Newsgroups: soc.culture.zimbabwe
Date: 2002-08-07 13:23:35 PST
Submission to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons
Memorandum from Dr Dale Doré
ZIMBABWE'S STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY
1. It was with great interest that I read the uncorrected evidence given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Baroness Amos, to your committee on the 14 May 2002. The frustration and powerlessness felt by committee members was palpable. Please allow me to comment on the proceedings by addressing a number of important questions. First, how much should the
British Government rely on African members of the Commonwealth? Second, what has been the impact of Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth? Third, what will be achieved by negotiations between the political parties in Zimbabwe? And, finally, I wish to suggest a way forward to your original question: what can the United Kingdom do to help Zimbabwe in terms of
governance and the crisis which is now upon it?
HOW MUCH SHOULD THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT RELY ON AFRICAN MEMBERS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH?
2. The Minister stressed that because the United Kingdom was unable to apply any bilateral pressure to Zimbabwe, the UK had to use its influence through the European Union, the United States and, in particular, through its Commonwealth partners. In the belief that Mugabe will listen to his peers, the Minister said: "I think that we are very, very dependent on the role which is being played by countries in the region, particularly by South Africa and Nigeria." Yet, in the face of everything that the Commonwealth's suspension of Zimbabwe symbolised, African leaders endorsed Zimbabwe's deeply flawed elections wholeheartedly. Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi's congratulatory message referred to Mugabe as "dear brother", and Tanzania's President Benjamin Mkapa sent Mugabe his "warmest congratulations", referring to the Zimbabwe leader as "a champion of democracy". During his state visit to Zimbabwe, President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia pronounced the elections free and fair-as did Bakili Muluzi of Malawi when speaking on
behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
3. What faith, then, can we have in Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo's commitment on behalf of Africa's leaders to end their reputation for corruption, human rights abuses and lack of democracy? "We will have peer review," he said. "We will say to ourselves: Mr President, what you do in your country is not good. Either you change or you get isolated." But these words are not matched by African leaders' deeds. The only evidence of Zimbabwe's isolation by African countries is to protect and isolate Mugabe from criticism by Britain and other western governments that are expected to contribute massively to Africa's development.
4. When Mr Mugabe disregarded the constitution and the rule of law, packed the Supreme Court with his supporters, used the public media as his propaganda tool, enacted draconian security and media laws, and embarked on a campaign of violence, African leaders remained silent. When Britain pleaded with Mr Mbeki to restrain Mugabe, he refused, relying instead on "quiet diplomacy", which all but endorsed Mugabe's brutal pre-election tactics. When Mr Mugabe stepped up his campaign of violence, racial invective and rushing through parliament legislation that was inimical to the letter and spirit of SADC's electoral conditions, Mr Mbeki stood by and
did nothing. When the western democracies within the Commonwealth called for firm action against Zimbabwe in Coolum, Australia, African governments closed ranks and refused to censure Mugabe. When the presidential elections were condemned by all the major western democracies, the South African observer mission, with indecent haste and to the disbelief of assembled journalists, pronounced the elections "legitimate". In quick succession, Nigeria, the SADC countries and the African Union followed suit.
5. The unpalatable truth is that Mr Mugabe is not just ruthless, but imperious, shrewd, and articulate; he does not listen to his peers, his peers listen to him. By accepting Mugabe's heady mixture of historical distortion, propaganda and effusive nationalist rhetoric, South Africa and
Nigeria went on to persuade their colleagues that land and race lie at the heart of an heroic political struggle that excuses Mugabe's racist and brutal expropriation of white Zimbabweans' commercial farms. In a shameful betrayal of the many Zimbabweans who have suffered appalling abuse at the hands of ZANU(PF) and state security agents, South Africa and Nigeria led 14
African countries to block a resolution by the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights calling for an investigation into human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
6. Is it really conceivable that Mr Straw's promise "to do all we can" for Zimbabwe amounts to being "very, very dependent" on Commonwealth "partners" who, in over two years, have done precious little to restrain their dictatorial neighbour, and who have not made the slightest headway in restoring human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe?
WHAT HAS BEEN THE IMPACT OF ZIMBABWE'S SUSPENSION FROM THE COMMONWEALTH?
7. As the Minister says, Mr Mugabe probably does hold the Commonwealth dear; not for the values and principles it stands for, but because it includes many of his chums. He may have been stung by the suspension, not because of the principles it ostensibly stood for, but because his friends were forced to side with Mr Blair. But Mr Mugabe need never have worried. Since then,
his friends have rallied to his side. In a recent meeting in Windhoek, the ruling parties of Commonwealth member states-South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Mozambique, Namibia and Malawi-passed a resolution congratulating President Mugabe on his convincing electoral win against all odds!
8. Some western democracies, however, still think that Zimbabwe's suspension meant something. Walter Kansteiner, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, would have some believe that it was a "strong signal". Lucie Edwards, Canada's High Commissioner in Pretoria, called it "a sign of real political will to apply the principles of good governance." But I think
Mr Chidgey is right: there is absolutely no indication that President Mugabe cared anything about what the Commonwealth does in respect of Zimbabwe. Yet, while Zimbabweans struggle in desperation with every passing day and while the life-blood of the country ebbs away, the Minister gave your committee the numbing assurance that the Commonwealth troika will revisit their
decision to suspend Zimbabwe in a year hence!
WHAT WILL BE ACHIEVED BY NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE POLITICAL PARTIES IN
ZIMBABWE?
9. Having recognised the legitimacy of Zimbabwe's presidential elections in March 2002, South Africa and Nigeria were later forced to suspend Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth on the insistence of Australian Prime Minister John Howard and by Tony Blair's threat to withdraw Britain's support for NEPAD. But this pressure came at a heavy price. Presidents Mbeki and Obasanjo wrung a fundamental concession from their western counterparts: instead of an
unequivocal condemnation of the presidential elections and a commitment to fresh presidential elections, the Commonwealth troika's communiqué supported "dialogue" between the MDC and ZANU(PF).
10. This has insidious implications. First and foremost, such talks tacitly assume a one-way process of MDC's reconciliation with ZANU(PF) and, hence, the recognition of the election results and Mugabe's continued leadership. Second, the talks are a substitute for the sovereign right of Zimbabweans to choose their own leader through an internationally acceptable and democratic
electoral process. Third, reconciliation between the parties is considered essential to address key national problems-food shortages, economic recovery, political stability, the rule of law and the conduct of future elections-surreptitiously drawing the MDC into sharing the blame and
responsibility for resolving a crisis that was deliberately and systematically created by ZANU(PF) to retain power in the first place. And, lastly, the talks provide a pretext for Presidents Mbeki and Obasanjo to reward themselves with the fruits of NEPAD for "doing something" in the face
of their blatant complicity with Mugabe.
11. Yet Britain has been drawn into supporting talks that put expediency before principle and diplomacy before democracy. Instead of condemning the elections as "deeply flawed", your envoy to Zimbabwe, Brian Donnelly, expressed "reservations" at the outcome of the presidential elections. Instead of insisting on fresh presidential elections, he said: "We believe that the best thing is an agreement between ZANU(PF) and the opposition MDC." It is not just that the talks deny Zimbabweans justice and democracy, but Britain is supporting talks with an unconscionable regime that, in the Minister's words, "appears to care not one jot for what is happening to its
own people." If Mr Mugabe is willing to subvert the whole electoral process, decimate commercial agriculture, and allow his people to starve in order to retain his grip on power, what faith can the Minister have that Mugabe would honour any agreement reached with the MDC?
12. Is it conceivable that Britain still believes that it is possible to negotiate with a government that breaks its part of the Abuja accord "virtually hours after the ink was dry" - as Mr Olner put it - while calling on Britain to honour its side of the bargain? No sooner had the Minister assured Mr Chidgey of the Zimbabwe government's guarantee that food distribution would not be manipulated (because local headmen were involved), when we learn from Physicians for Human Rights that these same headmen "made it clear the food was not for MDC children, but only ZANU children." Like Smith before him, Mugabe will only negotiate in good faith when forced to do so by South Africa.
WHAT CAN THE UNITED KINGDOM DO TO HELP ZIMBABWE?
BRITAIN MUST HOLD ITS AFRICAN COMMONWEALTH PARTNERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE CRISIS IN ZIMBABWE
13. Why should the Minister be so sensitive to the "very strong feeling" amongst African leaders that Zimbabwe should not be used to judge an entire continent? After all, it was African leaders themselves who made peer review a pillar of NEPAD. If one is to believe Baroness Amos' assurance that Britain will "pull all the levers" to help Zimbabwe, then, as your Prime Minister's personal representative for NEPAD at the forthcoming G8 meeting, she must make it plain that African leaders are not being judged only for their own countries' record of governance, but for their acquiescence of a brutal and lawless regime. We are talking about Commonwealth
countries-including South Africa and Nigeria-whose leaders failed to lift a finger to restrain Mugabe's two-year campaign of terror, who have unashamedly endorsed a flagrantly rigged election, and who have every intention of legitimising Mugabe's re-election through talks.
14. If these countries are unable or unwilling to bring sufficient pressure to bear on Mugabe to restore the rule of law and respect for human rights, then Mr Blair must make his influence felt at the G8 summit this month. He and other leaders of the G8 will lose nothing by speaking out more bluntly, as Mr Cole has, about their frustration that South Africa and Nigeria have nothing to show for their quiet diplomacy. By insisting that African countries take their peer review obligations seriously, Mr Blair will enhance his moral authority by sending a clear message to Africa's leaders:
human rights, democracy and good governance cannot be compromised if Africa is to achieve the stability, growth and development its people so yearn for.
BRITAIN MUST INSIST THAT NEGOTIATIONS LEAD TO FRESH ELECTIONS
15. Either the presidential elections were free and fair or they were not. If they were not - as the Commonwealth observer mission found - then Britain must insist that justice and democracy in Zimbabwe are not sacrificed on the altar of reconciliation and "national unity" with a dictator. The western democracies within the Commonwealth, the United States and Europe must insist that any inter-party talks must lead to a democratic solution for Zimbabwe; fresh presidential elections that are based on an independent electoral commission, the restoration of fundamental human rights and compliance with internationally acceptable electoral standards.
16. If the Commonwealth insists on inter-party talks, it must recognise that the restoration of the rule of law and respect for human rights cannot be subject to discussion because they are non-negotiable, bedrock values of the Commonwealth. As such, they can only be preconditions for negotiations. Nor can talks centre on food shortages, the economic crisis and political
instability-for which ZANU(PF) has been wholly responsible, and against which the opposition fought bravely, peacefully and constitutionally, but was powerless to prevent. This leaves only the matter of future elections to be discussed. The British Government must insist, in line with the European Union, that new elections be held within a year under the auspices of the Commonwealth and the international community to allow the people of Zimbabwe the freedom to elect the President of their choice.
Africa Update, Volume IX, Issue 2 (Spring 2002)
Africa Update is the Quarterly Newsletter of the Central Connecticut State University African Studies Program
Table of Contents
Editorial- The AIDS Crisis in Africa
Patricia Jerido: World Conference Against Racism
By Carol Coombe: HIV and Education: Preventing and Protecting
Haines Brown: Africa Online
Walton Brown Foster, Ph.D.: Thinking the Unthinkable: The AIDS/HIV and the Spectre of Biological Warfare - A commentary
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Editorial: The AIDS Crisis in Africa
The current status of HIV and AIDS in Africa has re-entered the international public eye, even though trends in HIV infection and AIDS diagnosis have been serious for many years, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. According to UNAIDS (2001), 70% of all adults infected with HIV and 80% of all HIV+ children live in Africa. Twenty-one of the countries with the highest HIV prevalence rates (the cumulative number of individuals diagnosed with an illness or disease) are in Africa. There are clear regional differences regarding HIV and AIDS prevalence rates. For example, in West African countries such as Nigeria approximately 5% of adults are HIV-infected. The situation is much worse in other regions. In Zimbabwe and Botswana one in every four adults is HIV infected. Since the start of the epidemic over 20 years ago, approximately 34 million people have been infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa alone. South Africa has the largest number of people living with HIV or AIDS in the world. The number exceeds 3 million.
Most research has identified a link between poverty and HIV infection. A lack of access to (and faith in) condoms, erratic HIV/AIDS education, inconsistent health care, poor diet and the like are all associated with high rates of HIV infection and lower-than-average life expectancy among those who are already HIV infected. In spite of these realities, there are numerous debates concerning the causes of this pandemic. Some, such as that of well-known University of California-Berkeley cellular biologist Peter Duesberg and South African President Thabo Mbeki, have publicly challenged the claim that HIV leads to AIDS (also called end-stage HIV-disease). While such voices are in the minority and are regularly censured, they do highlight the fact that doubts concerning this disease abound.
Some of the persistent doubts about how HIV was introduced to African nations as well as the debates concerning the HIV-AIDS connection are directly linked with the legacy of racism and neo-colonialism in Africa.
The three contributors to this issue of Africa Update are outstanding scholars and activists. Dr. Carol Coombe has worked in Departments of Education in both Zambia and South Africa. She is currently Research Associate on HIV/AIDS in Education at the University of Pretoria, where she serves as Research Programme Leader for the Faculty of Education. Dr. Coombe has been affiliated with various international organization-UNAID is an example. Ms. Patricia Jerido works for the Ms. Foundation for Women as the Program Officer for reproductive rights. She is also program officer for the Ms Foundation's Women and AIDS Fund. This branch of the foundation, created in 1996, supports organizations with HIV-positive women in leadership positions to do advocacy and community organizing around women and HIV/AIDS. She was a participant in the UN World Conference on Racism held in 2001. Ms. Jerido previously worked for the
New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health and has been active in health organizations for more than a decade. Dr. Walton Brown Foster, Professor of Political Science, has been on the CCSU faculty since 1984. Her areas of research are expansive. They include American foreign policy, international relations, and African Latin American Politics. Dr. Brown Foster is the author of Democracy and Race in Brazil, Britain, and the U.S. (Edward Mellen Press, 1997).
Guest Editor
Renee T. White, Ph.D., CCSU Department of Sociology and Social Work.
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World Conference Against Racism
By Patricia Jerido, Program Office, Health and Safety, Foundation for Women
Representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society groups from around the world gathered from August
28--September 3 for the United Nations World Conference against
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
(WCAR). Post-apartheid South Africa proved an auspicious site for the third WCAR, marking an improved political atmosphere over the previous two world conferences against racism held in 1965 and 1983.
With over 8,000 participants the WCAR was a massive event where no one experience defined the meeting. Many simultaneous sessions took place and participants had to make hard choices about which caucus to attend. Though US media coverage of the conference downplayed its importance and catapulted the Palestinian issue to the front of the WCAR stage there were many other issues that were debated and discussed in Durban including reparations, land rights, globalization and HIV/AIDS.
The conference was fraught with many problems most importantly a lack of resources. Activists charged a lack of economic support of the conference, which could be seen in the lack of translation available, and the dearth of participation of individuals from Asia and Africa--even South Africa, the host country. In addition, the North/South or Industrialized Nation/Developing Nation divide was clearly evident as governments for the US, Canada, European Union and Australia fought vigorously over the exclusion of language in the document that would hold them accountable for past wrongs.
During the six-day conference, participants--mostly people of color--convened in a post-apartheid South Africa to build relationships and align with other racial justice movements. The WCAR provided a forum for activists to highlight the critical racial injustices within their own countries. In addition to the networking and cross-country strategizing, representatives from NGOs had a mandate to develop language for the Declaration and Plan of Action that governments could adopt. And though it was unlikely with all the contention evident at the preparatory meetings before WCAR, that there would be agreement on such issues as reparations, defining Zionism as a racist system, or the rights of indigenous people, the global stage provided a venue in which people affected by racist policies were able to air grievances.
The UN Declaration is not a legally binding document, but many people in governments and NGOs use the declaration as leverage when advocating within their countries for policy change. NGO representatives worked to develop a declaration that built upon previous human rights and UN conferences. Despite the portrayal of the conference by the press as a failure--this, before the meeting was even over--one of the important lessons to come out of the conference was the ability to connect varied issues together into a larger framework; to understand where different injustices intersected.
As a funder for Women and AIDS programs in the U.S., the meeting offered an opportunity to understand the global context for my work. Repeatedly speakers mentioned the necessity for making the links of gender, race, culture, and poverty with HIV crucial to our understanding of how to address the spread and eventual treatment and [dare I say] cure for HIV/AIDS.
Once a person is diagnosed with HIV one knows immediately that discrimination because of one's status will become as much a part of one's life as worrying about catching a cold or how one will ever enjoy sexual intimacy. This discrimination is real and comes in the form of alienation from family and friends, loss of employment, loss of housing, and violence. HIV stigma is linked to other discriminations including poverty, gender, sexuality, and race. So an individual is not just discriminated for his or her HIV status. An economically disadvantaged Black woman in the United States receives compounded stigmatization for being Black, female, poor, and HIV-positive. This compounding of HIV/AIDS-related discrimination for Africans and African-Americans is important to understand for the social responses necessary to form concrete actions at the international, national and local level.
While the disparities continue to grow between Black and White infection rates it is imperative that activists do not foster the pervasive perception that HIV is a Black disease. Such racial profiling of HIV rates not only increases stigmatization of Blacks but also increases the sense of fatalism among Africans/African-Americans while simultaneously providing a false sense of security to other racial and ethnic groups. Yet the numbers are glaring. HIV/AIDS like racism has crossed the globe. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the hardest hit by the HIV pandemic with 25.3 million people infected with HIV. In the Caribbean, AIDS is the leading cause of death of young people.
In the United States African-Americans remain the largest racial/ethnic group affected by HIV and AIDS accounting for 48% of all new AIDS cases. African-American women aged 25-44 are still most likely to die of AIDS than any other illness.
It is important however to understand and articulate the reasons that fuel these disparities in order to develop solutions.
When HIV discrimination is allied with racism the resulting inequalities are seen in discriminatory public policy, lack of cultural sensitivity in program planning and differences in access to health-care systems. At the session on HIV/AIDS, participants discussed the results of the UN General Assembly, which met in July 2001 to address HIV/AIDS. At that meeting the Assembly unanimously endorsed a declaration of commitment, which directs member states to increase the level of funding for the Global AIDS and Health Fund. The assembly also set a date by 2003 for member states to enact, strengthen or enforce as appropriate legislation, regulations and other measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against, and to ensure the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by people living with HIV/AIDS and members of vulnerable groups; in particular to ensure their access to inter alia, education, inheritance, employment, health care, social and health services, prevention, support, treatment, information and legal protection, while respecting their privacy and confidentiality; and develop strategies to combat stigma and social exclusion connected with the epidemic. Despite the UN commitment, within the United States and South Africa clashes exist over how to link HIV/AIDS, racism, gender, and poverty. Following the lessons learned from discussions at the WCAR with South African AIDS activists it is clear that addressing HIV/AIDS out of context for the majority of people who suffer from the illness does little to stall the advance of the epidemic. For African-Americans and Black South Africans HIV/AIDS is just one indicator of living under a racist system that aggravates discrepancies in health care, treatment, and wealth. While we need to address the disparities we do not want to fall into perpetuating stereotypes that will hinder other advancements. The situation for people of the African Diaspora is varied and interconnected. When addressing HIV/AIDS we must remember that we are grappling multiple problems.
The spread of HIV has followed racial patterns worldwide and has been deeply affected by apartheid policies in South Africa. Migratory labor practices forced African men to leave their communities separating men from the sexual norms of settled rural societies. Under apartheid, Black South Africans were denied access to education, access to adequate health care, housing and employment. Even while the African
National Congress (ANC) was banned in South Africa they were developing policies regarding HIV/AIDS. In 1990 the ANC drafted the "Maputo Statement on HIV and AIDS," which was an urgent call to make HIV prevention a priority. The ANC worked with the existing government's ministry of health on HIV/AIDS issues.
Epidemiological evidence from the United States shows the progress of the epidemic over time. In the early 1980s, most AIDS cases occurred among white people. However, cases among Black people increased steadily such that by 1996, more cases were reported among Blacks than any other racial/ethnic population. This increase has come about by the social and political conditions of African-Americans.
In his speech during the 13th International AIDS conference, South African President Thabo Mbeki stated, "[W]e are confronted by a health crisis of enormous proportions. One of the consequences of this crisis is the deeply disturbing phenomenon of the collapse of immune systems among millions of our people. [I]t seemed to me also that every living African, whether in good or ill health, is prey to many enemies of health that would interact one upon the other in many ways, within one human body. And thus I came to conclude that we have a desperate and pressing need to wage a war on all fronts to guarantee and realize the human right of all our people to good health. We remain convinced of the need for us better to understand the essence of what would constitute a comprehensive response in a context such as ours which is characterized by the high levels of poverty and disease. [t]he world’s biggest killer and the greatest cause of ill health and suffering across the globe, including South Africa, is extreme poverty."
It is imperative for Africans/African-Americans to contextualize the role of HIV/AIDS. An extended view of HIV/AIDS is necessary but continues to attract controversy. Advancing political activity for
HIV/AIDS care within the context of eliminating racism, globalization, gender discrimination, and homophobia delays the advance one would make if they moved forward on one issue. Yet, without looking at the complete picture single-focus advocacy does little more than take energy away from long-term solutions.
What occurred in Durban was not the finality on the issue. Debates continue to wage in the UN over whether there will be a 5-year review, a UN office established for follow-up, or experts to assess the country's progress. NGOs have continued with their efforts to advance their racial justice work and fight and remove racist policies and institutions. The WCAR proved important for activist to address their own internalized oppression that exacerbates feelings of powerlessness, distrust, and hopelessness. Follow-up meetings and community forums to debrief on the conference along with documenting and writing articles about the experience in Durban have helped to maintain momentum "especially after September 11" and move forward. As we advance our racial justice work the lessons of interconnectedness, global focus and local action from the WCAR will prove invaluable.
U.N. Declaration of Commitment HIV/AIDs:
"Global Crisis" Global Action. Speech of Thabo Mbeki, at the Opening Session of the 13th International AIDS Conference
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HIV and Education: Preventing and Protecting
By Carol Coombe, Ph.D., Faculty of Education Research Associate and Research Programme Leader, HIV and Education, University of Pretoria
For twenty years the HIV virus has spread inexorably through southern Africa. All efforts to contain it have failed, and South Africa now has the largest HIV-positive population in the world. But HIV/AIDS is not just a health problem, because it attacks systems and institutions as well as individuals. In education, demand for education is dropping and changing, many teachers are ill and dying, and the trauma of loss associated with HIV/AIDS is entrenched in South African classrooms and lecture theatres. In South Africa, as in Africa as a whole, it is no longer ‘business as usual?for education.
South Africa has the fastest-growing HIV/AIDS epidemic and more HIV positive people than any other country in the world. Over four million South Africans are HIV positive; there will be six million by 2005. By then 2.5 million will have died of AIDS or a related illness. Mortality rates will double by 2010, and life expectancy will drop from 68 to 40 years.
By 2005, nearly one million children will have lost one or both parents. By 2015, when the epidemic peaks, ten per cent of South Africa's population--about 3.6 to 4.8 million children--will be orphans. Traditional patterns of education and childcare will have to accommodate large numbers of children infected and affected by
HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS is already influencing productivity because of illness on the job, absenteeism due to personal or family illness, and funeral attendance. Public sector services will cost more, and economic growth will slow as the number of skilled workers declines and cannot be replaced. Child mortality will increase as poverty deepens. Survivors who are orphaned, unsupervised and inadequately parented are more likely to engage in criminal activities. Ultimately, South Africa is likely to experience a real reversal of development gains. Further development will be more difficult, and development goals, including those set by Government for the education sector, will be unattainable for the foreseeable future.
South Africa's Strategy: Losing the Battle Against the Spread of HIV/AIDS
Information on HIV/AIDS is systematically collected, reported and analysed in South Africa. Despite the Department of Health strategic planning, and increased resources for fighting the pandemic, South Africa is losing the battle against HIV/AIDS. Prevalence rose from 0.7 per cent in 1990 to over 22 per cent in 2000. What happened?
Government fights this battle on difficult ground. In taking on HIV/AIDS, it is also taking on the complex legacy of apartheid, the region's migrant labour system which has for decades disrupted family and community life, high levels of poverty, and profound gender and income inequality. South Africa's excellent transport infrastructure and traditionally high levels of mobility permit the rapid spread of HIV into new communities.
Very high levels of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the low status of women, social norms which accept or encourage high numbers of sexual partners, and resistance to the use of condoms also challenge Government's battle plans. The pandemic thrives on sexual violence, male domination, and child abuse in South Africa. HIV/AIDS prevalence rates are highest among young people, especially teenage girls. Many adolescents are sexually active at 12 years old, but few practice safe sex because of pressure to engage in unprotected intercourse, to have a child, or because they lack access to user-friendly health services and are uninformed about condoms and risk. Over one-quarter of women 16 to 20 years report they have been forced to have sex. In the face of violent and coercive male behaviour, combined with their own limited understanding of their bodies and the mechanics of sexual intercourse, many young women have little chance to negotiate safe sex, including contraception or condom use.
Abuse of young girls and children within families is on the rise, highlighting three myths or theories apparently linking child sexual abuse and HIV/AIDS. The prevention theory is based on the assumption that all sexually active people are likely to be HIV infected and, in order to be safe? one must choose a partner who is not yet sexually active. The cleansing theory suggests that having sex with a child will cleanse the infected individual of the virus. Finally, the retribution theory is linked to the deliberate spreading of infection to all sectors of society.
The Impact of HIV/AIDS on the Education System
It is within this context of catastrophe, challenge and loss that South Africa's education national and provincial departments and their partners in the education sector--struggle to maintain their balance.
There are currently just over 12 million learners at school (50.5 percent female) in South Africa, in about 30,000 primary and secondary schools (Department of Education, 2000a). As HIV/AIDS reduces the number of parents 20 to 40 years old, numbers of orphaned children increase, and poverty deepens, school enrolment rates are expected to decline. Dropouts due to poverty, illness, lack of motivation and trauma are set to increase, along with absenteeism among children who are heads of households, those who help to supplement family income, and those who are ill. Unless state provisioning changes to meet more complex learning demands, more young people will be functionally illiterate and unqualified.
At least 12 per cent of all educators are reported to be HIV positive. In southern Africa an HIV positive person without access to drugs dies within seven years of infection. That means that over 53,000 educators will die by 2010, or between 88,000 and 133,000 educators if prevalence reaches 20 or 30 per cent.
The HIV/AIDS pandemic will have a traumatic impact on all educators and learners. The work of HIV positive educators will be compromised by periods of illness. Even among educators who believe they are not infected or do not want to be tested, morale is likely to fall significantly as they cope emotionally and financially with sickness and death among relatives, friends and colleagues.
HIV/AIDS will have a traumatic impact on learners. Many live in families that are overextended and are under pressure to contribute to family incomes as poverty deepens. They are losing parents, siblings, friends and teachers to the disease. As orphans, many will have to move long distances to find new homes. For others, there are no homes at all. Children are being abused and young women are subject to violence and harassment. As a result, learners are increasingly absent from school and distracted.
Education Sector Action
Until late in 1999, the Department of Education had no policy on HIV/AIDS. In August 1999, the Department's Corporate Plan, 2000-2004 highlighted three objectives related to HIV/AIDS: (1) raising awareness about HIV/AIDS among educators and learners, (2) integrating HIV/AIDS into the curriculum, and (3) developing models for analysing the impact of HIV/AIDS on the system.
The Department of Education's National Policy on HIV/AIDS for Learners and Educators (1999a) takes account of Government's responsibilities for children's rights specified by international agreement (Nineteenth Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child cited in Smart, 1999, p. 58), the Constitution of South Africa (1996), and the law (AIDS Law Project and Lawyers for Human Rights, 1997; South African Law Commission, 1998).
It has taken almost twenty years to come to terms with the complexity of HIV/AIDS. Reaction to the pandemic has for the most part been hesitant and ineffective. The health-focussed response has been inadequate, as rising prevalence rates show.
The Department's principal focus thus far has been on teaching safe sex and creating an HIV/AIDS-aware environment in schools. It assume that (1) there is a deadly virus that is killing people, and (2) that education's task is to help prevent the spread of the disease.
Some headway is being made in teaching safe sex, and creating a culture of care in schools. But progress is slow. Only about 15 percent of schools have a policy on HIV/AIDS. Male teachers still represent one of the greatest dangers to children and to female educators. One-third of all reported rapes of girls younger than 15 were perpetrated by schoolteachers.
More robust evidence about sexual behaviours, including violence against women and children and male bisexuality, is needed to improve HIV/AIDS teaching, learning and counseling. Not enough is understood yet about how custom and tradition, poverty, family disorientation during the apartheid years, persistent gender inequality, and HIV/AIDS-related myths are linked to each other and to the spread of the disease.
Managing the Consequences of HIV/AIDS for Education
The situation seems to be desperate and getting worse, without a contingency plan to protect the system against HIV/AIDS. But there are things that can be done, however challenged the present and bleak the future may look.
The first step is to recognise that this pandemic is not just a health problem: it brings labour, psycho-social, economic and other consequences in its trail that threaten the quality of education itself.
We need politicians, and senior officials and international agency staff who are knowledgeable and committed, who are convinced that our situation is grave, and recognise that our learning structures are under threat.
HIV/AIDS in education is not the problem of departments of education alone. Bureaucrats must tackle this pandemic by working with partners inside and outside government. A holistic approach to difficulties across the whole education spectrum is now required.
We need to collect, store and share information, and to identify crisis indicators--alarm bells indicating trouble--which can be monitored over time.
It is not possible to manage this crisis given present conditions in national and international agency bureaucracies. Departments and agencies cannot continue to react to this crisis, but must anticipate its consequences, and be far more proactive in harnessing resources to counteract it.
Policy needs to be interpreted for those implementing it, in the form of guidelines and guidance notes, regulations and codes of conduct, so that local, national and regional efforts are focused and purposeful.
Adequate provision for local and national nongovernment partners must be made through appropriate funding mechanisms, including fundholders.
Conclusion
The response of South Africa's education departments has so far been practical and multi-faceted. There is both political and official commitment to address operational as well as health difficulties created by the pandemic.
As the pandemic begins to bite, greater resources and creative energies will be needed to protect the quality of education provision. Education officials and their partners inside and outside government now need to learn how to stabilise the system, devise innovative ways to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on the sector, and respond creatively to new management and learning requirements. In an education environment radically altered by HIV/AIDS this will require a foundation for action featuring collective dedication among all stakeholders in education, systematic information collection and analysis, dedicated structures and full-time staff responsible for strategic planning, effective partnerships of all stakeholders, professional crisis management capacity, and streamlined funding.
When closing the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban in July 2000, Nelson Mandela said that 'we have to rise above our differences and combine our efforts to save our people. History will judge us harshly if we fail to do so now, and right now.' Each day, on the basis of South Africa's experience, much more is known about the adverse consequences of HIV/AIDS for education systems. The time to act is now.
Africa Online
By Haines Brown, CCSU History Department, Emeritus
Interest in the potential of open software for African economic development came to light in a
Wired article, "Africa: The Linux Continent?" which appeared on 22 September 2000. The basic point was that Linux offered an alternative to the exhorbitant price of proprietary software. Linux and other open software costs no more than its download.
Microsoft counters that Africans lack the technical skills for the development and support of and training for the Linux platform. This is a valid concern that was quickly picked up by Microsoft's apologists. For example, in April of this year, the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA-Africa@yahoogroups.com) pursued an on-line debate that brought up several points.
One is that Linux lacks the corporate sponsorship that carries with it needed technical support. However, the on-line support associated with open software is arguably superior to that of Microsoft. It does, however, presume a universal connectivity which Africa yet lacks.
It would be prohibitively expensive to train Africans in computer maintenance and administration. However, it represents a social investment that is likely to pay off in the future in terms of economic development, while the alternative is a an ever greater dependence.
Inexpensive computers do not come with Windows and other software already installed because the cheap machines being dumped into the international market by brokers are first "sanitized" by having all data on disk overwritten. The software piracy rampant in Africa therefore does not evade the challenges associated with software installation. Linux is attractive because it is basically free, is as easy to install as Windows and includes suitable office applications.
Another factor is that because Windows is hidden, it allows Microsoft to embed snooping software that reports back to it the state of your computer, licences, and potentially even your behaviors. US Federal agencies have already entered into an arrangement with most ISPs and probably also with Microsoft to use that capability to screen all communications. Germany and China at least have seen Linux as a way to block this snooping, and that certainly must be a concern in Africa as well.
Thinking the Unthinkable:
The AIDS/HIV and the Spectre of Biological Warfare
A commentary by Walton Brown Foster, Ph.D., Central Connecticut State University, Department of Political Science
As the world watches the United States respond to threats of domestic biological terrorism through the spread of anthrax from unknown sources, I am reminded of the rumors, beginning in the late 1980s, that the AIDS/HIV crises in Africa and people of African descent in the diaspora was the result of ongoing biological warfare research in the military labs of the major and superpowers. The rumors continue to this day. But, neither mainstream scholars nor media have taken the rumor seriously.
In the 1980s there were two exceptions. At the time, their voices and opinions on the matter seemed just short of hysterical, even ludicrous, to many. Now, their views may not seem so hysterical or ludicrous.
The scholar, Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, and journalist, Tony Brown considered possibility that the AIDS crisis was more than a naturally occurring epidemiological phenomena. Both Welsing and Brown persisted in challenging much of the information disseminated to the public about the disease as well as the mainstream medical and scientific explanations of the pathogenesis of the disease.
In an article written in 1988, published in an anthology of many of her writings entitled, The Isis Papers, Welsing boldly crosses the psychological barrier between the "ponderable" and the "unspeakably imponderable." She asks the basic questions: could, would, and have any governments in the past engaged in bio-terrorism and biological warfare, therefore causing a pandemic like the AIDS/HIV phenomena?
Welsing bases her affirmative conclusion on the evidence from the Nazi regime in Germany prior to and during WWII and the forty-year Tuskegee syphilis experiment between 1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama.
She presents another more startling bit of evidence from the publication, A Survey of Chemical and Biological Warfare, by John Cookson and Judith Nottingham in 1969. The authors of the book reviews and surveys the biological and chemical warfare materials and policies of the US, Canada, and Great Britain, and West Germany.
The survey includes discussion of a disease, Vervet monkey disease (African Green Monkey disuse), as a potential biological warfare agent. "It is unaffected by an antibiotic substance so far tried and unrelated to any other organism. It causes fatality in some cases and can be venereally transmitted in man." In the words of Dr. C.E. Gordon Smith, "It has possible potential as an infectious disease of man. It presumably is also of BW (biological warfare) interest." (p. 322)
The authors further state, "Just recently a great deal of useful work has been done on Vervet Monkey Disease" which caused seven deaths in Germany. Reports of progress were: Sent to 40 laboratories all over the world; 9 of these have been supplied with infective material and/or antisera (vaccine): 4 in the USA and one each in Germany, Panama, South Africa, Uganda and the USSR; a non-infective complement fixing antigen has been prepared to the WHO (World Health Organization reference laboratories). (Hansard, May 1968; Cookson and Nottingham, p.110)
From another study by Robert Harris and Jeremy Paxman (Hill and Wang, 1982) A Higher form of Killing (The Secret Story of Chemical and Biological Warfare), Welsing quotes: "the Russians were developing ‘three horrific diseases for warfare... Lasa Fever, which according to the sources, kills 35 out of every 100 people it strikes, Ebola fever, which kills 70 out of 100 and the deadly Marburg fever (Green Monkey Disease).?quot;
If AIDS/HIV is the same as same as Ververt Monkey disease, studied by those developing biological and chemical warfare agents, then Welsing's conclusions provoke us to think very differently about the appearance and spread of AIDS/HIV.
We will probably never be completely satisfied with either the scientific or nonscientific explanations of the origins of disease (It is certainly unlikely that any nation will confess that their chemical and biological warfare experimentation is the source of the disease).
The same level of response that we now witness in the United States in response to the Anthrax as fears of bio-terrorism spread in the aftermath of the September 11th destruction of the World Trade Center should have occurred in response to the AIDS epidemic.
Billions, of dollars were raised in the wake of the WTC bombings within a matter of weeks. An international coalition to fight terrorism was successfully formed in which all members made some level of commitment to fight a common enemy. After the first appearance of Anthrax, major medical and pharmaceutical institutions marshaled resources to increase the supply of antibiotics and plans began to overhaul and improve the US medical infrastructure.
For Africa, this did not happen. But, the sudden appearance and rapid spread of the disease in Africa should have warranted the same level of response. In retrospect, the appearance, spread, and devastation caused by the virus in many nations on the continent are nearly indistinguishable from a "terrorist" attack: an unknown source of origin; the creation of social and personal disorientation; ordinary human behavior becomes ``weaponized''--planes become bombs, sexual intercourse creates a potentially genocidal epidemic.
A similar level of response to the African AIDS crises did not begin to occur until nearly two decades later. According to the UN, since AIDS began in Africa, 18 million Africans have died and, 26 million, nearly 9 percent of all adults in Africa are HIV positive. The socioeconomic consequences of the epidemic will be felt for decades.
Nearly two decades later, the UN sponsored its first conference on the AIDS crisis in Africa. Secretary General Annan's initiative to create an international AIDS fund and the success of South African governments successful push to get the major pharmaceutical companies to allow lower cost production of vaccines came much later in the game for Africa than was warranted and very little has been done to improve the health care and delivery infrastructure of the majority of nations on the African continent.
Now, in the wake of the Attack on America and the heightened alert and global awareness of bio-terrorism and chemical and biological warfare, maybe the overall global effort to increase the global availability and accessibility of healthcare, medical care and pharmaceutical treatments for diseases that are potential bio-weapons, AIDS/HIV will be viewed and treated differently.
Cookson, John and Nottingham, Judith. A Survey of Chemical and Biological Warfare. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1969.
Harris, Robert and Paxman, Jeremy. A Higher Form of Killing: Secrets of Chemical and Biological Warfare. New York: Hill and Wang, 1982.
Welsing, Frances Cress. The Isis Papers. Chicago: Third World Press, 1992.
Africa Update, Volume VIII, Issue 3 (Summer 2001)
Africa Update is the Quarterly Newsletter of the Central Connecticut State University African Studies Program
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Editorial - Female Circumcision Revisited
Desmond Wiggins -Male and Female Circumcision in Africa: Pharaonic Egyptian and Religious Origins
Dr. Haines Brown - Africa Online
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Editorial: Female Circumcision Revisited
In AfricaUpdate, Vol. III, issue 2, Spring 1996, female circumcision was discussed by Ifeyinwa Iweriebor, Aisha Samad, Adeline Apena and myself. It was argued that Ancient Africans, including the Egyptians, African Muslims and African Jews (Beta Israel of Ethiopia), all practiced female and male circumcision in their rites of passage or for religious reasons.
In the current issue of AfricaUpdate, Desmond Wiggins of Australia explores some of the issues associated with the ancient practice and reflects on various theological dimensions surrounding Islam and circumcision. He examines some of the various authoritative texts such as the Haddith and the Qu'ran and provides a discussion which is illuminating not only on the issue of circumcision but also on Islamic theology and the various intellectual issues which have preoccupied the Ulama or Islamic intelligentsia.
Wiggins discusses the adoption of Ancient Egyptian circumcision rites by Arabs and raises several issues. Is this practice in conflict with Islamic theology or supported by it? Are male and female circumcision processes mandatory for both male and females or optional? Do the various holy texts of Islam endorse the practice equally? What constitutes textual authority in Islam? These are issues reflected on by Desmond Wiggins in his illuminating piece.
The Editorial Board of AfricaUpdate does not endorse the practice of female circumcision. More symbolic forms of initiation could replace the painful process of infibulation. We thought it wise to include this analysis, however, so as to provide both advocates and critics alike with insights into the complexities surrounding the practice of female circumcision.
Haines Brown continues his series on Africa Online in this issue. The tension emerging between the ANC, SACP and COSATU stems from opposing perspectives on privatization, interventionism and the role of free market forces and, as pointed out by COSATU, is directly related to perceptions about poverty alleviation and development for the benefit of all.
Dr. Gloria Emeagwali, Chief Editor
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Male and Female Circumcision in Africa: Pharaonic Egyptian and Religious Origins
By Desmond Wiggins, University of South Australia
Circumcision in Ancient Egypt
Meinardus argues that it was an ancient Egyptian custom to circumcise males and excise the females (1967, p. 390, citing Strabo, ca. 25 BCE). Breasted provides evidence that exhumed male bodies from ca. 4000 BCE were circumcised which gives some credibility to the assertion of Meinardus (1933, p. 353). Further, in Figure 1 & 2 from the same reference (Breasted, 1933, p. 353) ancient Egyptian art depicts circumcised males. The former figure portrays a carpenter from the Sixth Dynasty (2350-2000 BCE) with his loincloth pulled to the back revealing a circumcised penis. The second figure shows a relief from the Sixth Dynasty tomb on Ankh-ma-Hor at Saqquara which portrays two youths being circumcised.
A stele from the twenty-third century BCE indicates that mass male circumcision rituals were undertaken in Egypt. Uha, the author of the stele, wrote: "when I was circumcised, together with one hundred and twenty men, there was none thereof who hit out. . ." (Wilson, 1950, p. 326). However, not all Egyptian males were circumcised. X-rays of Pharaoh Ahmose's mummy (sixteenth century BCE) indicate that he was not circumcised, and it is possible his successor Amenhotep I was also uncircumcised (Harris and Weeks, 1973, p. 126-30). There is also debate as to whether the lower classes of society practiced circumcision. Harris and Weeks, along with Pritchard (1958, fig. 153), provide substantiation that commoners were not circumcised, whereas Bailey provides evidence that the opposite was the case (1996, pp. 21-23).
The origin of "female circumcision" is obscure-so hazy that Hosken argues the origin is unknown (1994, p. 71). Assaad suggests that female circumcision was practiced in ancient Egypt and hence originated there. Widstrand traces classical references to Agatharchides of Cnidus, a second century BCE geographer (1964, p. 116), while Abdalla suggests that it was practiced in ancient Egypt as a way to "obtain control of [women's] magic power" (1982, p. 66).
Herodotus suggests that other nations borrowed the custom of male circumcision from the Egyptians (translated by Selincourt, 1954, pp. 167-68), but there appears to be no way of verifying the soundness of this statement. Herodotus" statement may be accurate and is possibly the explanation of how male circumcision became established in cultures such as the Hebrew nation (ca tenth century BCE), as attested in Exodus 4:24-26. Later Jewish philosophers such as Philo (first century BCE) advocated circumcision as a means of reducing sexual desire of males and females (Yonge, 1993, p. 534-35); this idea still held favour as late as 1932 in Western society.
A 1963 study conducted by Shandal determined that a large number of female mummies found in Egypt were circumcised (1963, cited in Ras-Work, 1997, p. 142). As with male circumcision it is believed "female circumcision" was performed to mark class distinction in Egypt. Taba proposes that "female circumcision" was transported from Egypt to the Sudan and the Horn of Africa in the fifth century CE with the migration of the population (cited in Ras-Work, 1997, p. 142).
De Meo provides geographical data that reinforces Taba's view. He concludes: "based upon geographical distributions...it is reasonable to assume that they [female circumcisions]...were spread by inhabitants of these regions [Egypt]" (1997, p. 10).
Islam and Male and Female Circumcision
The Haddith recognises male and female circumcision as a pre-Islamic institution, as is evidenced by Bukhari's account of Emperor Heraclius' horoscope. In the stars Heraclius reads the message "the king of the circumcised." Thereupon an envoy, who appeared to be circumcised, arrived from the king of Ghassin with a report of Muhammad's preaching of Islam. This envoy informed the Emperor that male and female circumcision was a common practice among the Arabs (Wensinck, 1986, p. 20).
From an Islamic perspective male and female circumcision has been practiced for generations and is a practice which Muslims-especially in Africa-are accustomed to observing. Ibn Hajar summed up the views of Islamic scholars on male and female circumcision:
al-Shafie and the majority of his disciples believe circumcision is an obligation. Among old scholars who hold the same opinion is Attaa. He goes so far as to say: if an adult embraces Islam, he does not become a full Muslim until he is circumcised (cited in al-Sabbagh, 1996, p. 14).
This Ahaddith is utilised by Muslim scholars such as Ibn Qudana to advocate obligatory male circumcision in Islam (Al-mughni cited in al-Sabbagh, 1996, p. 15). Al-Shafii goes further advocating that this Ahaddith teaches that circumcision is Sunna for both males and females and is equally mandatory for both sexes (Wensinck, 1986, p. 20).
An important question that arises with regard to circumcision in Islam is whether Muhammad instituted the practice for his followers within his lifetime. If it can be shown that male or female circumcision has the direct sanction of Muhammad then debate among Muslims might cease. The answer is not clear. The practice is mentioned in early Egyptian poetry and the Haddith; the ancient language had special words for those who were not circumcised: alkhan, aklaf, aghlaf, and aghral (Wensinck, 1986, p. 20). According to al-Jahiz, who died in 868 CE, and his contemporary al-Marsafi, male circumcision had been practiced by Arabs from the time of Abraham. Al-Marsafi further adds that Arabs were known as the "nation of circumcision" (cited in Aldeeb, 1998, chapter 2, p.1).
Conversely, in the Haddith of Ahmad Ibn-Hanbal (who died 855 CE) the following appears:
Uthman Ibn-al-As was invited to a circumcision, but he refused to come. When asked the reason, he said: in the time of Muhammad we did not practice circumcision and we were not invited to it (cited in Aldeeb, 1998, p. 2).
Added to this is an account in the History of Al-Tabari (who died 923 CE) that details the report of the Caliph Umar Ibn-Abd-al-Aziz (who died 720 CE) writing to the military chief Al-Jarrah Ibn-Abdallah. Ibn-Abdallah had written to the Caliph requesting an opinion on whether male converts to Islam should be circumcised. The Caliph replied: "God sent the prophet Muhammad and entrusted him to summon people to embrace Islam. He did not send him as a circumciser" (Aldeeb, 1998, chapter 3, p. 3). Aldeeb gives further textual evidence to show that male circumcision was not a compulsory act in the time of Muhammad, but rather a matter of choice.
With regard to the prevalence of "female circumcision" in the time of Muhammad, information is scant. In order to support female circumcision classical and modern authors often quote a saying reported by Ahmad and Al-Baihaqee that states: "when two circumcised parts unite then bathing becomes obligatory." These authors argue that this saying implies that both men and women were circumcised in the time of Muhammad (Aldeeb, 1984, article no. 05, p. 11).
Al-Jahiz (cited above) suggests that female circumcision was practiced from the time of Hagar just as male circumcision was practiced from the time of Abraham. Hagar's circumcision is supposed to have eventuated because Sarah, plagued by jealousy, swore that she would mutilate Hagar. Abraham protested, but eventually allowed Sarah to act accordingly. Although textual evidence is limited and not explicit regarding the exact nature of female circumcision, Donzel et al. argue that the "synonymy of khitan, and khifad leads one to think that the minimal practice comprised excision of the prepuce of the clitoris" (1978, p. 913).
By the tenth century CE Islam was entering Africa through three primary routes: the ports of the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea coast and North Africa (Hicks, 1993, p. 21). These were the main trade routes and offered a vehicle for the dissemination of the Islamic faith (Lewis, 1980, p. 4-6).
Based on the above evidence it seems clear that Muhammad did not personally institute female circumcision amongst his followers, so another source needs to be identified. As female circumcision is perceived to be a religious rite in "traditional Islam" by necessity this source needs to be found in the writings of Islam.
Textual Support for Circumcision
Before investigating specific textual support for circumcision in the holy book of Islam, the Qur'an, it is relevant to gain an understanding of the texts that are considered authoritative in Islam because it has a direct bearing on the legitimacy of my argument that "female circumcision" has a religious foundation.
Qur'an
An important factor regarding the Qur'an that is generally overlooked is its form. Most Westerners have probably never seen the book itself though many will have seen a translation. It is necessary to recognize the difference between the Qur'an and a translation of the Qur'an. For Muslims the divine word assumed a specific form-namely Arabic-in order to convey the message of God. Hence, to Muslims the Arabic Qur'an is the genuine Qur'an; translations are viewed as inferior interpretations that are a necessary evil.
Khalifa emphasises this idea: "to anyone who has not heard the sonorous majesty of an Arab reciting the Qur'an, it is impossible to convey what the Book lacks in English, French and German" (1997, p. 1). Murata and Chittock reinforce this with the following observation: "the Arabic form of the Koran is in many ways more important than the text's meaning" (n.d., p. 1).
The Arabic Qur'an is considered to be the complete account of God's will. In fact, based on Q 6:38 and Q 16:89-which declare respectively-"we have left out nothing in the Book" and "for to you We have revealed the Book which manifests the truth about all things"-it seems reasonable to assume that the Qur'an contains the core tenets that form the underlying framework of Muslim belief.
Lamya al-F'aruqi aptly comments: "it is the conformance to a Qur'an based society for which we all must work if the Muslim peoples are to enjoy a felicitous future" (n.d., p. 2). The Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation proposes that the Qur'an is the "complete book of guidance for mankind [sic]...no other book in the world can match the Qur'an" (n.d., p. 4). Ammar writes:
the source of knowledge in the Holy Qur'an is a given and not subject to empirical and other testing procedures. . .the Holy Qur'an is the uncreated words of God" (n.d., p. 2). As such the Qur'an functions as a "declaration of Islamic ethic establishing moral norms" (Hicks, 1993, p. 72).
But even though these statements seem clear, the issue of what constitutes textual authority in Islam is just as complex as in other religions. There has been, and still is, much debate in Islamic circles regarding what is acceptable as Scripture in Islam. Basically there are two philosophies. One philosophy accepts that only the Qur'an represents the guide for matters of faith and practice. The other viewpoint accepts the Qur'an as well as the Haddith, Sunna, Sira, Tafsir, and other religious opinions as the guides for understanding the will of Allah. As one would expect, the respective schools of thought are emphatic about their ideas. For example, Muhammad lists a dozen reasons why believers should "follow the Qur'an and nothing but the Qur'an." Iqbal argues that for true Muslims "QUR'AN ALONE is all that we need" (1997, p. 1).
Conversely, the importance of extra-Qur'anic material such as the Haddith is seen in Robson's comment: "Haddith came to be recognised as a foundation of Islam second only to the Kur'an" (1971, p. 24). Al-Shafii (cited in Robson, 1971, p. 24) argues that when the Qur'an speaks of the Book and the Wisdom (Q 2:151; Q 3:164; Q 4:113; Q 62:2), it refers to the dual role of the Qur'an and the Haddith.
Muhammad Zafrulla Khan postulates that the Haddith gives the complete picture of the Muhammad's mode of life (n.d., p. 2). Further, any Muslim who is interested in upholding moral and spiritual values owes a heavy debt of gratitude to the narrators and compilers of the Haddith. Muhammad Salim al-Awwa maintains that to determine a point of truth in Islamic law it should be sought from four sources: the Qur'an, the Sunna, the consensus of scholars, and finally, from analogy (1996, p. 34). The Haddith is the foundational source for the Sunna and is a vital part of the sacred texts of "traditional Islam."
Haddith
The development of the Haddith occurred during the first three centuries of Islamic history, and its study provides a broad index to the thinking and ethos of Islam. Soon after the death of Muhammad there was a desire to understand in more detail the exact meaning of certain passages in the Qur'an. Approximately one hundred years after Muhammad's death the Khalif, Umar II, ordered that the sayings of the Prophet be collected and committed to writing (Klein, 1985, p. 26).
The traditions that constitute the Haddith are divided into various classes depending on the degree of authority they possess; the authority of each Haddith is determined by many factors such as the manner of transmission and the persons from whom they were derived (Klein, 1985, p. 26). The collection of traditions which are considered standard authoritative texts are referred to as the six books: Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari, Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, Abu awad al-Sijistani, Abu 'Isa Muhammad at-Tirmidhi, Abu' Abd ar-Rahman an-Nasa`I, and Abu Abdallah ibn Maja.
Once recorded on paper, these books and the other sayings that form the Haddith then constituted the Sunna, the teaching of Muhammad who was the "exemplar who followed the right path" (Trimingham, 1980, p. 67). The process of determining the exact form of the Sunna was not without difficulties. As different interest groups arose after the death of Muhammad contradictory tendencies emerged and the various groups were at loggerheads. On one hand, male politicians sought to manipulate the sacred, while on the other hand, scholars determined to oppose these politicians through the science of fiqh, or Islamic jurisprudence (Mernissi, 1991, p. 43).
Further, while traditionalists sought to verify the authority of traditions, there were others who were not prepared to lay great emphasis on tradition; this difference of opinion led to disputes between the parties involved (Robson, 1971, p. 24). But even though disagreement exists today over the acceptance of the Haddith, and about which sayings should be granted authority the fact remains that the Haddith is an established corpus of text accepted by a large percentage of contemporary traditional Muslims as the word of Allah. This is an important point because it has direct bearing on my contention that female circumcision is a religious rite in Islam.
The Haddith is not the only extra-Qur'anic source in Islam that constitutes guidance for traditional Muslims. Another element is the Ijma, the unanimous agreement of the Muslim nation. Perhaps a more accurate definition of Ijma would be the agreement of the Mujtabidin or the great doctors of the nation (Klein, 1985, p. 30). The Ulamas, as the religious scholars are known, are consulted on both personal and political matters. When the Ulamas arrive at a consensus on an issue, it is interpreted as Ijma (Wiechman, Kendall and Azarian, n.d., p. 3). Trimingham comments that the Ijma is the criterion that determines the social ethics of Islamic communities and is a concept that remains unchallenged in Islam (1980, p. 67).
Added to this is the Qias (measuring) which incorporates the "reasoning by analogy of the learned doctors of Islam, the Mujtabidin (Klein, 1985, p. 31). The Qias are not found in the Qur'an, Sunna or Ijma; rather they are new cases that have already been judged by a higher judge (Wiechman et. al., n.d., p. 3). Klein quotes a tradition to show that the Qias is in keeping with the wishes of Muhammad (1985, p. 32). Muhammad wished to send a man named Muaz to Al Yaman in order to collect alms which were to be distributed to the poor. Muhammad asks by what rule Muaz will act, to which he replies: "the Qur'an." Muhammad then asks what Muaz will do if the Qur'an has no direction to give on the matter. Muaz responds: "according to the Sunna." "If that fails?" questions Muhammad. Muaz informs Muhammad that he would: "make an Ijtihad and act on that." According to the tradition, that response pleased Muhammad.
Besides the Qur'an, Sunna and Qias, the religious norms of previous Muslim communities, as received through the various prophets accepted as valid for Muslims, are considered to be the revealed will of God. According to Islamic norms, whatever is necessary to accomplish a duty becomes a duty (Aldeeb, 1984, article no. 05, p. 18).
An interesting approach to accepting norms is presented by Professor Al‑Labban, who argues that if Muslims do not understand the wisdom of a religious norm, the problem lies with their reasoning, not with God (Aldeeb, 1984, article no. 05, p. 24). An Egyptian fatwa, issued on June 23, 1951, says: "experience has taught us that, given time, the true meaning of the Lawmaker's wisdom, which was hidden, is unveiled to us" (cited by Aldeeb, 1984, article no. 05, p. 25).
Another element in this seemingly complex area of authority/law is the issuing of a fatwa-an opinion on a point of law that affects civil or religious matters. The institution of the fatwa parallels jus respondendi of Roman society and is comparable with it in many respects (Walsh, 1965, p. 866). Like the other elements previously mentioned, fatwas can be issued by muftis-religious lawyers-to individuals, magistrates and any other authority. It is very important that a fatwa is rendered in accordance with fixed precedents in Islam, rather than on the personal ideas of the muftis (Kjeilen, 1999, p. 1). The authority inherent in a fatwa is seen in the death decree issued against Salman Rushdie by Imam Khomeini on February 13, 1989.
As one reads the arguments for and against extra‑Qur'anic material that is accepted as authoritative for law and guidance in Islam one thing is apparent: there is no consensus on the matter. However, the preceding discussion indicates that there are two distinct philosophies on the subject: "Qur'an‑only," or "Qur'an plus the Haddith, Sunna and other elements." But the fact that there is no universal, unanimous position on this matter is of no consequence to my proposal that "female circumcision" is a religious rite in "traditional Islam." Quite the reverse.
Traditional Islamic belief allows for the acceptance of rites, such as female circumcision, to be accepted as religious in one Islamic community and yet not condoned even condemned in another. This is of paramount importance when studying "female circumcision" in Islamic Africa because: "the religion of African Muslims is based...on their apprehension and expression of Islam" (Trimingham, 1980, p. x). The pivotal issue is which particular philosophy is adhered to in a given society. It is a moot point which position is most accurate and is not within the scope of this research to establish, but there are some considerations that warrant mentioning in this regard.
Firstly, Muhammad did not personally write the Qur'an just as Jesus did not personally write the sayings of the Christian Scriptures attributed to him. Some Muslims even present the argument that Muhammad was illiterate and ask:
how can an illiterate person come up with such a rich, poetic, intellectual, and inspiring text that it rocked the entire Arabia? An illiterate man is simply not capable of writing such a book" ('who wrote the Koran, n.d., p. 3).
Sheikh Abd El-Fatah El-Kady wrote in his book Al Mushaf Al-Shareef:
the Koran was written during Muhammad's life, on the branches of palm trees, on thin stones, on paper, on skin, on shoulders and side bones of animals (n.d., p. 14)
All of the Koran was written during Muhammad's life, but was not collected in one volume. Its suras were not organized. It was scattered on the branches of palm trees, skin and in the memories or breasts of Muhammad's "close friends" (n.d., p. 55).
A reading of Q 17:106 indicates that the Qur'an was revealed slowly over a period of time: "a Quran that we have released slowly, in order for you to read it to the people over a long period" (Khalifa's translation).
Secondly, if Muslims argue from a "Qur'an-only" stance in order to avoid corruption of the word of Allah, their argument is seemingly inconsistent. After all, the Qur'an is a work that is just as dependent on other people's memories of what was said as the other texts I have mentioned: the intermittent revelations to Muhammad were first memorized by followers and used in ritual prayers before the text was composed and written onto paper or parchment.
Although verses were later written down during the Muhammad's lifetime by his followers they were first compiled in their present authoritative form during the reign of the third caliph (644-656 CE) the successor to the Prophet (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Multimedia Version, 1999). Some Muslims suggest that discrepancies crept into the text between the initial revelation and its being written and compiled as a text. Dr Rashid Khalifa in his Appendix 24 of the Authorised English Translation of the Qur'an, maintains that some scribes originally tampered with the Qur'an nineteen years after Muhammad's death. He alleges that the scribes "injected two false verses at the end of Sura 9" (Khalifa, n.d., p. 1).
The idea of an "impure" Qur'an is reinforced by a discovery made in 1972 in the Great Mosque at Yemen. Labourers uncovered a gravesite that contained no human remains, no funeral jewelry, nothing except a conglomeration of old parchment documents, damaged books and individual pages of Arabic text. In 1979, a visiting German scholar undertook a study of the texts and it was determined that the discovery was nothing less than the oldest extant portions of the Qur'an (Lester, 1999, pp. 1-2). The significance of this discovery is that the parchments that dated back to the seventh and eighth centuries revealed aberrations from standard Qur'anic texts. If these parchments are authentic-and as of January 1999 evidence to the contrary had not been presented-the aberrations provide evidence of changes in contemporary Qur'anic texts.
The advocates of the Qur'an plus Haddith, Sunna and the other elements mentioned previously-those I have defined as adherents of "traditional Islam"-have a similar problem as those arguing for the Qur'an-only. There is no way to prevent a corruption of the texts and assure that no false Ahaddith are accepted as authentic.
Even though there are strict guidelines for the acceptance of Ahaddith (see the article by the Muslim Students Association, n.d., "The Science of Hadith," pp. 1-4) evidence is presented by some Muslims that maintains false Ahaddith have been accepted as authentic (see Mustafa, 1997, pp. 1-33; al-Awwa, n.d., pp. 1-5). As stated earlier, these issues do not affect the outcome of my proposal, yet they are issues that should not be ignored and are worthy of further research at a future date.
(to be continued)
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Africa Online
By Haines Brown, CCSU Emeritus
While the development of IT industry in Africa is often viewed in terms of the internal obstacles to be overcome, in several countries such as South Africa, more at issue is the relation of internal resources and the world market. However, globalization of South African IT means that the model its development is hotly contested.
Much has to do with the evolution of the ANC in recent years. In response to global pressures, social needs (such as Black liberation) are no longer perceived as primary, but addressed only to the extent compatible with global market relations.
The result is a struggle to balance the demand of social needs and that of economic efficiency. Whenever these objectives do not coincide, the outcome is determined by the balance of effective power.
This is clearly perceived in South Africa today as tension in the ruling coalition. The ANC handed initiative over to a South African Association for Management of Technological Innovation (Saamoti) in June 2000. Dr. Steve Lennon, chair of the National Science and Technology Forum and a leading proponent of the Saamoti concept, defined its aim as an improvement in South Africa's global competitiveness through a commitment to innovation and public‑private partnership to promote rapid commercialization of new technology.
The initiative was not taken by government, but by five founding corporations: the CSIR, De Beers, ISCOR, the enterprise promotion agency NTSIKA and [significantly] the Water Research Commission. This new link is not between existing economic resources and social need, but between the global economy and South African (and foreign) private enterprise. The composition of Saamoti reflects its new purpose: a think-tank of IT professionals, a network for the private sector and for governmental and academic co-operation. We see here the abandonment of democratic people's power in favor of government as corporate management.
The role of government is therefore limited to the promotion of the political order needed by private enterprise. Last year, the South African Department of Communications drafted a White Paper that sought to define a balance between social needs and corporate interests, which it assumed were compatible.
Speaking at the annual general meeting of the Internet Service Providers Association in Epsom Downs last August, Andile Ngcaba, director‑general of the department, indicated that the competence of government was limited to certification and domain names. It would also discourage cyber-crime and act as arbiter in liability cases. But he emphasized that "this must not get in the way of industry development or contravening the spirit of the new economy." The White Paper represents capitalist hopes for the IT legislation to come in late 2001.
Johannesburg offers an instructive example. Here the political context is iGoli 2002-the plan to hand Johannesburg's governing powers over to private corporations. The Johannesburg Metro Council in October 2000, entered into one of Africa's largest contracts to "outsource" the IT implementation of iGoli to a consortium consisting of IBM and Masana Technologies. Councillor Pule Buthelezi said Johannsburg's enormous expenditure reflects the government's commitment to privatization.
However, privatization has been the cause of mounting tension within the governing alliance of the ANC, SACP and COSATU. One of the objections to privatization is that it would reduce precious jobs through forcing the remaining workforce to speed up production. In this case, 115 IT professionals employed by Johannesburg would be transferred to the consortium. Buthelezi said that the effort was a major step in joining hands together with business to ensure the revitalization of the city. He also said that "It is not about empowering black-owned companies but about performance-the council needs a world-class IT system to revitalise the way it has been running its business." It was felt that this IT outsourcing contract with IBM represented a benchmark for public-private sector partnership and a model for other communities.
Rather than being a principal purpose of government, social service delivery becomes merely a source of its legitimization. "We have mapped IT solutions on to the GJMC's vision of extending services into historically disadvantaged communities while turning the Greater Johannesburg area into a globally competitive metropolitan area," said Mark Lambert, strategic outsourcing executive at IBM SA. In fact, globalization and privatization have resulted in global impoverishment and social deterioration, and, in terms of IT, a digital divide.
In November of last year was published a green paper on e-commerce that addressed the issue of the growing digital divide. South African Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri warned that legislation was required to enable government to help technology change the lives of people on the margins of society. Eighteen months before, the government had set out to assess telecommunication needs, but this defined e-commerce needs, not public needs. The paper spoke primarily of cyber-crimes like tax evasion, child pornography and copyright infringement rather than popular empowerment. It advocated market expansion to promote easy and affordable access to telephony and internet access, encouragement of a rapid adoption of e-commerce by small enterprises and an education system that teaches computer literacy.
The green paper contained no specific policies, but instead offered questions that the government hopes will elicit input from the private sector and end-users to contribute to a white paper later in 2001 and before an e-commerce bill is presented to Parliament.
Of course, labor has quite a different outlook. COSATU and the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) made a joint submission on the Intended Telecommunication Policy Directions, on 23 March 2001.
Rather than a trickle down of telecommunications access being the result of abstract economic growth, labor's position focused instead on power. It insisted that access to telecommunications is a basic need and a right, necessary for people's full participation in society and the economy.
Economic development is furthered by popular access to telecommunications, and universal access is crucial in strengthening democracy. COSATU was not convinced that the proposed market structure will foster a telecommunications industry which meets people's basic needs. It said in relation to telephone, "While we are not opposed to some regulated competition for the provision of high‑level services to business, we are opposed to competition in the provision of basic telephony." Also, the services necessary for democracy and social vitality should be universal rather than enjoyed by only those who can afford them: "The attainment of universal service is a priority and a challenge, [and] a more decisive approach is needed to extend services to the majority of South Africans."
COSATU went on to say, "Given the high levels of poverty and unemployment, affordability means state funding and cross-subsidisation. Competition will not address the problem of high tariffs for basic services, and may actually worsen the situation if price cuts are concentrated at the upper end of the market. Ongoing direct regulation of tariffs will thus be necessary to ensure affordability of basic telephony and genuine universal service." "Any policy initiative needs to be guided by the imperative of protecting current jobs and creating new ones."