Ubuntu as a Dramaturgical Tool for Building Community in Protests
Refiloe Lepere 
& Tebogo Radebe
Issue: Vol.5 No.15 Special Issue Article 9 pp.108 – 122
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245159 | Published online 22nd January 2025
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
In this paper, ubuntu is proposed as a dramaturgical lens for analysing social phenomena, particularly focusing on the 2015 Wits Student Protest (#FeesMustFall). The purpose of this study was to explore how ubuntu, as an epistemological and dramaturgical tool, can deepen the understanding of protest and community dynamics through performance. Methodologically, dramaturgy of everyday life framework is used to analyse the songs sung during the #FeesMustFall protest, emphasising their role in shaping political agency and fostering community. Songs analysed are “Jikijela” by Letta Mbulu, along with its reworked version by Thandiswa Mazwai, the decolonised “Nkosi Sikelela iAfrika,” and the title song from Mbongeni Ngema’s play Asinamali. The findings suggest that ubuntu provides an alternative epistemic lens, challenging traditional views of protest as primarily destructive. Instead, through shared performance and song, ubuntu fosters collective identity and democratic participation. The argument posited is that embodiment of ubuntu during protests creates space for community negotiation and self-actualisation, redefining the narrative of democratic agency in protest. This study contributes to scholarship by offering a new framework for understanding the role of songs in protests as dramaturgical tools that create roles, scripts, and shared experiences. Ubuntu as a dramaturgical lens expands the possibilities for analysing social movements and highlights the transformative power of performance in building communities.
Keywords: Ubuntu, Dramaturgy, Protest, Song, performance, #FeesMustfall
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Dr. Refiloe Lepere is a Performing Arts lecturer, an award-winning theatre director, a drama therapist, a journalist, and a facilitator. Her expertise includes participatory theatre, critical race, postcolonial and feminist theories, and artistic activism. By fusing history, statistics, and personal narratives, her therapeutic theatre work addresses social (in)justice, trauma, intersectional identities of black women, and labour as a performance. She creates interdisciplinary and cross-cultural performance projects. Her innovative stagings of cross-cultural experiences and research investigate how race functions, framing and shaping our perception of the world. She situates her work within the larger field of black feminist aesthetics and drama therapy, investigating how we absorb, interpret, and are moved by stories. She holds Ford Foundation, THInK, and TAU fellowships. Her international facilitation work includes training for the German Chamber of Commerce, GIZ Lesotho & South Africa, and FES South Africa. She has given seminars on Gender and Climate Change, Sexual Harassment, and Decolonial Pedagogies for international organizations. She has delivered training sessions on peacebuilding and dialogues for the Davis Peace Project. Refiloe has collaborated with the ILO, Cosatu, UN Women, and UNFPA on the Women’s Leadership Development Initiative in South Africa.
Dr. Tebogo Radebe is a dynamic creative scientist, academic, published interdisciplinary researcher, scholar, drama practitioner, facilitator dedicated to using drama to activate communities in various social contexts. He has been to local and international conferences. He is a Stellenbosch University, SA & Michigan State University, USA Ubuntu Dialogues International Fellowship holder.With extensive experience as an applied theatre practitioner, he has facilitated decolonial dialogues at Stellenbosch University, enriching the academic and social discourse. His passion for development is evident in his self-motivated, solution-driven, critical, creative, and analytical work ethic. Tebogo’s expertise lies in employing creative arts for social development and change. As an award-winning radio producer, he has contributed significantly to Voice of Wits, SA FM, and Maties FM Radio Station at Stellenbosch University. His experience in radio highlights his ability to engage and educate through media. His selfless dedication and commitment to his passion for arts based creative sciences and cross disciplinary life long learning through Soweto Kliptown Youth Program, Soyikwa Institute of African Theatre, Blaq Aesthetics Arts Collective, University Of South Africa, Wits and Stellenbosch , Zululand University continue to lay a foundation for his career. Dr. Radebe’s commitment to education, creativity, and community activation continues to inspire and impact the fields of Arts based and Creative as well as Interdiscplinary research.
Lepere, Refiloe, and Tebogo Radebe. “Ubuntu as a Dramaturgical Tool for Building Community in Protests,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.15 (2024):108 – 122. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245159
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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