SA still confronts a great racial divide

IN RESPONSE to the article in dated May 17-21, 2023 – “Minorities unwelcome in workplace”.

In 1963, the apartheid regime enforced a hideous law called The Job Reservation Act, which protected white workers and excluded nonwhites from important employment opportunities.

In 1958, the ILO (International Labour Organization) passed a resolution that laid down that all member countries should promote equal opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation for all persons, without discrimination or preference based on race, colour, political opinion, sex, religion, national extraction or social origin.

The Employment Equity Amendment Act is the ANC’s version of the Job Reservation Act under apartheid.

These deplorable acts of bigotry and prejudice under the guise of employment equality have no place in the 21st century. It is time to kick bigotry out of labour relations. Zero tolerance for racial discrimination and racism must be adopted and ruthlessly implemented.

South Africa still confronts a great racial divide, and there is an urgent need to close that tragic gap as quickly as possible. It grieves us all to witness the extent to which racial mistrust and animosity still beset and bedevil our democratic nation.

As a minority, we fought against white supremacy, relegating us to third-class status. Today, once again, as a minority, we are witnessing history repeating itself as we are stealthily removed from the labour market.

It is evident that there still exists a serious rift in the nation’s social fabric when Black and White citizens view incidents and headlines through contrasting lenses. And it is a rift that must be healed quickly before further alienation and damage is done. Any form of job reservation is naked racism under whatever guise. It is blatant discrimination and a critical and pivotal violation of our constitutional rights.

Racism still rears its ugly head in rainbow South Africa. The deluge of racist comments now engulfing our nation is a graphic illustration of racism by stealth.

There must be zero tolerance for any form of racism. We’ve come so far, yet it seems our journey in defeating racism is far from over, as our nation is dealing with this malignant cancer that eats away at the fabric of society.

Any free-thinking man or woman can clearly distinguish between right and wrong. Our very conscience tells us deep down inside that many, of all races, hold racism in their heart. It surrounds us overtly and covertly, inconspicuously and passively, and is terribly destructive to those targeted by it. Racism kills scores of people each year and makes the lives of many miserable and desperate.

There is no antidote for this contagious disease. The only true way to separate and navigate one’s self away from racism would be to continuously move away from those people who participate in such vile acts.

If our rainbow nation is to move past the ills of prejudice and bigotry, it will take courage under fire to realise that we are all part of this beloved land. Our rainbow nation’s rainbow is swamped red with the blood of exploitation. Let us respect one another.

Those who commit vile acts of racism must be ruthlessly prosecuted. There is no room for racism in South Africa. We sacrificed life and limb for our precious, hard-won non-racial democracy. We must expunge racial remarks from our vocabulary.