South Africa embodying White liberty and justice: an examination of biopower in post-apartheid South Africa

Frantz Fanon in his book “Black Skin White Mask” once said that the colonised (Negro) has fought for liberty and justice, however, in principle, the Negro fought for White liberty and White justice, which are values secreted by her master. With this statement in mind, the aim of this paper is to draw on Fanon’s insights to interrogate the “post”-apartheid South African situation. That is, I want to draw on Fanon’s insights to demonstrate that the colonised Black subject actually lives under White liberty and Justice. Concurrently with Fanon’s insights, I examine the South African context through Michel Foucault’s conception of Biopower (To let live and let die). The examination of Biopower suggests that Whites have been “let to live,” while Blacks are “left to die,” hence Blacks are living under White justice and liberty. Through governmentality I further argue that the African National Congress (ANC) adopted Western democratic ideologies which conditioned the colonised to be integrated and compelled to assimilate into a pre-existing White South African political order that continues to perpetuate anti-Black racism.