Abstract:
The last few years the young democratic South Africa’s history has been characterised by
service delivery protests and industrial action which is becoming increasingly violent
as epitomised by Marikana. Is the violence that accompanies industrial action and service
delivery protests emblematic of a powerless frustration and a violent revulsion at the thought
that there will be no change? For 18 years, hope was placed in the idea of liberation which
would open the doors to a brighter future for the majority, yet all that remains of that noble
dream lies in the ashes of current events that populate the newspaper headlines of the major
South African newspapers. What role can Practical Theology play in this context? What is the
calling of Practical Theology, and specifically postfoundational narrative theology? These are
the questions this article will seek to answer, by proposing that a narrative approach can listen
to the untold stories and thus the colourful phoenix can rise from the ashes.
Description:
This article was initially
a presentation to the
Symposium Social Cohesion,
August 07–08, 2013, directed
by Prof. Dr Johann-Albrecht
Meylahn, Department of
Practical Theology, Faculty
of Theology, University of
Pretoria, Pretoria,
South Africa.
