Ubuntu in South Africa - What it Really Means

"Ubuntu" is a foreign word to most people, though recently it's gained recognition as the name of a Linux distribution. However, there's much more to the word "ubuntu" than computer programming. This article is about what "ubuntu" means in South Africa.

The word, "ubuntu" comes from the Bantu languages of Southern Africa. Sometimes the word ubuntu is translated simply as, "togetherness". In an attempt to explain it slightly more, ubuntu is also translated as, "I am because you are." Even through the wide diversity of cultures and languages of the Bantu people, the ethic of "ubuntu" stays the same.

There is no easy way to completely describe what "ubuntu" means because for those who follow it, it is fully present in nearly every aspect of every day life. To those who live with its ethic and principles, it's like the air they breathe, it's simply an understood but rarely mentioned aspect of life.

But for those of us who are outsiders to the ubuntu culture, we can quickly notice it in certain common details of daily life - things that are different, or sometimes strange to us of Western cultures. Here's a list of examples that I've noticed just in my short time in South Africa so far:

The first, and most subtly surprising one, is that in South African ubuntu societies, you actually say "hello" and ask how someone is doing, with everyone you pass by. It doesn't matter whether you know them or not; if you see them, and they see you (which itself is the literal greeting in Zulu: "I see you"), you greet them, ask them how they are, and wish them well whether they're staying or going.

Even part of the customary ubuntu greeting itself is often "where are you?" instead of "how are you?" The usual response, "I am here," definitely demonstrates that the proximity of community and companionship is the real indicator of well-being.