After a long silence due to a busy schedule, Minister of Education Kader Asmal went online for the first time last month since November.
His chat over the Web focused on racism and the proposed renaming of schools carrying the names of apartheid-era leaders.
“You only abolish racism by attacking racism. This idea that in South Africa’s seven years of democracy we can be colour blind, is simply a push to perpetuate indirect racism as a Mpumalanga study a few weeks ago has shown,” he said.
Explaining government reasoning behind pending school name changes, he said the move would form part of reconciliation.
Asked if the needs of whites in favour of retaining apartheid names were not important, Asmal replied: “I don’t think whites have recognised the extraordinary generosity of black people in our change.”
He said DF Malan was one of the first apartheid leaders responsible for passing laws that caused extensive pain and suffering.
“It would be awful to think that whites would be proud to have a name like that.”
Asmal said school governing bodies, parents, and provincial education departments would be involved in the renaming, as they were the ones helping to fund schools.
“It’s up to the school to celebrate either through a person or the geography of the area. Good sense must be the motivating factor,” the minister said.
Asmal said the government fully realised that new names would not bring an end to racism. “That’s part of … removing the hurt people will feel if the schools remain named after senior apartheid engineers.”
– The Teacher/M&Media, Johannesburg, August 2001.