Group to lobby for Indians to be Africans
A LOBBY group to be launched next month is expected to spark debate over abolishing racial quota systems to “level the playing fields” of student intake at universities and employment.
The group has called for Indian people to be labelled Africans.
The proposed African
Minorities Congress (AMC) has been on the cards for several months after Durban businessman and ANC supporter Visvin Reddy said he had been approached by financially-stricken matriculants who believed they were also turned away from universities due to their race despite excelling in school.
“Local universities have restricted access for Indian and coloured students. This is an emotional issue in the Indian community and the quota reservation at universities must be seen as discriminatory,” said Reddy.
The AMC, which Reddy said was a non-political movement for change, would host meetings across the province to hear the plight of matriculants and employees and to challenge their matters in court.
For Reddy, being disregarded because of race was “a slap in the face of the bill of rights” and apartheid in reverse.
“We are 24 years into democracy. Our 24-year-olds were not part of apartheid and cannot be held responsible for it. They should be given the same opportunities as those prioritised in the affirmative action mandate.”
Reddy said the new generation of South African Indians should be referred to as Africans because they had been born on African soil. “We are patriots who fought in the Struggle, and we were also disadvantaged in the past. Poor families from Indian areas should be given the same benefits as those from Kwamashu and umlazi.”
Sociology Professor Ashwin Desai said while every society needed to rethink its policies to understand the deep consequences on youth, the focus should change from race to class.
He said that in cricket there was an overwhelming majority of black players, but they had come from expensive private schools, while township cricket clubs had degenerated.
“Public debate is needed and while this usually ends up being racial or defensive, we need to look beyond this. We must also be wary of what is said during election periods as people will be able to see through this,” he said.
Of identities, Desai said racial groups needed to build relationships with each other by emphasising their commonalities instead of their differences.
Reddy said it was important to note that the provision of free education would apply to all students from households with a combined annual income of up to R350 000 and this was not racerelated.