Time to heal old wounds
On this day 107 years ago the ANC was born – and 70 years ago Cato Manor erupted in race riots. Let’s now reach out to one another for a unified, truly democratic South Africa
THIS week marks the 107th birthday of the ANC. This week also saw President Cyril Ramaphosa launch the election campaign of the ANC in Kwazulunatal, traversing through a vast and very important political terrain.
During this week, President Ramaphosa addressed the fears and hopes of many communities in a country that approaches 25 years of a young and robust democracy. In Pietermaritzburg, he spoke to the Indian and coloured communities, saying “the last few years have been very challenging in advancing multiracialism”.
They have been very challenging, not just for us but for the world, in overcoming racism. In November, Ramaphosa addressed the European parliament where he stated: “Despite our greatest efforts, our world is blighted by conflict, poverty and oppression.
“The spectre of the resurgence of racism and xenophobia cloaked in the mantle of nationalism is rising and causing a great deal of concern in a number of places. Unilateralism is on the rise and threatens to undermine our collective commitment to democratic values and the respect for human lives. Now more than ever, we turn to our great leaders for strength and inspiration to resolve the challenges of our time.”
Today, South Africa sits on a powder keg of violent uprising where racism is continually rearing its ugly head. This week, an image circulating on social media showed black and white children seated at separate tables, apparently at Laerskool Schweizer-reneke.
The Gauteng Department of Education has suspended the teacher managing this classroom and will conduct an inquiry.
December saw covert racism resulting in Clifton Beach residents in Cape Town employing security guards to remove “undesirable elements” beyond prescribed curfew hours.
Several incidents of overt racism, aggravated by the now infamous Penny Sparrow, leave our people frustrated, given that we have endured more than 367 years of colonial and apartheid rule.
Seventy years ago to the day, Kwa Zulu-natal experienced the maleficence of human behaviour at its lowest ebb.
This month marks 70 years since the horrific 1949 race riots of Durban. Sparked by a rather minuscule dispute that started in Grey (now Yusuf Dadoo) Street, it spread into a reign of terror that saw unspeakable human tragedy.
Four days – from January 13 to 17, 1949 – saw two communities, the South African Zulu and Indian brethren who had lived peacefully together for close to 90 years, debauch themselves in an abyss of trauma that still lingers.
The carnage resulted in the loss of 142 lives, with 1087 people injured. The madness saw the complete destruction of one school and factory, 58 trading stores and 247 houses. Two factories, 652 trading stores and 1 258 houses were partially damaged.
The real tragedy was evidenced by the psychological trauma that remained with the riot’s survivors on both sides. It is a tragedy that we continue to heal with cathartic acts of social cohesion that is still being practised today.
The reasons behind the riots are multifaceted but they arose primarily as a result of the oppressive government’s inability to provide equality and hope to all the country’s people. Inquiries into the madness of the 1949 riots point toward third party involvement in fuelling the violence and mayhem. Attempts to heal both communities affected by this tragic hatred resulted in greater co-operation. After the riots, leaders of the Natal Indian Congress and the ANC continued to work closely with one another to defeat the common enemy.
In a similar way to how leaders after the 1949 riots sought to heal the divisions of racism, we hope now to see responsible leadership of today providing strength and inspiration to resolve the challenges we all face today.
These challenges are made even harder to overcome, given that South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, according to a new report by the World Bank.
The report analysed South Africa’s post-apartheid progress‚ focusing on the period 2006 to 2015. It found the top 1% of South Africans own 70.9% of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 60% control only 7% of its assets.
The groups worst affected by poverty are black South Africans‚ the unemployed‚ the less educated‚ femaleheaded households‚ large families and children. The official unemployment rate was 27.7% in the third quarter of 2017, while youth unemployment was 38.6%.
The report found that poverty has a “strong spatial dimension” from apartheid: “Poverty remains concentrated in previously disadvantaged areas‚ such as the former homelands.”
Trawling through social media gives a frightening sense of the real divisive and anarchic thought that still persists on the ground, here in South Africa and sadly throughout the world.
Given the inequality and other challenges we face, it is about time that we confront our fears realistically and engage honestly with each other.
Twenty-five years into democracy, it is about time that we acknowledge that there remains a lot more work ahead for us as citizens and government to prevent hatred that fuels violence!