Viola Candice Milton

Bastardised whiteness: ‘zef’-culture, Die Antwoord and the reconfiguration of contemporary Afrikaans identities

This paper argues that post-apartheid South Africa destabilised what it means to be white and Afrikaans in South Africa. In particular, it explores the emergence into visibility of so-called ‘zef’-culture as mediated through musical acts like Die Antwoord and Jack Parow and to a lesser extent websites such as Watkykjy. The authors argue that the reconfiguration of white Afrikaans identities as mediated through ‘zef’-cultural artefacts is deliberate in that it speaks to the perceived sense of marginal and liminal experience of white Afrikaans youth in post-apartheid South Africa.

Media, citizenship and the politics of belonging in contemporary South Africa

Abstract Drawing on a wide range of theoretical and empirical studies, the articles in this special issue examine issues of citizenship and belonging in South Africa. Questions of belonging and citizenship are neither novel, nor particular to South Africa – they have been high on the intellectual (and popular) agenda internationally since at least the early 1990s. Yet South Africas history of artificially separating and defining its citizens in the racial regimes of colonialism and apartheid still reverberates today, as is reflected in the continued inequalities marring South African society. Post-apartheid governance of redress still requires the use of apartheid categories of ‘race’, but the terms under which we understand what it means to be South African are much wider, and require continued critical reflection. Using South Africa (and not the global North, as is so often the case) as the focal point for rethinking notions of citizenship and belonging, may urge us to rethink these notions and their meanings within fledgling democracies and societies in transition.

Speak ill of me ... but speak, or how to be Afrikaans on the SABC

Abstract The elections of 1994 marked the beginning of a full-scale restructuring of the broadcasting sector in South Africa. Apart from changes related to ownership, editorial content, the medias position within society at large and its relationship to the government of the day, South African media have also undergone massive changes in terms of their languages of communication and the faces that are seen and heard. These changes were steered, in part, by debates on language equity and identity in South Africa. The politics of language equity in broadcasting reform has been shaped by conflicts over the legitimacy of who is represented, by what means, by whom and for what purposes. Afrikaans especially came under fire because of its privileged position before 1994. While the transition of South Africa to an inclusive democracy in 1994 freed Afrikaans from its apartheid shackles, it also made it one of only 11 official languages (Giliomee 2004: 25). The resultant debates about the position and status of Afrikaans – including that of speakers of Afrikaans – have intensified during the almost two decades post-apartheid. This article explores these discourses to establish the position of Afrikaans and its speakers as far as the South African Broadcasting Corporation is concerned.

‘Local is lekker’: Nation, narration and the sABC's Afrikaans programmes

Abstract This article provides an exploration of the role of the SABCs Afrikaans language programmes in contemporary South African constructions of national identity. It examines the programmes’ engagement with the construction of (a) national identity by addressing the SABCs mandated obligation towards nation building, and exploring how the broadcasters Afrikaans programmes are positioned in this regard. The article suggests that the SABCs task to ‘narrate the nation’ is complicated not only by the theoretical dilemmas faced by the terms ‘nation’ and ‘nation building’, but also by the broadcasters historical ties to the apartheid government. This matter is further complicated for the Afrikaans-language programmes on SABC, given the languages binary position as both ‘unifier’ and ‘oppressor’.Abstract This article provides an exploration of the role of the SABCs Afrikaans language programmes in contemporary South African constructions of national identity. It examines the programmes’ engagement with the construction of (a) national identity by addressing the SABCs mandated obligation towards nation building, and exploring how the broadcasters Afrikaans programmes are positioned in this regard. The article suggests that the SABCs task to ‘narrate the nation’ is complicated not only by the theoretical dilemmas faced by the terms ‘nation’ and ‘nation building’, but also by the broadcasters historical ties to the apartheid government. This matter is further complicated for the Afrikaans-language programmes on SABC, given the languages binary position as both ‘unifier’ and ‘oppressor’.

@SOS_ZA_#SABC: Civic Discourse and the Negotiation of PSB Principles

Much has been written about the SABC—the South African Broadcasting Corporation—over the years, and scholars such as Ruth Teer-Tomaselli (1995, 1998, 2001, 2008), Pieter J. Fourie (1988, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010) and Jeanette Minnie (2000) provide a comprehensive overview of its development and significance as South Africa’s public (service) broadcaster. This chapter takes a slightly different approach towards historicizing the SABC by exploring the ways through which civil society—through social media networks—makes sense of the SABC’s legislative encounters. It deals more with “talk about” the SABC and the laws that govern it, than it analyses the broadcaster itself. Looking at media and citizenship from the vantage point of civic engagement, this paper argues that social media act as a central site for the production, management and sharing of media activism and the negotiation of media policy. It therefore considers the changing legislative framework for public broadcasting from the viewpoint of social media, civil society and civic discourse. To this end, the focus here will be primarily on the negotiations regarding amendments to the South African Broadcasting Act as it pertains to Public (Service) Broadcasting.

Media research: So what difference does it make?

(2015). Media research: So what difference does it make? African Journalism Studies: Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 163-168.

Musical parody, “zef” and the politics of belonging: “Dankie vir die antwoord maar wat was die vraag?”

Abstract Drawing on the parodic representations of poor whites in the lyrics and music videos of Die Antwoord and Die Vraag, this paper explores whether mediated representations of poor whites open up a space to contest class-based stereotypes or whether they merely work to perpetuate middle-class white normativity. Drawing on Masons (2010) assertion that the media constantly “rediscovers” poor white South Africans, we will argue that Die Antwoord as well as Die Vraag are complicit in this “rediscovery”, but at cost. We will explore what this cost entails and what its implications are within the socio-politics of belonging in contemporary South Africa.

Histories of becoming

Abstract This article discusses how the South African period drama, Donkerland, depicts South African history and explicates how memory is addressed in a society attempting to come to terms with a recent unsettling past. Donkerland narrates the story of six generations of one family against the backdrop of the changing socio- political landscape of South Africa over a period of 158 years (1838–1996). The central thrust of the drama is the complex play of relationships between members of a family of settlers over several generations, as well as between the family and the black workers on their farm, Donkerland (tvsa n.d.). Television period dramas ability to portray and investigate questions of power and politics on both a macro/social and micro/personal level, offers an ideal vantage point from which to explore the complex dynamics of reinventing national histories. An analysis of Donkerland thus allows us to explore how popular fiction can contribute to the imagination of identity and memory in postcolonial and post-apartheid South Africa. To this end, this article explores the role primetime television programmes – in particular, period dramas like Donkerland – play as acts of remembrance, focusing specifically on how they (re)inscribe the past to reflect on the present and shape the future.

Histories of becoming: 'Donkerland' re-members South Africa

Abstract This article discusses how the South African period drama, Donkerland, depicts South African history and explicates how memory is addressed in a society attempting to come to terms with a recent unsettling past. Donkerland narrates the story of six generations of one family against the backdrop of the changing socio- political landscape of South Africa over a period of 158 years (1838–1996). The central thrust of the drama is the complex play of relationships between members of a family of settlers over several generations, as well as between the family and the black workers on their farm, Donkerland (tvsa n.d.). Television period dramas ability to portray and investigate questions of power and politics on both a macro/social and micro/personal level, offers an ideal vantage point from which to explore the complex dynamics of reinventing national histories. An analysis of Donkerland thus allows us to explore how popular fiction can contribute to the imagination of identity and memory in postcolonial and post-apartheid South Africa. To this end, this article explores the role primetime television programmes – in particular, period dramas like Donkerland – play as acts of remembrance, focusing specifically on how they (re)inscribe the past to reflect on the present and shape the future.

South Africa: Funding the South African Broadcasting Corporation

The abolition of apartheid in South Africa introduced extensive changes in the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) funding model. The SABC at present consists of two public service stations (SABC1 and SABC2) and one commercial station (SABC3). In terms of its mandate, the commercial stations are supposed to cross-subsidize the public channels. However, as will be pointed out in this chapter, the commercial channel does not appear to be making a profit and no cross-subsidization appears to be happening. In fact, post-apartheid SABC has been plagued by scandals and poor financial decisions, resulting in a deepening crisis at the broadcaster in terms of its precarious financial state and the quality of its content. This chapter unpacks some of the challenges faced by the SABC to secure funding for its public service arm that would be realistic and substantial enough to allow the public broadcaster to fulfill its public mandate in a competitive market.