CAPE TOWN, December 16 (ANA) – Reconciliation was a two-way process, the South African National Civil Organisation (Sanco) said on Friday, adding that recent cases of racial intolerance on social media must be confronted.
“Reconciliation has thus far eluded us because of the failure of some of our compatriots to embrace it as a two-way process that involves compromise, commitment to shared values and a common national identity,” said Sanco national spokesman Jabu Mahlangu in a statement.
In the Reconciliation Day message, Mahlangu appealed for patriotism among South Africans to achieve the goal of fostering a united, non-racial, non-sexist society in the country.
He said recent incidents such as racist posts on social media, the discrimination of black learners at the Pretoria Girls High School, and video footage of Victor Mlotshwa being abducted, assaulted and forced into coffin, was the “antithesis of reconciliation”.
“This cancerous spirit has the potential to reverse the collective gains that the country has made since the dawn of freedom and democracy,” Mahlangu cautioned.
– African News Agency (ANA)
