conferencesO
Jaspreet Kindra The Pan-Africanist Congress has criticised the organising of the National Conference on Racism, which begins at the end of this month.
According to the PAC, racism is Otoo deep- rootedO to be handled by Osuperficial mechanisms which provide short-term solutionsO and cost millions of rand. OIt is time to descend from platforms and work with people on the ground,O said PAC secretary general Thami ka Plaatjie. He said the country has had Oso many conferences on poverty and HIV/Aids we want to ask whether all these expenditures are worthwhile. We do appreciate the fact that the organisers the South African Human Rights Commission [SAHRC] are proceeding with good intentions, but the time has come for fundamental programmes.O According to the SAHRCOs background documents on the seminar, the African National Congress called for the organising of the conference at its 88th anniversary earlier this year. President Thabo Mbeki then made the announcement in his state of the nation address in February. Ka Plaatjie pointed out that the PACOs criti-cism is mainly directed towards the ANC government, which took a decision to host the conference. OThe SAHRC is only playing host to the conference. The ANCOs [growth, employment and redistribution] policies are answerable for increasing unemployment of Africans and hereby fuelling racism.O The objective of the conference is to provide a platform for South Africans to share their experiences about racism, to initiate dialogue on race relations and to analyse the nature and dynamics of racism. The conference will also lay the groundwork for the Third United Nations World Conference against Racism, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance scheduled to take place in South Africa next year. According to the PAC, Oracism is not a mental result of indoctrination and self- denial but it is the way the society is arranged and continues to be arranged. Squatters are all black and it is regarded as normal; they have to travel 5km to fetch water which again is considered normal.O To tackle racism one has to address these structural imbalances which requires confrontation and not Osuperficial mechanismsO, Ka Plaatjie said. And confrontation should begin at school. The government should also re-examine laws and by-laws which do not respect Oour culture and way of lifeO, he said. Elaborating, Ka Plaatjie said he recently defied the existing municipal by-laws of the former white suburb where he now lives which prevent him from performing the ritual of slaughtering a cow in the neighbourhood.
ANC representative Smuts Ngonyama refused to comment, explaining that the conference was being organised by the government and not the party. The conference takes place from August 30 to September 2 in Johannesburg.