Social cohesion is a political issue

POLITICAL analyst Lukhona Mnguni, one of the panellists at the race relations seminar held last week, said he was not going to answer whether Blacks or Indians were racist because all of humanity could continuously oppress the other if given the opportunity.

According to Mnguni, individual citizens can do much to build social cohesion among each other provided they don’t continue to vote for the wrong government and allow it to run amok with power, because the principle agent for social cohesion is government.

“Social cohesion is a political issue. It is not a matter of me liking you. We must hold the state accountable in failing to bring about social cohesion. There is a misconception that racism is faced by poor people, but much of our suffering is a policy problem. Social cohesion is about co-existing. We must stop being complicit in this mis-governance and the breaking of the social contract that we have entered into. One of the biggest causes of social in-cohesion today in South Africa is the fuel price. We have a state that has put a lot of taxes and levies on fuel to fund its bad administration. The State must act responsibly. South Africans, you will fight among yourselves [but] the state is the one that is guilty. South Africans, must get the government that they know will deliver and they must stop being committed to being abused,” said Mnguni.

Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.

You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail WhatsApp number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts