‘Rainbow nation concept naive’

Manyoni says South Africa needs to adopt a more practical and less idealistic way to combat racism

South Africa’s approach to removing the key characteristics of apartheid such as racial discrimination and inequality at the dawn of democracy in 1994 by championing the notion of a rainbow nation was too idealistic and incapable of truly transforming and uniting people, Mangaung Metropolitan mayor Thabo Manyoni said.

Manyoni said the problem of racism had remained entrenched in South African society to this day because there was no defined strategy and a binding mechanism to address the issue of racism.
The executive mayor said this at the opening of a public dialogue on racism, hosted by the municipality in partnership with the University of the Free State’s Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice, the Human Rights Foundation and the Anti-Racism Network of South Africa (ARNSA).

“When we claimed to be a rainbow nation, there was nothing binding us and there is still nothing that is binding us,” said Manyoni at the meeting held as part of the build-up to the third annual Bram Fischer Memorial Week to be held later this month.

“But I think with the present happenings, there is a call… for there is something that binds us which is human dignity. And that human dignity requires all of us, black and white… to say yes we don’t care as long as we bring dignity and pride to our country,” added the mayor.

Manyoni said the South African constitution was underpinned by three core values which are human dignity, equality and freedom.
He said it was the same values that the late struggle heroes Solomon Mahlangu, Bram Fischer and had strived for.

“It is these values that today we are still grappling with to ensure that they become a reality in our country.

“What I want us to consider when we look into this matter of racism is to say are we as South Africans supposed to draw laws that are supposed to rule us in our conduct or are we… as dignified human beings supposed to understand what’s good conduct that is expected of a dignified human being.

“Remember, we are not a constitutional monarch and we can’t expect the constitution to rule our daily lives and (for it) to be explicit on any matter pertaining our lives,” the mayor suggested.
He said the country’s constitution was clear in the way it defined human dignity which goes with human rights, equality which goes with decency and decent living as well as the freedom to associate or dissociate and to speak.

Manyoni however said he was disturbed by the high prevalence of racism in the country and urged communities to fight this scourge.
“Racial intolerance in South Africa is the most stubborn headache faced particularly in the Free State Political leadership and human rights groups will tell us that according to their reports, allegations of racism make about 80 percent of the over 10 000 human rights complaints that they receive annually.

“But the fact of the matter is that as long as those organisations are receiving reports of human rights violations, it means we are not what we think we are.

“I think our fathers, the Tutus and others, were too idealistic to claim that we are a rainbow nation. We were a combination of ethnic groups that are looking into self-preservation than any else. And in that regard, it becomes difficult to see another as ‘one of us’. It’s them and us. And this is what is playing out in the public arena or space today,” said the mayor.

He said the second issue that underpins the country’s constitution but is not really looked into was the issue of equality and warned that it could be a dangerous situation.

“The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. The gap is getting wider and we are expected to say that everyone is equal and we will treat each other with equality and respect. As long as we deal with idealism… and we don’t deal with practical matters, we will still be faced with these types of problems,” he said.

Manyoni said racial inequality is not an easy matter to deal with and that it was the reason there were several organisations across the world working towards the problem. He said it was however unfortunate that some of the issues afflicting smaller communities never get to be known, hence the formation of the organisations.

“When Mandela said “it is in your hands…”, did we really understand what he meant? Did he say it is in the hands of one institution out there or did he mean the future of this country is in our hands as South Africans, all of us?

“It is easy to claim that somebody is racist as if we are not. I think if we take from the legacies of the Bram Fischers, the Solomon Mahlangus and all those who wanted to have a South Africa that we all can be proud of, we must start understanding that it is in our hands (to fight racism). It does not belong to organisations…” said the mayor.