“Theme:Working Together to Create a Caring and Proud Society”
Topic: Prejudice and Discrimination with a special reference to Racism, Tribalism, Sexism and Xenophobia.
Presenter: Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Respondent: Minister Fikile Mbalula
Thank you very much Minister Dlamini-Zuma for your mouthful presentation of the topic to this gathering today. It is evident from your boldness that your input on the topic has been well researched and full of insight on most of the issues this summit is tasked to deal with. You particularly blown my mind when you articulated the ‘root causes’ of racism, tribalism, sexism and xenophobia in South Africa.
I am particularly impressed by your historical account of colonialism and apartheid as well as white monopoly capital influence in the architecture of apartheid colonial conquest. In fact, your analysis of apartheid nation building philosophy gives this forum some salient strategies to undo such philosophical grounding of a divided, racist and patriarchal society where denial and exclusion were key features of such society.
You have made my task very easy in this summit specifically your vigor in articulating the collective positive attitude of the masses of our people in the struggle for a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society. This collective attitude by our people resonated in all generations as demonstrated by their bold actions against the successive apartheid colonial regimes and their laws culminating to the adoption of the Freedom Charter, here in Kliptown, 57 years ago.
This collective wisdom by the majority of our people through their representatives in the Congress of the People further resonated in the minds of our leaders in the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) that ours is to build a society ‘united in its diversity’.
Ours in this summit 18 years into democracy is to make the wishes of our former President Nelson Mandela a reality by committing ourselves to his ideals when he said:
“Let us commit towards our Common Goal,
A Nation where all of us are Winners.
Let us build a Nation of Champions!
Let us build a Nation that Walter Sisulu can be proud of.
When I see him in the Next Life,
I need to take Good News to him.”
The only good news that Madiba must send to Tata Sisulu should be based on the ability of this summit to confront the pressing issues confronting South Africa, including challenges of tribalism, xenophobia, racism and sexism. He should convey a message that South Africans has triumphed over the demon of xenophobia, tribalism, sexism and racism. However, before Madiba could do so, we need in this summit and elsewhere in our country, take stock of the difficult road we traversed and achievements we’ve made before and after the 1994 democratic breakthrough as well as the road we need to travel for the next 30 years and beyond.
Hence in my response to the presenter I will do so with a special reference to the contribution of sport and recreation in the fight against racism, tribalism, sexism and xenophobia.
One of these important stories Mandela should convey to Sisulu is the amount of the road we traversed in sport and recreation in South Africa. At the centre of that message by Comrade Madiba to Comrade Sisulu should be the 2010 FIFA World Cup, he must tell him that 18 years after the reacceptance of our country to the sporting nations of the world in 1992, South Africa hosted the first ever soccer extravaganza, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in an African soil.
Madiba should reveal that Africa has disappointed the proponents of Afro-pessimism who, by hook or crook, were hell-bend to incite xenophobic and racist attacks against other nationals especially nationals of African progeny before, during and after the 2012 FIFA World Cup festivities.
As a result, under the headline “how many 2010 visitors will (racism) and xenophobia drive away?” The International Media Forum held in Johannesburg, captains of the media from global leading agencies such as BBC, CNN and Reuters raised their pessimisms about the success of the World Cup in South Africa with a special reference to the 2008 so-called xenophobic attacks. On this matter, Paul Charles, Managing Director of Virgin Atlantic, said: “Recent incidents in South Africa have been a wake-up call for SA to clarify to the international community why it is an attractive … option.”
Legitimate as the concern might be, it was proven to be mischievous as it omitted most of the historic realities somewhere in the world. Let us have a closer look at the events in Germany few years before the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Dr Nik reports in his book titled – Nation of Champions – How Team SA won the World Cup? He said: “A violent outburst of xenophobia in Eastern Germany rocked international headlines when a black German citizen of Ethiopian descent was beaten into a coma by two unknown assailants in an unprovoked attack”.
This act of cowardice was dubbed by the German police a ‘worst racist’ attack in Potsdam Germany since the unification of East and West Germany after the 1992 firebomb of an asylum-seekers’ hostel in the Eastern Port of Rostok where onlookers clapped in delight as the inhabitants struggled to flee. It was further reported that systemic racist and xenophobic attacks have been widespread especially in the Eastern Bloc of Germany where unification brought massive unemployment, poverty and inequality, and where people lived for many years without interacting with foreign nationals particularly of African descent.
However, through efforts from the Germany government and its people, visitor numbers surpassed all expectations in Germany and the world cup was the resounding success.
South Africa, like German through the efforts of our government and people the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a resounding success. Campaigns to combat racist behaviour and xenophobia resulted in the hosting of a peaceful world cup with only few isolated incidents of reported petit-crimes. Initiatives to combat racism and xenophobia in our streets and communities are a testimony to a people that is committed to move forward towards an inclusive society.
Talking about the legacy of the FIFA 2010 World Cup to the African Continent is as rejuvenating as talking about the meaning of freedom to many generations that went through imperialism, colonial rule, plunder, apartheid, xenophobia, sexism and racial discrimination. The World Cup lit skies and provided us HOPE!
Africa today is laying the ghost of colonialism and despotic rule to rest and charting a new way forward for herself, taking our rightful place in the community of nations. The new Vistas that are opened by the democratisation processes are propelling our continent to new economic heights and generating a plethora of opportunities for current and future generations. Our historic mission of creating peaceful conditions that allows for free movement, freedom of choice, freedom of association, a united and prosperous Africa are beginning to yield the desired results.
We did this with the soul, zeal and zest to be counted as part of those who are in standing testament to the changing fortunes of our country from a divided nation into a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa and Africa.
Hence, the hosting of 2010 FIFA World Cup became a major milestone in the history of our country in particular and Africa in general. It marked the beginning of a major revolution in Africa’s socio-economic and political standing in the eyes of the peoples of the world. Our collective wisdom and drive for such an august event represented major bedrock for the realisation of the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) and that of our democratic state.
Therefore we need in the spirit of this summit submit today that we are seeking to create a country and society, which will respond to overcome the legacies of racism, tribalism, xenophobia and sexism.
We must therefore strive towards the realisation of a dream of a country that increasingly responds to the calls to change the quality of life of all our people and corresponds to equality of its inhabitants, full justice, building self-esteems of its children and responding to socioeconomic needs of its people in a type of society which we pledged to build 57 years ago.
It is in this regard that this summit, as it was clear from the opening remarks of the Minister of Arts and Culture, Hon. Paul Mashatile and the keynote address by President Jacob Zuma, should reassert its call on all of us not to disappoint the masses of our people who are patiently waiting for the delivery of such a promise as was made in Kliptown in 1955.
As South Africa, we must continue to work together with the peoples of Africa and the world to re-unite what was a divided country and continent; and ensure that all children of our nations enjoy majesty, liberty and integrity and grow up in an environment that treasures their god given talents, infusing the spirit of pliability and determination even in the face of difficult challenges.
Hence this summit should believe that the millions of Africans and South Africans know for the fact that we have a challenge towards 2014, to meet the UN MDG’s and those of our respective states. Together, we want to envisage a South Africa and Africa that has made some tremendous strides in the national effort and continental effort to build an African society of which all humanity would be proud. We would like to see an African continent that has taken a giant leap forward towards its rebirth.
This is the message President Mandela should communicate to Secretary-General Walter Sisulu when they meet again. He should tell him that when he was still living during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, he witnessed the power of sport on social cohesion and nation building. He must ask him whether he still remembers the words of the team manager of the 1995 Springbok team, Morne du Plessis when he said just minutes before the kick-off: “Madiba stepped out onto the field, wearing the South African Jersey.
I don’t think I will ever experience a moment like this. It was a moment of magic, a moment of wonder. It was the moment I realised that there really was a chance this country could work. This man was showing that he could forgive, totally, and now they – white South Africa – showed in that response to him that they too wanted to give back, and that was how they did it, chanting ‘Nelson! Nelson!’It was awesome .It was fairy-tale stuff!”
This posture of racial tolerance and acceptance continued through consecutive rugby world cups until recently in the 2010 soccer world cup when South Africa rekindled the magical spirit of the 1995 rugby world cup which was re-enforce by our collective loss in the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
Indeed, these episodes coupled with our participation in the Olympics since 1992 played a pivotal role in the fight against racism, tribalism, sexism and xenophobia. The baGhana-baGhana syndrome in the world cup is a case in point. The referee’s behaviour in the 2011 Rugby World cup nearly broke our hard won national unity by dividing our nation in different supporting groups, when one group, predominantly blacks reverting back to support New Zealand and the other, predominantly white, supporting European teams, which was tantamount to the divided South Africa we knew 20 years ago.
This calls on of us to the same vigor to rid South Africa of a falls common identity and at the same time fight against unity of convenience. However, this could not live long as we have strived to unite our country beyond the rugby world cup and rallied our people behind Team South Africa as we are going to the 2012 London Olympics this month.
In the context of building an non-sexist society and gender equality, as a result our women’s teams has shown us recently that if given an opportunity they are a force to be reckoned with, especially as Banyana Banyana AND our Hockey Women national team led the pack, against all odds and obstacles, to be the first to book their tickets for the 2012 London Olympics. It shows that South Africa, slowly but surely, is in a safer road towards gender equal society; but more needs to be done to destroy the remaining reminiscences of patriarchy on all its fronts.
As the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, in his address of the Second Edition of the International Forum on Sport, Peace and Development at the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on the 11 May 2011, that: “Sport has become a world language, a common denominator that breaks down all the walls, all the barriers. It is a worldwide industry whose practices can have a widespread impact. Most of all, it is a powerful tool for progress and development”.
As the legacy of racism, tribalism, sexism and xenophobia continue to present its ugly face as the dominant social categories in our South African architecture. These continue to dominate our polity because the socio-economic plight of black people, the dominant national group in South Africa that constitutes the overwhelming majority, remains not sufficiently addressed.18 years down the line exclusion, poverty, unemployment and inequality are the main social factors that sadly continue to define the living conditions of the considerable majority of our people, blacks in particular including in sport and recreation.
Although 18 years of democratic rule cannot be enough to undo the social legacy of colonial and apartheid rule that spanned for over 341 years, the anxiety to fast-track progressive social transformation is not without merit.
Unless and until the urgent plight of destitute and historically oppressed and exploited majority is fundamentally addressed, the need to resolve the legacies of racism, tribalism, sexism and xenophobia will persist.
This persistence is due to the marked weaknesses in the conduct of our public discourse, including the one we are discussing today, most of our public discourses have been marked by the dominance of the liberal hypocrisy and the pitfalls of a narrow nationalism in tackling pressing challenges arising from the need to resolve the national question and social emancipation of all our people.
We must begin, as we are doing today, to genuinely assess the prospects of building a united, non-racial, non-sexist, anti-tribal and anti-xenophobic democratic society that goes beyond the limits of liberal hypocrisy and of the pitfalls of narrow nationalism in the current public discourse.
The re-admittance of South Africa in the international sport community and the democratic breakthrough of 1994 over apartheid colonialism was an important step towards the unraveling the legacy of the historical social formation of apartheid and colonialism. We should utilise the next coming decades to alter the balance of forces in favour of the majority towards the building of a truly united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, prosperous and egalitarian society.
