One of the most significant developments in the recent history of our species is the emergence of an ethic of reconciliation. So argues Ari Sitas, a professor of sociology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He sees it as a post-World War II and post-colonial phenomenon that embraces the ''Mandela moment'' and more.
Mcebisi Ndletyana's book <i>African Intellectuals in 19th and Early 20th Century South Africa</i> is an attempt to present a history of the accumulation of knowledge capital among black South Africans. Yunus Momoniat looks at figures who were builders of an intellectual, moral and political infrastructure in South Africa.
It is no accident that a meeting held to commemorate the life of Yunus Mahomed was attended by scores of luminaries from the African National Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF). Current and former Cabinet ministers paid tribute to their comrade, who died of a heart attack on January 6.
The most prolific thinkers are those who provide us with new concepts to think new realities, and Achille Mbembe is one of these. A professor of history and politics at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, he is more a philosopher than a political scientist or historian, but his works are the profound revelations they are because he synthesises all three of these with other disciplines.