The need to effectively communicate HIV/AIDS messages in South Africa, given the high prevalence of the pandemic, cannot be overemphasised. Communication scholars have long emphasised the need to recognise adherence to cultural norms of target communities as catalyst for effective HIV/AIDS communication. Unfortunately this call has not been totally heeded by the designers of HIV/AIDS communication instruments. In the case of theatre, research has shown that in South Africa, theatre groups have gone into communities with pre-packaged plays without due cognisance of the cultural norms and beliefs of the target population. This research was conducted in KwaZulu-Natal (the province with the highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS infection in South Africa). Using a qualitative research methodology this paper investigated the inclusion/non-inclusion of the cultural norms of the target population in the design of the dramatic performance by the theatre group in its HIV/AIDS campaigns. The findings indicate that while the group did try to incorporate aspects of the cultural norms of the target population, it did so at a level that failed to effectively communicate the HIV/AIDS message to its audiences. This paper therefore seeks to show through empirical evidence that the non-inclusion of cultural norms and values of the target population has acted as a stumbling block in the effective communication of HIV/AIDS messages by theatre groups in the country.

This paper attempts to examine the connection between one’s socio cultural setting and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Often, local communities form the contexts within which people negotiate their social and sexual lives and identities. These communities also play a key role in enabling or restraining people from taking control over their health. The paper will try to demonstrate through specific examples that in African societies, sexual behavior is a product of one’s socio-cultural environment and structural contexts and not the cognitive properties of the individual. The article draws from the qualitative study (Focus group sessions, individual interviews) conducted in three high schools in the Boland area of the Western Cape with about 18 learners, 3 Life skills teachers, 3 Performer-Educators on the efficacy of the HIV/AIDS intervention by The Centre for HIV/AIDS Management theatre group based at the University of Stellenbosch. The aim of the study was to ascertain the cultural content of their campaign model as well as their knowledge of the determinants of sex and sexuality of their target areas. Based on the findings of this study, I argue that theatre will achieve greater success in its campaign against HIV/AIDS in South Africa if the designers of the campaign models adopt a more participatory approach, make indigenous culture central to the design of their intervention model and pay closer attention to what Campbell refers to as “community level of analysis” which simply put implies a greater understanding of the target audiences local communities and its determinants of sex and sexuality

Strangers in their own country': interpreting xenophobic symbology and gang subcultures in vulnerable coloured communitiesIn South Africa, xenophobia is most used and understood in relation to people from different nationalities, cultures or languages other than South African. Xenophobia is often interpreted as South Africans exhibiting prejudice or discrimination against people of other nationalities. This article seeks to reconstruct this "externality" notion, by arguing that xenophobic attitudes can also be directed internally. Du Pre (1992) in Strangers in their Own Country provided a political history of the coloured people of South Africa. A dominant feature of his analysis is the stigmatisation and marginalisation of coloured people throughout their history. This article posits that the stigmatisation and marginalisation of vulnerable coloured communities continue, and should be regarded as xenophobia. With reference to gang subcultures, the article shows how this xenophobia manifests in vulnerable gang-affected coloured communities, not only from the outside, but even within coloured communities themselves.

This article aims to examine the subtle links that exist between cultural practices and beliefs and the high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in southern and other parts of Africa. It interrogates aspects of culture and emphasizes that cultural beliefs and practices and the way people perceive masculinity are major obstacles in the fight against the disease. The article also postulates that the lack of centrality of culture in HIV/AIDS intervention is one of the major reasons why very little success has been recorded in the area of behavior change. The analysis draws heavily on Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory, which postulates that learning and behavior change occurs within a social context and that personal factors, environmental factors, and human behavior exert influence upon each other.

Contemporary societies across the world are faced with the burden of prevalent and diverse societal wrongdoings which have possible future implications that are alarming and worrisome if not controlled. Therefore, the need for societal regeneration for a better future becomes imperative, and this change can be achieved by various means. This study argues that African Literature can be considered a tool through which the desired change can be achieved. Thus, this study aims to demonstrate how African Literature fulfils the criteria of being a tool for societal regeneration by examining the paradigms and moral positions in matters that affect the society using a textual and interpretative analysis of selected literary works (Ayi Kwei Armah’s Fragments and The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born and Achebe’s A Man of the People). This study is premised on the fact that African Literature provides an opportunity for a connection with indigenous roots that made the traditional society a relatively non-perverted one while the simultaneous all-round forward progress of the contemporary is not jeopardised. Considering the potential in literature to achieve social change, a reading culture must be revitalised and encouraged, especially among millennials who are victims and promoters of these menaces, as it provides a mechanism for corrective psychology and orientation.