Deputy President – We Must Deal With Racism in the W Cape

Cape Town – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says leaders in the Western Cape and in all spheres of government must actively fight against racism in the province.
The Deputy President said racism had turned its ugly head in the province and that all government and political leaders should be doing all they can to run campaigns that would boot racism out of the society.
He said this when answering questions from MPs on social cohesion at the National Assembly on Wednesday.
He said that while social cohesion was a national project – being carried out to promote non-racism, non-sexism and to root out xenophobia amid concerns of attacks on foreign nationals – provinces like the Western Cape should take a lead against the social ill.
“If there is a restaurant here in the Western Cape, as there are many here, where black people are not well treated, it should be the leadership of the Western Cape that goes there and say this is not allowed and should not be allowed in South Africa.
“I have friends who have tried to book into hotels in the Western Cape and when their surnames are being pronounced, they would be blocked.
“I have young people who try to get flats to live here in the Western Cape. When they [landlords] hear they are African, immediately they are blocked,” he said.
He said all political leaders and leaders from other sectors of society must be seen to be taking steps to get rid of the cancer of racism in the country, as well as xenophobia.
The Deputy President said this when responding to a question on how government can contribute to promoting social cohesion in the society.
Shifting his attention to recent attacks on foreign nationals, the Deputy President said South Africa is a signatory to the Geneva Protocol of Refugees and is committed to protect all foreign nationals in the country.
He said it was government’s duty to ensure that all persons who live in our country are protected from crime, harassment or violation of their own basic human rights.
“Thousands of foreign nationals live in communities across the country and across the socio economic structure of our country.
“This co-existence is generally peaceful, it is often productive and in many communities, it is harmonious.
“Our concerns therefore are recurrent manifestations of violence and intolerance that disrupt the way of life and way of doing business in our communities. In these contexts, various government departments and agencies are working with civil society to continuously promote the rights of all who live in South Africa,” he said.
He said government was also using other measures to promote social cohesion, including the programme to radically transform township economies.
“For example, in the Gauteng province, the Premier announced that they will go on a massive drive to revamp the township economy, and that is where there are communities that are under a lot of strain, and that is where foreign nationals also find themselves. In order to increase tolerance and to promote social cohesion, the issue that is being addressed is to ensure that there is a revamping of the township economy so that all our people should have opportunities at an economic level.”
Meanwhile, the Deputy President paid tribute to the late Public Service and Administration Minister, Collins Chabane, together with his two protectors, was tragically killed when his car crashed into a truck on the N1 freeway between Polokwane and Pretoria.
He described Minister Chabane as a man of integrity, who took every opportunity to instil the culture of respect in public servants, and how they should treat South Africans and foreign nationals.
“Government is doing all it can to deal with acts of xenophobia in various provinces.
“Our departed Minister of Public Service, comrade Collins Chabane, was one of the key activists in this regard, particularly when it comes to civil servants.
“I was privileged to participate with him when he launched one of the initiatives that they had in the public service, not only to put our people first, but also to inculcate in our public servants the values of our South African-ness, particularly in relation of how we should treat foreign nationals.”
*Click here to view our online tribute to Minister Chabane.

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