CAPE TOWN, May 9 (ANA) – Champions of nonracialism, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation (AKF) on Monday weighed in on the most recent publicised incidents of racism in South Africa, saying outbursts induced negative feelings towards the entire white community.
The Foundation’s director, Neeshan Balton commented on three recent racist outbursts namely; Matt Theunissen’s hate-fuelled comments toward sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, SPCA Matlosana manager Suzette Kotze’s alleged use of the k-word in her own online outburst, and the sharing of a conversation and comments allegedly by High Court Judge Mabel Jansen connecting rape and black culture.
“It is shocking that in several of these cases, the individuals just cannot understand the complete hurt their statements have caused and ill feeling that it develops towards white people in general, even though their views are not representative of all white people,” said Balton.
“The challenge for us doing anti-racism work, is how do we engage such people and understand how they have come to hold such world views, and what is needed to change this,” he said.
Part of the reason for their racist beliefs, said Balton, appeared to be that discrimination was embedded in the guilty parties’ identity.
“What is common in all three cases, is that the offenders are all educated. There can be no excuse of being ignorant, or having a lack of exposure, or not being able to interact with black people in post-apartheid South Africa,” said Balton.
“The only other conclusion that one can draw from their statements is that their racism forms a core part of the way in which they have been socialised, how they have been brought up, and how they live their lives today,” he said.
Balton commended the public for challenging these “overt forms of racism” but added that “stringent action needed to be taken by the relevant authorities against racist individuals”.
As such, AKF lodged its complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission, requesting it investigate the three cases.
“We are also calling on the Judicial Service Commission to similarly investigate Mabel Jansen’s comments, and assess whether she is fit to hold judicial office,” said Balton.
“One would have to question if Jansen’s racist views would have had an impact on the cases of black offenders, which she may have presided over.”
Balton added that the frequency of overt racism called into question the validity of criminalising racism. This is a call that resurfaced at the start of 2016 after – among other incidents – the now sacked KwaZulu-Natal real estate agent Penny Sparrow referred to black beachgoers as monkeys.
The African National Congress then committed to investigating the possibility of criminalistion.
“While legislation will not change people’s thinking, it will certainly put a lid on the public display of racism,” said Balton.
However, he said, the difficulty was in getting the offenders to understand “just how offensive and dangerous their statements are”, without the guilty parties making excuses that they “are not racist because they have friends who are black” – which was Theunissen’s response to national outcry.
“Other than making their utterances illegal, how do we get people to understand racism in its full complexity?” questioned Balton.
Despite the concerns, Balton noted the unity in outcry: “What is clear following these incidents though, is that these sentiments have angered South Africans across the racial lines, and has made it clear that fighting the demon of racism requires the joint effort of all.”
– African News Agency (ANA)
