Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
We will fight racism together
Independent Media on right track, writes Patricia de Lille
I SUPPORT the “Racism Stops with me” campaign by Independent Media. The effort to add its voice to those of others who are working to end racial discrimination is commendable. We cannot naively accept racism disappeared after the death of apartheid. Fighting racism as a legacy of our past requires leadership.
On Human Rights day last year, the City of Cape Town launched its Inclusive City Campaign accompanied by the tagline, “Don’t let racists speak for you.” South Africa has been structured along racial separation for centuries and it is to be expected that history lives with us today.
We face many challenges to a culture of rights and as a city government we want to face them head-on to say that we will not tolerate racists, sexists or homophobes.
We decided it was time to amplify the voices of ordinary people in Cape Town who are against racism and encourage people to publicly distance themselves from it and embrace a culture of human rights.
The message was simple: don’t let racists speak for you. We wanted to educate people about their rights.
In the first part of the campaign, we reached 1.2 million people through print adverts, 1.7 million through radio and 1.1 million people through social media, where we invited people to join the conversation and take their pledge against racism.
We held sessions for stakeholder outreach which included meetings with the South Africa Property Owners Association, tertiary institutions, political parties, unions, faith-based organisations and the
provincial cabinet. The city’s campaign was endorsed by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who said: “All our people should be given a great deal more credit. They have adjusted to a new environment with incredible pananche.”
Ahmed Kathrada, who also endorsed our campaign, joined our panel discussion to close the first phase of the campaign with thought leaders such as Jonathan Jansen and Mondli Makhanya.
I established an facility to report incidents of racism and direct complaints to the relevant bodies with follow-ups by making this a special project in my office. We also engaged with the media including Independent Media editors.
I am very pleased Independent Media delivered on that commitment as we gather for the launch of the “Racism Stops With Me” campaign. The City of Cape Town will work together with them because it is important to consolidate our respective efforts. It is therefore encouraging to see a sector body step up to the task.
As the City of Cape Town, we aren’t resting on our laurels.
This month we’ll be launching the second phase of the Inclusive City campaign.
This phase was conceptualised with the feedback of the millions of people we engaged with in the first phase. Councillors will be distributing posters and pamphlets with antiracism messaging in their communities. They will host community workshops in their wards.
We will have prominent displays of anti-racism and anti-xenophobia messaging at all major events in the city.
We will be having stakeholder sessions once more to which Independent Media will be invited and we hope they will join us again.
The racism complaints desk I established in my office last year will also continue to assist victims of racism, directing their complaints to the relevant institutions.
People should no longer just complain. To effectively fight racism, everyone needs to know and, more important, claim their rights.
The City of Cape Town is also working with the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, who is running a similar campaign.
We are not alone in confronting racism in South Africa. Other countries around the world are grap- pling with the legacy of institutional racism.
The father of our nation, Tata Madiba once said: “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”
Let us not be demotivated by the size of the hill we are climbing. Instead, let us be encouraged by the knowledge we are climbing it together.
● De Lille is executive mayor of the City of Cape Town. She delivered this speech at a pre-Sona lunch hosted by Independent Media on Thursday.
See http://stopracism.iol.co.za.