The Changing Role of British Cultural Traditions in South Africa

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to analyse the impact of British traditions and heritage in South Africa in the context of interactions between Afrikaners and English-speaking South Africans. Special attention will be given to British—South African relations since 1994. The significance of British cultural traditions in post-apartheid South Africa will be examined as well as the willingness on the part of South Africans to incorporate positive aspects of British heritage, norms and values into the state-orchestrated universalist cultural project. I will explore the argument that British cultural traditions have been absorbed into everyday South African identity and raise the hypothesis that the contemporary government, despite its support for the Africanization of the country, has de facto incorporated British traditions and norms which have become part of renewed political and bureaucratic structures.