, but in restructuring these institutions according to the values, principles, and spirit(s) of Africa. There have been many Africanist movements: some have looked for a synthesis with the West, where each contributes valuable elements, such as Western technology with African spirituality and humaneness (Senghor); others have completely rejected Western culture and technology (Césaire). Recently there has been new emphasis on the combination or synthesis of cultures: ...for the African, modernisation does not have to be Westernisation. In fact, Africans can modernise their way of life and environment without giving up the essence of the positive aspects of their culture and their way of life ...In this way, modernisation would not be a process of alienation as has been the case in many African societies... (Omotoso, 1996) One could assume that Mr Mbeki's words 'I am an African' have a similar meaning: not a complete rejection of modernisation, but a search for an African Renaissance, a modern African culture, where modernisation takes place in an African way. African writers such as Kofi Awoonor regard progress as the 'widening of the circle', to reunite old and new in a new construct. This view is quite different from the modern image of progress as an arrow shooting upwards and forwards, of progress through technology, through control over nature, even human nature. The focus of the search for the reunification of all things is in the family and in the household, the centre of traditional life, even the centre of heaven and earth. Omotoso says that modernisation in the African way would not bring about alienation, as Westernisation does. This is very important. The sociologist Peter L Berger (1973) has described the worldwide impact of modernisation in causing alienation - from the past, from other people, from nature, even from the spiritual world - so that modern man has suffered from a deepening condition of homelessness'. This can lead to loneliness, depression, a loss of values (anomie), social disintegration, and violence. The implications of these ideas for an energy strategy is profound. An energy carrier is also a culture carrier. The proponents of the Electrification Drive quite correctly saw electricity as an agent of modernity (Figure 1). Fire, on the other hand, is deeply embedded in traditional African culture (and many other cultures). A modern African culture would integrate both into the total lifestyle.
In the new South Africa, a household energy policy should aim at bridging the gap between two worlds, Africa and the West, between technology and people, in search of a more sustainable and beneficial way of living. People's needs: indicators from qualitative research In 1993, during a group discussion in Kagiso, an urban community on the West Rand, one of the oldest residents said that they had rejected electricity before, because they feared that electricity would chase the spirits of the ancestors (also called 'shades') away. When that happened people would have no roots and life would disintegrate. Now that they have found ways to have electricity and maintain contact with the ancestors, she said, 'we desperately need electricity'. That is the widening of the circle: new technology is accepted without abandoning the old, conflicting way of life. In traditional African society there is no separation between religious activity and daily life. The preparation of food is at the same time a religious ritual. A Zulu diviner explains to Berglund (1976: 103, 104, 214): The shades warm themselves at the hearth. When they are warm they become hungry and eat that which is left in the vessels. To step over the hearth is not allowed, because 'one does not step over a shade'. 'The unity with the ancestors is part of an experience of the interconnectedness of things' (Mphahlele 1972: 24), a profound religious experience. In modern African literature there are frequent references to the restoration of unity, the reconciling of opposites, that takes place around the fire in the night: people are united again to the earth, to the ancestors, to each other. The 'blood of life' and the saying 'fire is life', come together in the search for fertility, for the continuation of life and the victory over death. It is a religious search. It was explained by a Zulu man: 'fire is the same as beer, because beer boils when it ferments and therefore it is warm, and as such it is the same as sexual intercourse' (Berglund, 1976: 232). The relation between fire and fertility is also seen in the symbolism that occurs in different African cultures, and cultures all over the world, that the making of fire by rubbing a piece of wood with another piece of wood is associated with sexual intercourse (Mönnig, 1987:117; Edsman 1987: 340). One must also note the relation between the ancestors and fertility. The ancestral spirits are intimately involved in sexual intercourse and the creation of a new life. The spirits make conception happen and form the unborn child. This connection was extensively studied by researchers such as Monica Wilson (cf Murray 1975: 59). To close the triangle; in fieldwork, many people affirmed the role of fire in keeping contact with the ancestors. The Pedi expression for 'my children' is 'bana beso' - children of my fireplace (Mönnig, 1987: 237). The religious significance of ash was mentioned in group discussions: One of the fieldworkers gave a view from the inside: 'As a member of the Zion Christian Church we use ash for various purposes. When people pray for somebody, they use ash - of coal. They store the ash and if a minister has electricity, he must collect ash from people who use coal.' On a more social level, the fire gives warmth, on it the mother cooks food for the family (Figure 2). The mother, the stove, and the family form a strong combination, especially in the city, as expressed by this poet, writing from Soweto: The kettle hisses mother moves about the kitchen sliding from corner to corner The fire from the stove pierces into the marrow. (Mafika Pascal Gwala, 1977: 22-23)
If there is fire in the house, there is life. Even if there is no food, but there is fire, I am happy, because the stove brings the family together. The stove and the mother go together. The mother is the source of life, comfort, stability, care. She keeps the family together. She has mythic overtones, and is often described as Mother Earth and Mother Africa in modern African literature. [top] [end]Fieldwork in Qalabotjha: qualitative researchFieldwork done during the Macro-Scale Experiment of the Department of Minerals and Energy in 1997 at Qalabotjha, Villiers, provided an opportunity to examine the emotional, religious and social significance of the coal stove and of fire in a quantitative way. Five hundred questionnaires were answered by five hundred correspondents, selected in random fashion. Table 1 shows the results of the social aspects of this survey.Table 1: Responses of Qalabotjha residents
Four types of opinion of about equal size could be collected from the results of the questionnaire
[top] [end]ConclusionThe fact that technology transfer in Africa has persistently failed could be attributed to the way in which social and religious factors have been disregarded. There is a gap or clash between the intentions of those who want to improve the quality of life of communities, and the perceptions, responses, and social and cultural patterns of those people. It is important that modern African writers have persistently blamed modern Western development and technology for having a destructive effect on society.The challenge is to design an energy strategy that would look at energy within the total context of household and community. [top] [end]Bibliography
[top] [end]Contents: Boiling Point 41: Household energy: the urban dimension
Categories: Boiling Point 41| Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Page created:
31 July 2007; Last edited:
04 December 2008; Version: 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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