Abstract
Abstract:The focus on god and Ubuntu constructs affirms the fact that people are natural social
constructivists involved in a continuous process of conceptualising ideas that give
meaning to their contexts. The juxtaposing of these two constructs extends what is
known of new god ideas to that of Ubuntu or African ‘humanness.’ Whereas ideology
criticism served as the broad overarching hermeneutical tool for this study, feminism
was used as the specific interpretative framework to critically scrutinise mostly
patriarchally biased conceptualisations of god and Ubuntu. In contrast to Western
feminism, African womanism, with its emphasis on African Motherhood/Womanhood,
contributed to a much needed contextual and culturally sensitive analysis of Ubuntu in
particular. It was concluded that there are various god and Ubuntu constructs and that
it is no longer tenable to claim a single (dogmatic/essentialist) god or a single
(dogmatic) Ubuntu to structure reality meaningfully. ‘Truth’ lives only momentarily as
history continues to unfold and people find new ways in their search for meaning.