President Cyril Ramaphosa has emphasised that all South Africans, regardless of race, are African.
Ramaphosa was responding to a question from the Patriotic Alliance national chairperson, Marlon Daniels, who asked on what legal grounds the government classifies groups such as Khoi-San, Coloured, Indian, and white South Africans as not African, especially more than 30 years into democracy.
“Every South African is by definition an African. We are all equally of the African continent, just as we are all equally South African, and we have an equal claim to this country.
Racial divisions of the past
“As we work to overcome the racial and other divisions of the past, we have put in place legislation and other measures to redress the effects of discriminatory laws and practices,” said Ramaphosa.
He explained that while everyone is considered African, the government still uses old race-based terms to fix the unfairness of the past.
He said this was necessary to ensure that the position of people who were previously disadvantaged can be advanced.
“For this purpose alone, the terms associated with our apartheid past,” said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa highlighted laws such as land reform, employment equity, and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) as key tools in tackling inequality.
For example, he explained, the BBBEE Act defines Black people as including Africans, Coloureds, and Indians.
Census use
He also said Statistics South Africa still uses race terms such as Black African, Coloured, Indian or Asian, and White in reports and the census in order to track progress.
Ramaphosa admitted that using race-based labels is uncomfortable. This especially in a country that is trying to move past its painful racial history. However, he said these terms remain necessary until true equality is achieved.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that our use of such terms ultimately makes the differences they refer to less and less important. Until they are rendered meaningless and no longer serve any purpose,” said Ramaphosa.
