ABSTRACT
Learning anew to 'walk together' entails embarking on a journey of healing the wounds of the past that perpetuate the disempowering social relations that characterize South African society today. The rhetoric of ubuntu without evidence of the affiliative strategies of mutuality, reciprocity and capacity for empathy and emotional bonding with those at the bottom of the social ladder, only serves, for Rhampele, to confirm with poor people that there is something wrong with them. The truth and reconciliation process in South Africa in the mid-1990s was a resounding success in dealing with gross violations of human rights and ritualize the beginnings of a healing journey for both South Africans and the country. The legacy of systemic socio-economic neglect, Ramphele goes on to say, as did Archbishop Tutu before her, is at the core of the unfinished agenda of acknowledging the impact of colonialism and apartheid.
