Racism

On 8 January, the ANC called for a national conference on racism. This call was contained in the ANC Statement to mark its 88th anniversary as a political movement. We then made contact with the ANC in order to get some details about the planned conference. The result was that we met on 1 February and the President made the announcement in his State of the Nation Address at the official opening of parliament on 4 February 2000. In making the announcement, the President stated that

We are convinced that this important initiative will help move our country faster towards the realisation of the goal contained in our Constitution of the creation of a non-racial society, as well as impact positively on our continuing struggle for a non-sexist society.

The President is alluding to the founding provisions of our Constitution which state that South Africa is "one sovereign democratic state founded on the following values:

Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms;

Non-racialism and non-sexism...."

In December 1998, South Africa acceded to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, without reservation. The President also informed parliament that he had assented to the proclamation of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Bill into law. The Act seeks to give effect to the provisions of Section 9 (4) of the Constitution and to provide for appropriate relief where discrimination has been found. The law also ensures compliance with South Africa's international treaty obligations especially the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

It can be said, therefore, the Constitution has laid the foundations for the construction of a non-racial society. The cement that holds this society together is the values enunciated in the Constitution and in ICERD. The TRC process helped South Africans to reflect on the fact that South Africans society was so deeply divided for so long and atrocities committed in order to entrench inequality. The laws recently enacted seek to build on this foundation. The pursuit of human dignity, equality and social justice[1] means that there must be a coordinated national project to eliminate all vestiges of racism and racial discrimination. The post-amble to the interim Constitution, 1993 stated the common