Economic, Social, and Territorial Cohesion
= H. v. Europeaus H. v. Afer3&5 © Cedric R de la Harpe 21 Mar 2025
SOCIAL COHESION:
Thirty years into South Africa’s New Democracy, and we have not achieved Social Cohesion, I do not expect you to believe me, so I rely on AFD, (Agency French Development) and their partners University of Cape Town, to comment through their paper dated December 2017[1]. I quote the introduction thereto:
CONCEPTUALIZING AND ANALYZING INEQUALITY AND SOCIAL COHESION IN SOUTH AFRICA
Twenty years on since independence and the end of Apartheid, South Africa is yet to emerge as a socially cohesive nation. The proposed research project aims to formulate a relevant approach for social cohesion in the case of South Africa and analyze the link between social cohesion and ethnic and racial inequalities.
“Here this team of researchers, gives a clear indication that the lack of Social Cohesion in South Africa, links to both the ethnic and racial inequalities that exist in South Africa today, and if we are unable to resolve the lack of Social Cohesion, all South Africans are at a disadvantage, and that includes every white, as it is obvious that not even the white population is united anymore.”
CONTEXT
Twenty years on since independence and the end of Apartheid, South Africa is yet to emerge as a socially cohesive nation.
South Africans still live apart – geographically and socially – except within a few groups where the constituents share common identities such as race, ethnicity and class.
“Social Cohesion does exist among the race groups, cultural groups, and importantly, the class groups, and as the weeks pass by, I will show that the Economic Elite, are responsible for the class separation, and that it is evil to believe that within the poverty groups, Social Cohesion does exist, but separated by race and cultural norms.”
Moreover, inequality continues to provoke tension – between the rich and the poor, between racial groups, between the urban metropoles and former homelands, and between farm owners and their workers.
Economic growth, to the extent it has occurred, has not brought with it greater equality and cohesion in South Africa, the essential ingredient of inclusive growth.
“Every South African, no matter what our race, culture, or class is, is very aware of the fact that South Africa, as a society, is deteriorating, the rich is getting richer, and the poor is getting poorer, and this is directly related to the lack of Social Cohesion, the essential ingredient of inclusive growth.”
Scholars, policy makers, opinion leaders, and citizenry of the country have been extensively debating issues surrounding the cohesiveness of South African society.
Yet, the term “social cohesion” has been used loosely in academic literature and political discourse, and its meaning and its mutual dependence with economic development have not been well understood.
We do not yet have a clearly defined concept – and hence definition – of social cohesion as relevant for inclusive development in South Africa.
“In 2017, 23 years into our New Democracy, the academics clearly state that we do not have a clear concept of Social Cohesion, as is relevant to inclusive development in South Africa, and I submit that such concept still does not exist.”
Without definition and measurement, we cannot conclusively ascertain if social cohesion has improved.
Without knowing a few key levers (i.e., determinants of social cohesion), it would be difficult to formulate policies that can materially improve social cohesion and effectively achieve inclusive development.
“For the past four years, I have researched and drafted hundreds of pages, aimed at guiding Sub-Saharan Africa, to effectively achieve inclusive development as a landmass, then, during the past week, I wake up to the importance of Social Cohesion, and through failing to understand this over the past twenty odd years, has cost our Country dearly.”
“One large step”
Economic, Social, and Territorial Cohesion, is not possible in a Country, in a landmass, where the populations do not have Social Cohesion, do not have this sense of belonging and shared purpose on every street in the Country.
Only a mutual sense of belonging and shared purpose on every street in the Country, will bring economic, social, and territorial cohesion, off which inequality will fade and poverty would disappear.
My research into ‘Nature”, and where the Human fits into Nature, allows my wife Nettie and I, to understand Social Cohesion, and that we personally have achieved Social Cohesion in the various groups throughout the Country, as far back as 1990, and that it is very simple to achieve.
The ‘key’ is for the different classes to understand, that Social Cohesion is essential for Economic, Social, and Territorial Cohesion, and that all the citizens of Southern Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, can benefit, if we achieve Social Cohesion.
Poverty can never be resolved, if we do not have social cohesion, and that indicates that every person in South Africa, must move into the mode of fostering a sense of belonging and shared purpose, an aspect that the Colonizer should have brought with him, when the white superior colonizer arrived in the colonies, had they elected to implement Social Cohesion with the Indigenous Populations, imagine what Sub-Saharan Africa would be like today;
Imagine with me: or as Robert Sobukwe puts it, “become with us”.
I imagine Sub-Saharan Africa, with a rail service that provides for commuter and goods transport, linking West Africa to East Africa, running South to the fairest Cape of all, the web of rail lines linking thousands of factories, thousands of agricultural holdings, off which rail sidings link the Cities and Towns to the Ports.
A system that will allow every person access to the Global Market, we, all of us busy manufacturing and producing every item of food and drinks, clothing, furniture, building materials, arms, ammunition, motor cars, planes, that we need, and exporting our excess to Europe.
In the imagine world of Sub-Saharan Africa, the 10% of the world, that own 60% of the world asset wealth, will only own 15% of the world asset wealth in 2045, however, having achieved social cohesion, the Economic, Social, and Territorial Cohesion that follows, will ensure that the top 10% of the world, will still own the same comparative wealth that they own in 2025.
Imagine our young developing in an education system that will rival Switzerland, imagine an economy that will allow every family to care for their elders, a landmass where Nature is protected, and where Nature provides for us, a landmass where opportunity is life, a landmass where inequality is extinct.
Any person, who is able to imagine Sub-Saharan Africa as I do, will know that poverty would be alleviated in the world, when we achieve this.
This is a huge step:
Social Cohesion, across the class and colour line, has never been attempted before, those who make the huge step, will be remembered as pioneers in the process of removing inequality.
Human as defined by the indigenous populations:
It would take me years to understand what I heard from the local communities in the Townships and Native Villages;
“When asked the locals why they did not hate myself and my wife, for what we did to them, a common answer was,
“Cedric, we have no animosity towards any human”.
Only when I combined another comment from the local communities in the Townships and Native Villages, when we were discussing corrupt persons,
we would hear the comment, “He is not human”.
Off these two comments, I make the deduction that the Human, as referred to in this instance, was typical describing a person who lived a lifestyle embodied in humanity, governed by an ancient religious belief that God is in every-one, and God is in everything:
When a person fails such criteria, he is no longer human, whether he is a Homo Sapiens or not.
Human according to academia:
Academia use the term Human to hide many of the atrocities of the Western World, and the discussions on the term Human, will be found mainly in the legal context convincing all those who believe they are Human that they are being protected as the Human with minority rights;
“Human”, “Human-Dignity”, “Human-Nature” Human-Being, “Human”, “Nature and Nurture” “Nature” and even a “Being”.
Over the past few years, I have found difficulty in placing myself in the box with the Human label, and thanks to this research, where I question myself as a Human, I believe that only another ‘Human’, could credit me as being ‘Human’;
Am I Human?
Having failed to satisfy myself during my Human Research. I separated the Hu prefix from the Man. and started to research the prefix HU ;
‘Homo’ = Man and ‘Sapiens’ = wise,
On January 31. 2025, 30 days into drafting my first pamphlet for my One-Man Revolution, I find a study on the history of languages.
I quote extract:
Eventually, this paper tackled and reached the following points:
- This prefix {hu} is descended from Proto Indo – European morphemes, as etymology of interest only to scholars and researchers who wish to study the history of languages.
- {hu} is an old morpheme because there is only one type of this prefix has been continuing in Modern English and Modern Kurdish since 2-3 millennia ago.
I quote the extract, that defines, in my Opinion; ‘what Human means’, and it makes it very clear, that the word, does not relate to all Man, it also relates to creatures, but only good creatures, I quote:
Only one word is the specific target of this study Viz ‘human’ to clarify this word which includes two morphemes hu + man.
hu > To originate this word etymologically {hu} or {hue} in Anglo – Saxon was {hiw} and in Middle English was {hewe} meant
show, good, appearance, colorful.
On the other hand, these two morphemes together {human}
in Latin means a good creature of earth.
I submit that “Human means a good creature of earth” and for any of the Homo Sapiens Variety, to be a Good Creature of Earth, they need to have been cultivated to be a Good Creature of Earth, and therefore I need another Human to give me credit as a Human.
“Measures of Social Cohesion”
Social cohesiveness, often described as the “glue” that binds society, refers to the degree of connectedness, solidarity, and trust among people within a community, fostering a sense of belonging and shared purpose.
During or first visit to Soweto in July 2004, and I have documented this and discussed it with our tourists[2] since then, “we were surprised by the love, warmth, and respect, that we received.
Today I submit that it was only received at the level that we experienced, because of our Social Cohesiveness contribution.
My wife and I, my wife an Afrikaner, both white conservative, never anti-Apartheid, we confess to having been racist, I submit that I still have a racist mind-set, I label myself as a racist in recovery, like an alcoholic, I will never heal, if I do not keep on doing what I do, I will ‘fall of the wagon’.
Notwithstanding this, the local populations from Cape Town to Tanzania, has only shown love, warmth and respect for us, which allowed our mutual love to flow in return, and over years, this has reset our mind-sets.
I will discuss the respect aspect first;
RESPECT:
Could we return the respect that we received from the Indigenous populations?
As I study ‘respect’, I am not sure that society ever uses it in a way that it really means something, if I walk into the Alexandra Township Male Hostel, and I walk into a room where a group of ten Zulu’s are sitting ignoring me, how would Academia, and you the reader listener, define the ‘respect’ that I should show them, and how do I show such ‘respect’? “I can’t answer this”.
Love and Warmth:
This is the most important aspect that takes place in our lives, we feel the local communities love and warmth, and we respond with mimicking this behaviour, which is exactly the love and warmth we felt radiating from the indigenous populations.
I go back to my scenario in the Alex Hostel;
“I am walking into a room in the Alexandra Township Male Hostel, where a group of 10 Zulus are sitting ignoring me, I walk towards what would appear to me to be the Patriarch, I fist pump him, thumb extended up, I move my fist to my chest, and place my left arm around his back, and give him a slight hug, the rest of the group slowly move into a position so that they all can greet me.”
“I have just become one with them, I have caused Social Cohesion to exist, not just among this group, but it exists in that Hostel community for me, even among those who have only heard of this incident, and this allows Social Cohesion to exist year, after year, between me as the visitor to that space, and the residents of the Hostel.”
Oxytocin is a hormone that’s produced in the brain and released into the bloodstream. It plays a role in reproduction, childbirth, and social bonding. This is the hormone responsible for our social bonding and gives you a sense of well-being. Studies even show that when we receive physical touch, such as a hug or embrace, oxytocin production increases.
Here, I must give credit to my wife Nettie, her Conservative Afrikaner heritage, probably developed my social cohesive attitude. Her family, when greeting, they always hugged and kissed, even the males, father and sons. I never kissed the men, but the hugging has become part of me, when it started I do not know.
Today, 2025, after over 35 years of moving through Southern Africa, we understand that we, as a couple, had become Socially Cohesive, and although my writings over the years, will attribute this to the welcome that we received in Soweto, July 2004, the love, the warmth and the respect that we were given, we did not receive this without us displaying our Social Cohesiveness to the local communities.
My wife Jeanette de la Harpe and myself, have felt this sense of belonging and shared purpose in every Township and Native Village we have visited, since 1990.
I have opened a Facebook group, “Social Cohesion: under the address https://www.facebook.com/groups/onemanrevolution and this shows our interaction in Mozambique on border to Malawi, December 2001, arrival in the dark at 20:00 one night.
In my opinion, this sense of belonging and shared purpose, is the only criteria that defines Social Cohesion, because, our personal sense of belonging and shared purpose, only occurs, when there is a mutual sense of belonging and shared purpose, and this took place in the Mozambique community in 2001.
In order to achieve social cohesion with another group, the more superior class of person, needs to open the doors to the inferior class of person, in order to develop social cohesion, do not be afraid to move away from the “we are all equal” scenario, as this transfers the blame onto the Indigenous community, who are not equal to me, unless they have been cultivated into the European behavior patterns, which we find in the Corporate world, and the sporting world.
I use the example of greeting between two racial groups on the streets of the Suburban areas of South Africa. If I, as a white, was jogging in the morning, I could jog pass 20 black people, and they would never greet me, yet, when I walked in the streets of Soweto or Alexandra Township, very few would not greet me.
I am white, and on the streets of the suburban community, I am the senior, the superior, and a lower class would not impose on me in my space, by greeting me.
When jogging on the streets of Suburban Johannesburg, and I greet a black person that I pass, even though I had passed him for twenty days in a row and did not greet him, he will always return the greeting, and from then onwards, when we pass one another on the streets of Suburban Johannesburg, we will pass mutual greetings.
This a very simply Social Cohesion between the two of us.
When I, superior in my space, is Socially Cohesive, I am the party causing the social cohesion, whether in the suburbs or the Townships.
When I, superior in my space, is Socially Cohesive, I am the only party that can foster the sense of belonging and shared purpose, which brings Social Cohesion, so do not use the excuse that the lower
Where do we, and the 2025 white population, start?
Your personal foundation, is the Social Cohesion that already exists between you and one or more of your employees, that lives in a Township, Villages or spaces of high-density accommodation, where other whites never go.
Invite your-self and of your family to visit the employee at their home, arrange that you use the same public transport that your employee uses daily, to reach his/her home.
Once the tea-has been served and enjoyed, indicate to her that you would like to walk the neighbourhood streets, and get a feeling of her community.
Greet as you pass, and interact with any individuals that you find interesting.
When interacting, always introduce yourself, and where you are from.
When shaking hands, do not use the typical ‘white understanding’ of the African hand-shake, the three stage process that we have all been taught, us the one that I described in the Alexandra Hostel Scenario.
I fist pump him, thumb extended up, I move my fist to my chest,
When I started to use this greeting in areas where we were not known, many would smile and say, “Oh, so you know us”.
If there is a hawker on the street selling fruit or other items of interest, buy from the Hawker, your visit to your employee, is a visit to the entire neighbourhood, your buying from one hawkers, id support for the entire community.
When leaving, your employee, let her host you onto the local taxi, and give the driver instruction to get you safely home.
Remember the iconic quote “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” yes, you and your family, during this visit to foster a sense of belonging and shared purpose with the indigenous population, would have taken a greater leap for mankind that Neil Armstrong did on July 20, 1969.
Throughout the Country, from the Cities to the Rural areas, using local transport, and if need be, walking from the farm to the Village with your employee, will be noticed and respected by the communities, your visit will be long remembered, you would be creating a sense of belonging and shared purpose, for the Village and the farm, which will spread through our country like a wild fire.
“QUESTION I HAVE ASKED MYSELF SINCE JAN 01 2025”
“Why have you, Cedric, taken so long to address ‘Social Cohesion’ if Nettie and I have practiced it since the early 1990s?
Very simply, my exposure and studies at the University of Knowledge, required me to be exposed to the four main varieties of Homo Sapiens, and that we are different in more than just colour and our hair, our greatest difference is our #3Behaviour and #5Governance of actions patterns, and when I discover these studies, well hidden from the populations of the world, I know that I am not just some ‘white idiot’ briefly exposed to what I call the ‘black cage’,
I am a Homo variety Europeaus, origins indigenous populations of Europe, and my wife Nettie and I, through closely interacting and mimicking the communities of Sub-Saharan Africa, Homo variety Afer, have allowed their # 3 Behaviour pattern, and their #5 Governance of actions patterns, to dominate our European mind-set.
This takes place in the reverse, as the Homo variety Afer, mimics the Homo variety Europeaus and successfully allows the European mind-set to dominate their # 3 Behaviour pattern, and their #5 Governance of actions patterns, and these individuals are part of our Corporate and Team – Sporting world today.
As the Barefoot Naturalist, I have attached a new classification taxonomy to the H. v Europeaus, and symbolizing the power of what it did to our minds, I use the mathematical symbol. “to the power of” as follows:
- v. Europeaus H. v. Afer3&5
For the H. v. Afer, who has cultivated the European behaviour and governance patterns, I use the taxonomy, H. v. Afer H. v Europessu3& 5
Our latest qualification, I submit, allows us to express our newly understood philosophies on Nature.
You are welcome to comment on this post, or email me and I will respond to any queries that you may have.
Soweto or Alexandra, where social cohesion was developed:
Cedric and Nettie de la Harpe:
- v. Europeaus H. v. Afer3&5
[1] https://www.afd.fr/en/carte-des-projets/conceptualizing-and-analyzing-inequality-and-social-cohesion-south-africa#:~:text=Twenty%20years%20on%20since%20independence,cohesiveness%20of%20South%20African%20society. (davida@afd.fr)