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CHAPTER 3 THE MANIFESTATION OF ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE SWISS MISSION FIELDS
INTRODUCTION
In the preceding chapter, the researcher concluded by indicating that past historical knowledge informs present actions and present actions are indications of what the future may look like. In this investigative report, transformation managers and their operatives are seen as operating from premises bequeathed to them by their predecessors. They find in store certain ideas, some of which they retain while others have to be developed further so as to ensure the improvement of the quality of life of the people. The Swiss Mission as an organisation was not static. It was constantly undergoing a metamorphosis in line with the behavioural patterns of the people it served. In other words, the Swiss Mission’s schools, hospitals and churches were living systems that continually chang~;d to remain relevant to the needs of their clientele. In their day to day tasks these systems functioned holistically. This means that any part that was dysfunctional affected the smooth operation of the entire organisation or system. It required restoration of the normal functioning of the system to ensure the delivery of goods and services (Van Niekerk, Botha & Coetzer 2000:7).
The Swiss Mission in South Africa is viewed as a spiritual body with a distinct following represented by statistical data, lists of names, photographs and individuals who continue to exert an influence on the socio-economic and political lives of the South African citizenry. From another vantage point, the Swiss Mission in South Africa is viewed by the researcher as a Church government that in one way or the other coordinated its missionary efforts with the secular government (Colonial Administration). In other words, colonial policies held sway over a variety of missionary ventures. This explains why missionaries had to harmonise their enterprises with what the colonial administrators felt was the right way of civilising the native population. It needs to be mentioned that although missionaries had to adapt to the colonial administrators’ socio-economic and political policies, their evangelistic crusades were never sacrificed. This is evidenced by the dominance of the Christian religion over other religions in our country; The researcher does not imply that the Christian religion has succeeded in uprooting traditional customs. On the contrary, the researcher is of the opinion that clerics and their African collaborators have succeeded in spreading Christian education and its civilising influences throughout South Africa (Prozesky 1990: 1-6).
DEVELOPMENT VIS-A-VIS EDUCATIONAL CHANGE
Social development is inextricably linked to educational change. During the genesis of the Swiss enterprises, clerics appeared to have a free hand in introducing social change according to their convictions. This explains why the education provided to Africans was Eurocentric. But the systematic abandonment of the imperialists’ laissez-faire policies with regard to the provision of native education resulted in a reappraisal that culminated in the advocacy for differentiated education. As the Swiss missionaries interacted with other clerics and the colonial administrators they started calling for the provision of education that was-in line with the mental capacities of the indigenous populace. In terms of this school of thought it was believed that it was educationally not right for Europeans to introduce mixed schools. It should be pointed out that the Swiss clerics were only critical of mixed ~chooling as practised by some other missions. They themselves preferred to s•:md their children to Pretoria for their education. The white school in Louis Trichardt was not preferred by most missionaries in the district (Jaques 195l :3-6)
Thus what pained Dr Samuel Jaques and his colleagues were the syllabi and curricula to which people of colour (that is Africans, Coloureds and Indians) were exposed and not co-education which was statutorily not being implemented within the Swiss Mission fields. Consequently, the curricula and syllabi transplanted from Europe and implemented in South Africa without modification had to be brought in line with the intellectual capacities of the indigenous populace as ‘investigated and reported on’ by those who had studied the evolution of man. Swiss archival records abound with arguments pertaining to the intellectual incapacity of blacks in key areas of life vis-a-vis their white counterparts. Consequently, any analysis of the subjective views of these clerics in their management of social transformation in this country is something that is indispensable for social development. Such inventories of historical events can only facilitate rapid social transformation.
It is the considered v1ew of the researcher that those change forces that come into office desperately need documents pertaining to past human actions as the base/work plan that makes the execution of their societal tasks enjoyable. One may even add that effective delivery of goods and social services becomes easy when one has at one’s disposal records that chronicle past transformation efforts. In such a scenario one simply has to avoid the mistakes that made it difficult for past transformation agents to realise their set objectives. It is on the basis of such historical information that people start developing the urge to invent technology that will make the execution of societal tasks easy and cost effective. Sound human relations that are so indispensable for the coexistence and social development of people from different cultural backgrounds can only be managed with a degree of efficacy when the legacy of the past have been meticulously documented (Cuendet 1950:1 ).
The Swiss Missionary Society had archives and museums in which they stored data pertaining to their civilising missions. This innovation enables us to make sense of the conditions under which they laboured during their tenure. Although political expediency at times precluded them from documenting their works in languages that were spoken by their proselytes, especially on issues that were considered sensitive and controversial, their use of English and Afrikaans in their interaction with the colonial administrators does throw soine light on the past. Social transformation in its various manifestation[:; was carried out in a socio-economic, cultural and political milieu. Missionaries had to respond to the different factors impacting on their lives and those of their proselytes in ways determined by their constitutional experts. The Constitution of the Swiss Mission was the guide to Christian conduct. But the Rev Dr Marie-Louise Martin (1950:14-17) regarded the Bible as the supreme Guide to Christian life. Thus any problem proselytes might encounter in life could be solved through the use of the Scriptures. The New Testament in particular was regarded as a vital source of information for those who were in transition from primitivity to modernity. It is here that Christian converts came to know industriousness as the key to social development vis-a-vis indolence which was incompatible to the Christian teachings.
The Rev Francois Alois Cuendet ( 1950:1) took issue with those who believed that black and white could not collaborate or coexist in the same territories and felt that separation was the right solution to potential interracial clashes. But his articulation of multiracialism failed to recognise that the Swiss Missionary Society only condoned residential integration and had yet to agree to co-education between the black and white youths.
ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
Organisational development in the context in which the concept is used in this study embraces whatever group efforts that are directed at the improvement of the quality of life of people without regard to sex, skin colour, culture and creed. Incidentally, Theron (1993 :39) is of the opinion that development should not be construed as a process that is restricted to any particular organisation. He puts it as follows: « Development is no longer the domain of government, donor or development agencies only … Development therefore is part of the mission of the church » (Theron 1993:39). Theron (1993:43) contends that the church as a social organisation must strive for the eradication of « poverty, starvation, political oppression, wars, murders, torture, economic exploitation, corruption, tribalism, sexism, and the destruction of the ecology ».
Thus the Swiss Mission as the Church of Christ cannot be exempted from evaluation on the basis of its performance with regard to the comprehensive list drawn up by the above scholar. This is because human development in a Christian perspective should strive for the betterment of humanity in its entirety. Separate development in tl~e context of this study is at variance with the teachings of Jesus Christ who, throughout His life on earth, identified with egalitarianism. This striving for egalitarianism is discernible from the ·exhortation He gave to His disciples which sounded thus: « Go ye and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you … » (Cuendet 1949:2).
The multidimensional approach inherent in the lord’s command does not give any latitude to the disciplines to discriminate against any nation in their teaching sessions. Theron (1993:40) seems to define the multidimensionalism that should inform missionary operations when he says that it involves « the organisation and orientation of entire economic and social systems … it typically involves radical changes in institutional, social, and administrative structures as well as in popular attitudes and, in many cases, even customs and beliefs ».
If social transformation involves radical changes in institutional, social and administrative structures including customs and beliefs, then the whole range of behavioural patterns of the Shangaans who were the Swiss missionaries’ main target group must have been affected during proselytisation. This means that beliefs in witchcraft and other superstitious notions had to make way for the Western way of life. Since the Swiss clerics believed that the indigenous people were precluded from modernity by their penchant love for their traditional values, the younger generation had to be systematically indoctrinated to a point of breaking ranks with their own culture(s). The Swiss clerics used their authority to influence their African proselytes to acquire formal education which in time would enable them to develop into « well-informed, rational, sensible, balanced, reflective, and critical » individuals than they were at the time of the encounter with their benefactors (Stuart 1995:41).
Stuart (1995 :41-42) defines indoctrination as implying a situation whereby someone takes « advantage of a privileged role to influence those under his/her charge in a manner which is likely to distort their ability to assess the evidence on its own merit ». It was customary of missionaties to employ religious propaganda in such a way that Africans were not only converted, but also alienated from their traditional rulers. In this research project, the Swiss change forces set themselves the task of persuading or even forcing their clientele to adopt paradigm . shifts that influenced the development of negative thoughts about their traditional political systems, which had ordered human interactions in their varied forms: Thus organisational development was conceptualised as a one way process based on missionary paternalism and trusteeship.
The Swiss missionaries’ perception of organisational development was that of experts meeting with novices in a teaching-learning situation with the latter assimilating the Western cultural values through observation. For Africans to have a lasting impression of the good that stood for Christ, missionaries had to behave themselves in an exemplary fashion in their interaction with their charges at school. Teacher education at Lemana Training Institution was structured in such a way that it led to the production of educators who would epitomise the Christian value system amongst their own people. With the involvement of the colonisers in the funding and control of native education, norms and standards were revised with a view to accommodating the interests of the State. Thus instead of church-workers devoting much attention on the preparation of proselytes for the life hereafter, attention had to be focused on responsible citizenship as well. Learners had to be educated in such a way that they became law-abiding citizens who would not antagonise their colonial masters. In order to sustain government funding which was introduced in 1903 within the erstwhile Transvaal where the vast number of the Swiss enterprises were based, the Swiss clergy ensured that whatever educational innovation they introduced within their areas of jurisdiction were agreeable with the State policies. It is here that the operations of the educational goals of both the colonisers and the Swiss clerics are viewed as similar with regard to the commercial and political motivations that the trainees had to possess (Prozesky 1990:2).
The vast experience that missionaries possessed in the management of social transformation made them indispensable in the entrenchment of the State’s segregation policies. The missionaries’ ethnological studies that were carried out in tandem with the evangelisation ofthe African masses put them in good stead to supply state functionaries with whatever data having a bearing on the natives. Within the Swiss establishment there were clerics like the Rev Dr Henri Alexandre Junod and his son, the Rev Dr Henri Philippe Junod, whose writings were useful to whoever had vested interest in native development. HA Junod’s two volumed book entitled: « The Life of a South African Tribe » was authoritative on the Tsonga/Shangaan culture and also offered some synopses of the lifestyles of other indigenous tribes (Buchler 1938: 1). At this juncture the concept organisation needs explication in line with its functional role in society. Van Niekerk, Botha and Coetzer (2000:2) define organisations as « essentially coliectivities of people, who define policies, generate structures, manipulate resources aud engage in activities to achieve their desired ends in keeping with their individual and collective values and needs. In the human service organisation called a school, one of these desired ends is helping people to learn ».
CHAPTER 1 THEORETICAl FRAMEWORK AND GROUNDING OF THE STUDY -AN INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
1.2 EXPLICATION OF THE CONCEPTS EMPLOYED IN THIS STUDY
1.3 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY IN TERMS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN SCENARIO
1.4 RESEARCH AND METHODOLOGY
1.5 LITERATURE REVIEW
1.6 DEMARCATION OF THE FIElD OF STUDY
1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH AND LAYOUT OF THE CHAPTERS
CHAPTER2 THE MANAGEMENT OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATiON
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 THE RISING FORTUNES OF THE SWISS MISSION IN SOUTH AFRICA
2.3 THE INSIDER-PERSPECTIVE VERSUS THE OUTSIDERaPERSPECTiVE OF ANALYSING HISTORICAL DATA PERTAINING TO SOCIAl TRANSFORMATION
2.4 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE ROlE OF THE CHANGE FORCES IN FOSTERING IT
2.5 MANAGEMENT OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION AND THE ENTRENCHMENT OF WESTERN VALUES DURING THE COlONiAl/ MISSIONARY ERA
2.6 RELATIONS BETWEEN THE IMPERIAliSTS AND THE SWISS MISSIONARIES
2.7 THE CHAllENGES OF MANAGING SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN A NEW AND RUGGED MISSION FIElD
2.8 TRAINING FOR LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE SWISS MISSION
2.9 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 3 THE MANIFESTATION OF ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE SWISS MISSION FIELDS
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 DEVELOPMENT VIS~A~VIS EDUCATIONAL CHANGE
3.3 ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
3.4 ORGANISATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND SOCiAL TRANSFORMA~ TION WITHIN THE SWISS MISSION FiELDS
3.5 EDUCATION ACROSS THE GENDER DIVIDE: AN EFFECTIVE WAY OF FURTHERING THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
3.6 ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT VIS-AmVIS EDUCATION FOR WOMEN
3.7 NON-FORMAL EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT
3.8 EDUCATIONAL EXPANSION AS A MEANS FOR THE FURTHERANCE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
3.9 MANAGEMENT OF ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE WiTHIN THE SWiSS FIELDS
3.10 ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT !N THE CONTEXT OIF THE UNK BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL AREAS: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE SWISS MISSION
3.11 THE SWISS MISSION ENDEAVOURS IN NATAl AND THE CAPE
3.12 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
CHAPTER4 THE ROLE OF THE CLERGY IN THE MANAGEMENT OF HEAlTH SERVICES WITHIN THE SWISS MISSION FIELDS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 GENESIS OF THE SWISS HEALTH SERVICES IN SOUTH AFRICA
4.3 THE CENTRALITY OF HOSPITALS IN THE PROSEL YTISATION OF THE INDIGENOUS POPULACE
4.4 THE EXPANSION OF THE MEDICAL AND NURSING SERVICES WITHIN THE SWISS MISSION FIELDS
4.5 SHORTAGE OF NURSES AT ELIM HOSPITAl DURING THE POiNEERING YEARS
4.6 PROFESSIONAL NURSES AND THIER CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
GET THE COMPLETE PROJECT
THE SWISS MISSIONARIES’ MANAGEMENT OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN SOUTH AFRICA (1873-1976)
