Racial tension in South Africa

By Ilhaam Hoosain
7 March 2008

Racial Tension has risen in the past few weeks in South Africa - this is according to the SA Institute of Race Relations.

After the Skielik murders, where a teenager shot at people allegedly just because they were black, many other stories surfaced.

This includes the release of the racist video that depicts black cleaning staff eating pieces of meaty soup that was allegedly urinated on by a white student, part of a mock initiation, in particular racism at school, as well as the Forum for Black Journalist (FBJ), where no white people were allowed into the meeting.

Forum for Black Journalist has drawn attention

“The e-mail circulated to various newsrooms clearly indicated that only black journalists were welcomed to attend.

“At first I wasn’t supposed to attend because I felt strongly that you cannot exclude any race or any section of the community, purely on the base of their race or skin colour,” says Yusuf Abramjee, Head of news and programming at Primedia.

He goes on to say that on the Friday in question, after much talk he decided to go to the meeting and to raise his objection.

“I went to the FBJ meeting in Johannesburg, and raised my objection and argued to the audience, despite the hackling and the booing, that I am firmly of the view that the exclusive meeting was unconstitutional and I proposed that the meeting be opened to all South Africans irrespective of their race, colour or creed,” says Abramjee.

Yusuf Abramjee, Kieno Kammies and colleague, 702 editor Katy Katapodis lodged a formal complaint with the Human Rights Commission.

He goes on to say that one of the reasons for the complaint is that as they left the room, one or two individuals shouted abuse at them and referred to them as coconuts.

Racist school incidents have been very prominent in the headlines in the past few weeks.

Three cases occurred in Kwazulu-Natal, one of them being where 11 teachers at the George Cato Primary in Cato Ridge requested special leave according to a daily newspaper.

The teachers said that they left because they felt victimised by black teachers. The department of Education has intervened and set up a “team building and diversity management” exercise according to them.

Hannah Botsis is a political researcher at South African Institute of Race Relations says that there has definitely been an upsurge in the media.

“It’s an irrational fear of someone we don’t know and we don’t understand and there are also power relations within that.

“I think in South Africa part of the root of racism is apartheid and the fact that we were divided from each other in terms of living areas as well as every possible aspect, we were hidden from each other for so many years,” says Botsis.

UFS mock video cause protest

The University of the Free State has been in the headlines, since the release of a now-infamous video last Tuesday were four students filmed a mock-integration at their Reitz residence at the University.

The two students are currently at the University has been banned while the other two are finished studying.

The video depicts a mock initiation of five black staff members - four females and a man - into hostel activities and refers openly to the university's diversity policy for campus residences, which was announced last year.

Anton Fisher the universities Director of Strategic Communication says that the situation is very tense although classes are continuing.

“In the mid nineties we did integrate our residences for the first time and it worked for a while and for a few years, but then at the end of the nineties, there was tension between the black and white students.

“There was violence; the police had to be called in. As a compromise between the black and white student leadership at the time, they said that it’s better to separate for now,” says Fisher.

SA’s 2010 Chief uses K-word

Also in the spotlight recently was South Africa’s 2010 soccer chief Irvin Khoza who apologised unreservedly for using the K-word while speaking to a black journalist.

In a statement issued through the Human Rights Commission, the chairman of the 2010 World Cup Local Organising Committee said he had decided on this action after seeing the University of Free State racist video on the news.

Khoza said he never intended to use the k-word to demean or impair anyone’s dignity. Khoza had a week to formally apologise for using the word or the matter would have been taken to the Equality Court.

Students from the Reitz hostel have apologized unconditionally to all students and other hostels at the Free State University for the video that has caused such an uproar locally and also internationally.

Head of the hostel Christo Dippenaar says the whole hostel and its house committee has discussed the video and has decided to offer an unconditional apology to all students. He says they deeply regret the damage their actions have done to relations between cultural and language groups on campus, as well as to the image of the university.

Hannah Botsis from the SA Institute of Race Relation says that they strongly condemn the video it is a human rights abuse as well as a racist crime.

“No country in the world has managed to root out racism entirely in society, it’s a demon we are going to continue to struggle with,” says Botsis.