Introduction

South Africa has a dark past of colonialism and apartheid. Both systems ensured the dehumanisation, oppression and ill-treatment of those deemed to be subhuman, that is, people who were not white. After many South Africans had existed in this state of dehumanisation, the breaking of a new dawn arrived, and the promise of a better life became something that was possible, attainable. For many, 1994 represented a new beginning, bringing with it a quest for forgiveness and “moving on”. This became manifest in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which was established to create a platform for engagement, responsibility-taking, justice and confrontation, as well as for bearing witness and collectively moving forward as one.

Many have argued that the TRC's contribution was not enough, that it merely dealt with the tip of the iceberg, as many people continue to live with unresolved issues. How do we reveal the whole iceberg, not just the tip? The root of these unresolved issues continues to spread intergenerationally, as people continue to exhale and inhale the toxicity of their unresolved anger. Many people lost family members as a result of the oppressive colonial system that manifested, in various ways, in their lives. Consequently, South African society carries visible and invisible scars of the past. Scholars such as W. E. B. du Bois and Es’kia Mphahlele argue that colonised people have split personalities and a double consciousness as a result of inhabiting a world that renders them subhuman, while at the same time compelling them to find ways to assert their humanity. The expectation for people to move forward, as if the oppressive past was not soul-destroying, is problematic, since it forces people to pretend and shelve their anger, resentment and dissatisfaction. Many (black) South Africans carry wounded souls. Many have to contend with doubt, hurt, mistrust and anger on a daily basis, as a result of living in a world that has been created to systematically exclude them. The healing of our wounded souls would require more than just transformation. It would require radically uprooting those processes that contribute to the dehumanisation of people. Social cohesion will remain a slogan for as long as those inequalities that are a direct result of colonisation, continue to be perpetuated.