Yet another WSU academic has attained the ‘Published Author’ status after conducting a case study on the apartheid industrial decentralisation and democratic de-industrialisation based on the Butterworth region.
Walter Sisulu University’s (WSU) Dr Jongilanga Mvenene, is Mthatha Campus’ Faculty of Educational Sciences senior lecturer, who started his writing project in the year 2019 with focus on the critical examination of the Butterworth region before and after 1989.
Mvenene said, “This book is based on the premise that the lives of the people of Butterworth were worth living during the years 1968 to the late 1980s as people were working in the local industries and could sustain their families.”
The argument offered in the book by the writer is that the socio-economic conditions of the people of Butterworth and former Transkei were bad under apartheid, but were worsened in the post-1994 period as their quality of life declined considerably.
“However, this book does not cover all the activities of the town of Butterworth. Many colourful characters walked the streets of Butterworth, and they warrant further attention. It is my wish that researchers may be encouraged to spend some time examining the history of Butterworth in order to understand the local heritage in its entirety,” he said.
According to the author, readers can expect in-depth discussions around the Socio-economic impact of the National Party government’s industrial decentralisation policy on Butterworth from 1968 until the late 1980s, the termination of this policy after 1989, how social problems – poverty, HIV/AIDS, crime, substance abuse, violence towards women and children – that have long beset Butterworth had manifested and the steps taken to address these problems.
Mvenene said, “In my search, I found that joblessness became a daunting and haunting feature among the economically-active people of Butterworth. The consequences were the rising levels of social problems such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, crime, substance abuse and violence towards women and children.”
In support of this stance, this book pursues an approach that tracks continuities and discontinuities in the trajectory of Butterworth’s two phases of the historical development, that is, pre-democratic and post-apartheid Butterworth.
The Centane born author, researcher and senior lecturer holds a Bachelor in Pedagogics, a Bachelor of Arts (Hons), Master of Arts and Doctoral degree in Education. His book was published through the UNISA Press in March of 2022.
The book is available on Van Schaik outlets.
By Ongezwa Sigodi
