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Walter Sisulu University (WSU) academic, Dr Jongikhaya Mvenene, recently published a book on a case study he conducted on apartheid industrial decentralisation and democratic de-industrialisation, based in the Butterworth region.
Dr Mvenene is WSU’s Mthatha Campus Faculty of Educational Sciences senior lecturer. He started his writing project in 2019 focused on the critical examination of the Butterworth region – before and after 1989.
“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.”
“However, this book does not cover all the activities of the town of Butterworth. Many colourful characters walked the town’s streets, and they warrant further attention. It is my wish that researchers may be encouraged to spend some time examining the history of the town in order to understand the local heritage in its entirety,” he said.
The argument offered in the book, by the Mvenene, is that the socio-economic conditions of the people of Butterworth and the former Transkei were bad under apartheid, but have worsened in the post-1994 period as their quality of life declined considerably.
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, and the termination of this policy after 1989.
The book also looks at how social problems such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, crime, substance abuse, and violence towards women and children, that have long beset Butterworth, had manifested and the steps taken to address these problems.
“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,” he added.
In support of this stance, the book pursues an approach that tracks continuities and discontinuities in the trajectory of Butterworth’s two phases of the historical development – the pre-democratic and post-apartheid Butterworth.
The Centane born author, researcher and senior lecturer holds a Bachelor in Pedagogics, a Bachelor of Arts (Hons), a Master of Arts and a Doctoral degree in Education.
Dr Mvenene’s book was published through UNISA Press in March 2022, and is available at Van Schaik bookstores.
