Employment and Labour dept urge for debate over drop of term “coloured”
“The Minister of Employment and Labour and the Minister of Home Affairs are clear that we are all South Africans and the classification that is there is intended to deal with the imbalances of the past.”
The Department of Employment and Labour has urged that a petition of the People Against Racial Classification (PARC) be reconsidered.
This is as the petition is requesting for the removal of the word “coloured” from the Employment Equity Act.
The department further urged that the petitioner, Glen Arnold Snyman to rather seek a form of national dialogue, regarding this matter.
The Select Committee on Petitions and Executive Undertakings who was considering the petition of the PARC also invited the departments of Home Affairs and Employment and Labour to participate in the meeting where the petition was considered.
Chairperson of the select committee, Zolani Mkiva said: “The Minister of Employment and Labour and the Minister of Home Affairs are clear that we are all South Africans and the classification that is there is intended to deal with the imbalances of the past.”
The committee urged the petitioners to engage their communities further so that there is unity going forward.
According to the Department of Home Affairs, the issuing of identity documents does not mention race; only the nationality of the person appears on the document.
This comes as the Khoisan group, who has been camping near the Nelson Mandela statue at the Union Buildings for almost five years, demands that the word “coloured” be removed from government documents.
Other demands are: for the Khoisan people to be recognised as the first indigenous nation of South Africa; for the Kwazi-Khoe to be listed as an official language; for the Khoisan to also be given land and resources to continue their cultures and traditions.
The presidency had still not responded to their memorandum after it was accepted by then deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa in 2017.
The group has been camping in tents outside the Union Buildings since then.
“After all these years, our demands are still a dream. It is sad that now we have become one of the tourist attractions at the Union Buildings.
“Promises made to us by the government were all lies.”
He said the Khoisan did not feel as though they were living in a democratic country, as they were still fighting to be heard.
Rekord has reached out to the presidency for comment regarding the protest lasting more than four years and Sunnyside police for exact criminal charges instituted to the King Khoisan SA and three clan members arrested on drug-related charges in January.
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