The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation launched an anti-racism app called, Zimele Racism Reporting App, on Thursday.
The foundation's director, Nishan Bolton, said they wanted to launch the app specifically during Anti-Racism Week to raise awareness for the need to focus on issues of racism and the impact it has on human rights.
He said this formed part of a global trend of using technology to combat social issues such as racism.
"It is working effectively in a number of institutions and a number of communities across the world but it is also part of the digital era that we live in," Bolton said
Bolton said victims of racism or people who have witnessed acts of racism would be able to report it immediately with an option of remaining anonymous.
He said the foundation would be able to use the reported information in a number of ways
"We will be able to monitor trends of racism across the country, specifically where it's happening and to whom it's happening to," he said.
Bolton said that if the app users share their details it would also enable the foundation to follow up on the information and to provide the required intervention supports, as well as individual support over time.
He said the app would be piloted for the whole month of March to allow the foundation time to deal with glitches in the system, shortcomings and also bring onboard a whole range of supporting organisations.
"That will enable an effective rollout and implementation of the app over time," Bolton added.
