Title: The Cost of Equality
Subtitle: The Struggles of Marginalized Groups in South Africa
Subject Classification:  Society and Culture, Race and Racism  
BIC Classification: JFSL, JF
BISAC Classification: SOC031000, SOC052000, POL045000
Binding: Hardback, eBook
Planned publication date: Aug 2025
ISBN (Hardback): 978-1-83711-253-1
ISBN (eBook): 978-1-83711-254-8

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Description

This book delves into the overlooked ethnic marginalization of South Africa’s minority groups—Venda, Tsonga, Ndebele, and Swati—highlighting the enduring inequalities shaped by colonialism and apartheid. While much research focuses on racial divides between black and white races, this work emphasizes how the same oppressive systems privileged majority ethnic groups over minorities of the same race but different cultural origins. Focusing on the development of media, particularly radio broadcasting from the 1920s and TV broadcasting from the 1970s, the book reveals how minority languages, cultures, and music have been systematically underrepresented and confined to limited platforms to this day.

Colonialism in Africa thrived through a deliberate "divide and conquer" strategy, whereby ethnic groups were systematically segregated and categorized according to language, culture, and their numerical status as majority or minority populations. This strategy was not merely administrative—it was a calculated mechanism of control that sowed deep divisions among African communities. By encouraging rivalry and distrust between ethnic groups, colonial powers fostered a legacy of internalized prejudice and animosity. Many African societies were made to view one another as adversaries, and over time, dangerous beliefs were naturalized—such as the idea that certain ethnic groups were inherently superior, or that leadership, political power, and societal success were the rightful domain of only a select few groups.

Biography

Author(s):  Dr Ntshengedzeni Evans Netshivhambe is a researcher at the University of South Africa, with a focus on social studies, musicology, ethnomusicology and the experiences of minority groups in South Africa.

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