Patric Tariq Mellet. Image: Supplied

Exploring the intertwined questions of identity, justice, and nationhood in South Africa, the Jaap Durand Chair at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) hosted a one-day seminar on 1 December 2025 - also known as Slave Emancipation Day. The event provided leading thinkers and scholars with a multidisciplinary platform to reflect on how South Africans understand themselves three decades into democracy.

Professor Hein Willemse, the inaugural holder of the Jaap Durand Chair and convenor of the seminar, explained that the programme “dealt with our sense of ourselves. Who are we, and what would we like to become? Over the past 30 years, we have had recurring debates around indigeneity, affirmative action, and citizenship, and this seminar served as a barometer of those debates”.

A highlight of the day was the Jaap Durand Annual Lecture, delivered by author and public intellectual, Patric Tariq Mellet. His lecture, “Restorative Memory in the Crafting of Restorative Justice Contextual to Indigeneity and Slavery”, expanded on themes from his acclaimed books The Lie of 1652 and The Truth about Cape Slavery.

Mellet emphasised that human beings are “wired to collect identities, and discard identities … beyond notions of race, ethnicity, colour, and nation”. He cautioned against the misuse of genetics to define identity, noting that some European geneticists historically relied on “stereotypical speculative views of early peoples”, which fuelled ignorance and lent false scientific legitimacy to ethno-nationalist claims.

He also challenged the enduring “empty land thesis” used to justify colonial conquest, remarking that “we were told that Africans had no history and civilisation before Europeans arrived”, and highlighted the persistent caricaturing and devaluation of the history of slavery at the Cape.

To illustrate the depth of precolonial history, Mellet noted that before 1652 the Cape was a bustling port whose early inhabitants “hosted over 1 000 ships and 120 000 travellers, with average stayovers of three weeks per vessel”. Such perspectives, he argued, were “airbrushed” from mainstream historiography, along with the contributions of key figures such as Xhore and Autshumao.

He added that colonial accounts of post-1652 history often erased the roles of Cape indigenes and African-Asian enslaved peoples. “Restorative memory,” Mellet argued, “demands that we un-erase this historical injustice. In doing so, we must craft restorative justice and advance the restitution and reparation that post-1994 South Africa has failed to acknowledge and realise.”

Mellet urged 21st-century scholars to leave a positive legacy for future generations. 

“We are challenged to find positive ways of celebrating the resonance or echoes of our past, in word, deed, and culture.” Such work, he noted, must be guided by restorative memory practices that address the marginalisation, discrimination and erasure experienced by descendant communities.

Reflecting on the seminar, Prof Willemse noted that the presentations were of a consistently high standard: “We had a successful seminar, with rich and nuanced presentations and fruitful discussions that often questioned old paradigms. I’m quite happy.” 

He added that, funding permitting, the Jaap Durand Chair intends to pursue a book publication in the coming year.