Economic reform will help tackle racism ’
RACISM will continue for the poor if inequality is not effectively tackled by both the government and individual South Africans.
The disturbing trends of the past 22 years reflect the urgency with which both inequality and racism were a major threat to social cohesion.
Parliamentary speaker Baleka Mbete said this at a two-day antiracism conference celebrating 20 years of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in Midrand yesterday.
Mbete said there was an urgent need to assist the government in confronting inequality as part of stopping racism.
“We don’t want to fuel the flames of the past. The landscape of opportunity still reflects apartheid contours.
“This is despite the opportunities that have been created for the previously disadvantaged.”
Mbete said the challenge of pervasive inequality could not be placed at the door of government alone. “It is incumbent on all of us to support and implement a social compact to strengthen the alignment between growth and development. We must insist that our economic growth path deracialises …” she said.
Mbete also said land reform was part and parcel of urgent economic reform. “Unless we do this, reconciliation shall remain shal- low and a dream deferred.”
SAHRC chairman Lawrence Mushwana said Chapter 9 institutions often faced a threat to their independence from the state.
He said despite the scourge of racism and human rights abuses, his office had a good track record.
“Between 2009 and 2013 the commission received over 35 000 complaints and inquiries and resolved 33 000 of them.”