Anti-Racism Network launched in province
ABOUT80 civil organisations have joined hands to form the Anti-Racism Network South Africa (Arnsa), which will serve as an umbrella body to fight racism in the country.
Yesterday, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation launched Arnsa in the Western Cape after it was launched in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday.
The launch was held at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation’s offices in Cape Town.
It was also the official introduction of the finalised blueprint of the National Action Plan (Nap) to combat racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia.
The national chairman for Arnsa, SeanMoodley, said the formation of the network took about a year to reach completion.
“No single organisation can eradicate racism on its own, no matter how good they are.
“This started as an idea and tonight a year of hard work, together with the help of the Nelson Mandela and Ahmed Kathrada foundations, has come to a conclusion.”
The launch of Arnsa comes in the wake of the Anti-Racism Week campaign, which started on Monday.
One of the objectives of Arnsa is to act as a co-ordinating or driving entity for organisations interested in antiracism work and to create space for dialogue and conversations which would contribute to inter-network learning and the harnessing of the collective wisdom of the network.
Moodley said: “We want to be a single, yet powerful voice, made up of a choir of organisations.
“We want to sing one song. The stronger we are, then no school, company or government can ignore us.”
Arnsa also hopes to be a representative body to take service delivery cases to the equality court.
“We will be the organisation that is able to name and shame quickly.”
About the finalised National Action Plan on racism, Moodley said it took the country 15 years to come up with it, even though it was recommended by the UN in 2001.
The Plan is designed to provide the basis for the development of a comprehensive public policy against racial discrimination.
“In the past it was not taken seriously and now everything is happening. If South Africans do not wake up and realise it, it will be too late,” said Moodley.
“Now is the time to learn about it (racism), talk about it and speak out against it.
“We hear racist slurs and joke about them every day. It is only when people speak out against racism that we will see a change.”
WE HEAR RACIST SLURS AND JOKE ABOUT THEM EVERY DAY. IT’S ONLY WHEN PEOPLE SPEAK OUT AGAINST RACISM WILL WE SEE A CHANGE