Onderbergers urged to join the #UniteAgainstRacism campaign
Residents of Nkomazi are urged to #UniteAgainstRacism and support Anti-Racism Week, which is held from Thursday to March 21.
MALALANE – From Thursday to March 21, the Anti-Racism Network South Africa (Arnsa) is hosting Anti-Racism Week and they hope to create public awareness about the negative effects of racism on individuals and society as a whole.
The week’s events end on Human Rights Day and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and aims to ensure there is a countrywide focus on tackling the issue.
ARNSA’s coordinator, Busisiwe Nkosi stated that this year the specific focus is on sports.
” We have an international cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka being dedicated to supporting the campaign. The week will also be an opportunity for the country to reiterate its support for athlete, Caster Semenya, who is currently challenging the IAAF’s regressive policies, which raises questions about its treatment of black female athletes,” she said.
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The Zimele Racism Reporting App, which was piloted last year, has been refined and the SA Human Rights Commission has agreed to partner with the initiative to respond to complaints via the app.
Nkosi said that they are also planning to look at how racism and schools and workplaces can be tackled.
All sectors of society are encouraged to get involved and host their own activities aimed at improving race tolerance and understanding.
Nkosi urged sports clubs, schools, NGOs, business, churches and cultural groups to organise discussions on how they can tackle racism in their clubs and communities, as well as host projects for the community.
“We want the public to adopt this week as their own, and use it to start addressing the sometimes deep-seated issues around race, identity and transformation within their own spaces.”
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Neeshan Balton, the director of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation explained that similar campaign will be held across the globe. “On March 16, there will be demonstrations against racism in various countries. These movements are increasingly connected to each other, make use of new media technology to mobilise support and are gaining enough popularity to contest, and in some instances, win elections in both developed and developing countries.”
Stan Henkeman, from the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, said that South Africa needed to find joint solutions. He mentioned some of the race-related issues that made headlines like at the school in Schweizer
Reneke, racial tension at Clifton Beach and racialised discourse surrounding the deaths of pupils at Hoërskool Driehoek. “We need to be talking about new ways to address the contemporary challenges of racism, to capacitate communities to deal with racial issues and injustices of the past and commit to working together.”
Communities are urged to continue condemning racism and ensuring that racists face the consequences of their actions.
