KovsieJournals - University of the Free State (UFS)
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The challenges and successes of indigenous language newspapers in South Africa: The case of \u27Isolezwe\u27 and \u27I’solezwe lesiXhosa\u27
No full textThe fall of Isolezwe newspaper from being South Africa’s second best-selling daily newspaper signals a challenging period for indigenous language newspapers in the country. Both Isolezwe and its sister newspaper I’solezwe lesiXhosa are significant as they represent a return of indigenous language newspapers in the country. These newspapers reversed a trend of inconsistency that has dogged indigenous language newspapers in South Africa, which have been characterised by opening and closing at a rapid rate. Historically, funding was identified as the biggest factor leading to the demise of indigenous language newspapers, but Isolezwe and I’solezwe lesiXhosa were founded by a media conglomerate that initially protected the newspapers from a lack of funding. Utilising qualitative research methods and a case study approach, this article examined the challenges and successes of indigenous language newspapers in South Africa, focusing on Isolezwe and I’solezwe lesiXhosa. The study investigated various aspects of the newspapers’ operation that may have had an impact on their sustainability and success. These aspects include the impact of capital funding, the style of management, revenue generation, and the impact of cultural identity on the circulation and sales of the newspapers. The findings indicate that capital funding is key, as it provides the newspapers with an appropriate foundation for success and cushions them against external financial instability such as recessions, high inflation and economic downturn or slow economic growth. It was also found that the management style of the newspaper and their cultural identity have an impact on their operations
Perilous presencing: How the church’s sacraments re-symbolize trauma
Full text linkThis article examines the church’s sacramental life – baptism and the Eucharist – as enactments of trauma that mirror Christ’s suffering and death, shaping its vocation of self-giving for a broken world. Drawing on a psychoanalytical lens inspired by Lacan and Žižek, itexplores how these sacraments resymbolise trauma as redemptive, plunging the church into the realm of Christ’s cross – a traumatic rupture that shatters sacrificial systems and redefines divine being (Lau 2016). Baptism, a drowning into Christ’s death (Rm. 6:3-4), initiates believers into a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), historically defiant – from early martyrs to modern persecuted churches – and politically potent, confronting domination with resurrection hope (Wright 2013; Jinkins 1999). The Eucharist, a shocking presencing of the eternal in bread and wine, counters alienation with brokenness, uniting the church in Christ’s suffering to heal societal divides(Pound 2007; Lewis 2006). Integrating a theology of Holy Saturday, where God embraces death to end worldly violence, the article argues that these sacraments are not private rituals but public acts of resistance and renewal (Cavanaugh 1998). They compel the church to embody Christ’s trauma – dying to self, serving the marginalised – transforming suffering into a political witness of grace andreconciliation in a violent world
The Nicene Creed in Martin Thornton’s Ascetical Theology: Re-imagining Anglican Spirituality in Africa
Full text linkAfrican Anglicans have sought to contextualise their Christian faith beyond its colonial influence, by reinterpreting their faith, tradition, and practice in authentic African ways, while remaining faithful to their Anglican heritage. This article highlights the Nicene Creed inMartin Thornton’s ascetical theology and explores what contributions it might make towards a meaningful and contextual Anglican spirituality in Africa. An abridged version of Architectonic Theology is employed as the research methodology, beginning with an exploration of current African Anglican spirituality. The article then investigates the elements of the Nicene Creed in Thornton’s theology. The third step highlights theological principles for a meaningful Anglican spirituality in Africa extrapolated from the Nicene Creed in Thornton’s ascetical corpus. The significance of this research project provides a contextual spirituality grounded in theNicene Creed for Anglicans in Africa that is indicative of inculturation that promotes personal, spiritual renewal, and community transformation
Breaking the silos: Decolonial theological education beyond the church-academy divide in Africa
Full text linkThis article interrogates the enduring bifurcation between theology and ministry in Southern African theological education, a divide historically reinforced by colonial epistemologies that separated intellectual inquiry from pastoral praxis. It argues that addressing this cleavage requires a decolonial reimagining of theological formation that resists Eurocentric paradigms, values local epistemologies, and integrates scholarship with embodied, communal, and contextual engagement. Drawing on Farley’s Athens model of theologia, Kelsey’s curricular dialectic, and Naidoo’s conceptualisation of integrative theological education, the article highlights the necessity of framing theology as praxis rather than abstract speculation. It critiques Eurocentric models such as Hiestand and Wilson’s pastor-theologian typology for their limited applicability in African contexts and advances “mission from the margins” as a decolonial pedagogical stance that centres the lived struggles, wisdom, and aspirations of African communities. The article envisions theological education as a transformative, integrative enterprise
The social imagination of the church in a racially divided society
Full text linkBased on the work of Graham Ward, this article distinguishes three distinct but interrelated forms of imagination, namely cultural imagination, cultural values, and social imagination. Social imagination is defined as the imaginative way in which we give meaning to our institutionalised social systems. How do agents within an institutionalised social system know how to act in accordance with their role and the cultural values upon which they are supposed to act? The article determines four different forms of knowing based on Ken Wilber’s integral theory of knowing, namely subjective, cultural (or intersubjective), individual objective, and interobjective. Finally, it addresses the fact that social imagination is affected by what happens within intergroup relations. People protect the status and entitativity of social identities. Related with this issue is the problem of prejudice and discrimination There are four different levels of dealing with racial prejudice and discrimination, namely essentialisation, racial ignorance, racial recognition, and beyond essentialism
Reimagining ecclesiological imagination within a Dutch Reformed Congregation in South Africa
Full text linkThis research explores how Durbanville congregation’s liturgical practices might reimagine “God’s new world” amidst these sociocultural constraints. Drawing on Christi van der Westhuizen’s work, the study critiques how these enclaves institutionalise prejudice under the guise of preserving familiar norms and orders, highlighting the identity crisis faced by White individuals in affirming racial exclusivity. It presents practices of change (an intervention) to address the limitations of whiteness. By fostering positive contact between racially diverse groups, these practices aim to reduce anxiety, increase empathy, and cultivate an inclusive and more integral ecclesiological imagination of the celebration of liturgy. The findings suggest that a set of contextual and intercultural practices can transform ecclesiological imagination into being more integral towards all dimensions of the basileia tou theou. Finally, the study presents some broader implications for reimagining liturgical practices in divided sociocultural contexts
Revisiting democracy “after” Allan Boesak?
Full text linkThree decades of democracy in South Africa is, among others, a call to critically reflect upon Allan Boesak’s contribution and explore what sort of stimulus his very distinctive prophetic presence within both the South African and global theopolitical landscape can provide to those who are interested in doing (public) theology within both church and society. For a more nuanced engagement with Boesak’s preachy theology, I propose to go “after” him in a threefold manner. First, I provide a particular matrix of Boesak’s vision for our democracy. Secondly, what about those critical voices who view it differently and thus go directly or indirectly after Boesak in a completely different manner? Thirdly, in dealing with the findings of the first two rounds, is it possible to go after Boesak in a way that will also (set us free and) take us beyond him? Ultimately, it will become clear what it means to reimagine preaching and democracy – church and society – in a globalised contemporary South Africa “after” Boesak
Reimagining the self in relation to God and all creation. Practices of silence in an urban context of societal acceleration
Full text linkWhat defines the practices of silence of young urban people (25-35 years old) as an experience of the divided self and relationship with God in an urban context of Cape Town characterised by acceleration? The concept of “primordial spirituality” (Waaijman) is used to shed light on the pursuit of spirituality by young urban persons outside formal church structures. This study highlights the dynamic nature of embodied practices of silence for young urban people, offering a counterpoint to societal pressures for constant engagement. In Waaijman’s understanding of primordial spirituality, transformation is a divinely initiated process, in which the human person is drawn into a new mode of being through God’s self-communication and presence. Based on inductive research, a fourfold structure of stages of transformation of the divided self in the experience of silence is reported: struggle, letting go, union, and transformation. Through these fourfold embodied practices, individuals cultivate a deep connection between the undivided self, God, and all of creation, which both challenges and enriches traditional Christian understandings of spirituality
Theology of sexual purity: Reimagining child-marriages within the white garment churches in Zimbabwe
Full text linkThis article investigates the role of religious doctrine in sustaining child marriage in Zimbabwe, a practice that persists, despite its prohibition by the Constitutional Court in 2016. While existing literature often attributes the prevalence of child marriage to poverty and economic hardship, this research identifies the white garment churches’ theology of sexual purity as a significantand underexamined driver. The study argues that this theology, synthesised from pre-Christian African cultural norms on sexuality and literalist interpretations of biblical texts, actively legitimises and perpetuates the practice. Furthermore, it examines how a mutually protective relationship between the white garment churches and the ruling ZANU-PF party has fostered an environment of impunity, allowing perpetrators to evade legal consequences. Through a descriptive and hermeneuticphenomenological analysis of qualitative data, this article uncovers a direct correlation between this specific religious ideology and the normalisation of child marriage as a form of gender-based violence
Wonders above, signs below
Full text linkBook review of: Wonders above, signs below: Pentecostal missiology and environmental degradationBaron, E. & Yong, A. (Eds), (Langham Publishing, 2025), pp. 416, 978-1-78641-152-5 print; 978-1-78641-1 e-Pub; 978-1-78641-260-7 PDF