Lamola calls on South Africans to be anti-racism ambassadors

The Third World Conference Against Racism and Xenophobia (WCAR) is commemorating its 20^th anniversary, shedding light on those affected by racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

The conference pulls together all sectors of society to rally behind the coordination and implementation of governments’ plans to fight discrimination.

“The theme of this conference provides us with a timely opportunity to pause and reflect on the last 20 years since the world conference against racism was held in South Africa from the perspective of the pursuit of equality in this country,” South African Human Rights Commission chairperson, Advocate Bongani Majola said.

With this year marking 25 years of the birth of the constitution, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said South Africans need to be ambassadors of anti-racism.

“Our constitution, is not just a document we revere. Our constitution is a social contract which binds all of us not to forget our past but to create an inclusive South Africa, which at its core is non-racial and non-sexist,” Lamola said.

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“Our generation needs to be different in every way, we cannot replicate the indiscrimination of the past in any way. We have inherited a dysfunctional society but this constitution is ours to prosecute,” he added.

Majola said the recent incident at Stellenbosch University, where white student Theuns du Toit urinated on a laptop and study materials belonging to a black student, was a clear indication that racism is “still walking the streets of the town”.

A petition has called for the university to expel Du Toit.

The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation said everyone across all races needed to tackle racism, with proper tools and action.

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