I still believe in the Rainbow Nation
I believe in the Rainbow Nation.
Before the cynics and the clever ones snigger and say, “Yes, and Peter Pan, Pollyanna, the tooth fairy and Father Christmas,“ let me explain.
The Rainbow Nation was not just a fanciful term conceived by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as part of a somewhere- over- the- rainbow scenario. It captured in a few words the heart of our constitutional commitment to equal rights for all and our national motto, “! ke e: /xarra //ke,” which means, “Diverse people unite.”
It also reflects the commitment of the ANC in the Freedom Charter to the declaration, “South Africa belongs to all those who live in it.” Those exact words were carried into the 1996 Constitution, which provides, “We, the people of South Africa …Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.”
Prof RW Johnson and many others refer to the Rainbow Nation as “mythology” and an artificial construct that never existed. The implication is that it can never exist and many sneer at the idea, dismissing it as a valueless dream. I do not. I believe that they play right into the hands of the racists, both black and white. And there are many of those.
The racists to whom I refer are not ordinary citizens who often harbour racial prejudice, preferences and resentments to be expected in a country that allowed race to define it for so many years. It will take time for those to fade and it is too much to expect of ordinary human beings that they will not sometimes have racial, tribal, language and cultural prejudices in a complex society like ours. Most decent people have learnt to be tolerant of others and it is quite remarkable how well South Africans of all races, colours, cultures and religions get on with each other.
The racists to whom I refer are those who are not even a little ashamed of their racial feelings and who show by their words and actions that they despise “the other.” Worse even are those, usually politicians, who exploit racial feelings for their own purposes and those who are guilty of hate speech. There is a special place in Hell reserved for them.
Every political party in South Africa has ordinary supporters or even signed-up members who say and do unacceptable things. Parties cannot accept responsibility for every misstatement by ordinary members and should merely get rid of them. The egregious Ms Penny Sparrow of “monkey” fame comes to mind.
But parties certainly must take seriously statements by their public representatives or employees. Their actions thereafter surely tell us how they see racism and whether they regard it as their duty to do something about it.
In one recent incident where a DA MP was accused of making a racist statement, (I thought it was silly and unthinking, not racist) the DA took immediate and brutal action.
I have seen no such action by the ANC in respect of repeated speeches and statements by its Cape leader, Mr Marius Fransman, and its Cape Town leader, Mr Tony Ehrenreich, clearly aimed at creating tensions and problems between white, coloured and black Africans in the province.
What of the Gauteng Provincial official, Mr Velaphi Kumalo, who recently stated, “Whites deserve to be hacked and killed like Jews”? To its credit, the Gauteng Provincial Government stated that it viewed the “hateful comments made by Velaphi in a serious light. We will not fight racism with racism.” Serious action was being taken. This man now faces criminal charges over his hate speech.
This contrasts with the attitude towards ANC Councillor Kenny Barrel Nkosi who recently remarked, “The first people that must F..kof (sic) are Whites. Cubans never oppressed us.”
The Govan Mbeki Municipality issued a statement as follows: “The matter has been investigated and at the time of the comment, the Ward Councillor was not representing the views of either the ANC or the Govan Mbeki Municipality, but merely as a personal opinion.”
That pathetic response lends weight to the suspicion that the ANC only really cares about racist statements by whites and often turns a blind eye when its own politicians are grossly racist.
The ANC recently called for speech promoting racism to be made a criminal offence. One wonders whether they realise that it is their members who are likely to be charged more than anyone else, apart, of course, from EFF members who are creating a party based on racial envy, finger-pointing and bad mouthing of white people.
Such a law would probably find it difficult to pass constitutional muster; we do have a precious commitment to freedom of speech that cannot be lightly thrown overboard to please some ignorant politicians. People have a right to make fools of themselves and say terrible things; society will make them face the consequences.
Only when it comes to hate speech the situation might be different, but our constitution recognises this.
The discussion about racism inevitably leads to finger pointing on both sides of the political divide and people from one group are quick to refer to the transgressions of “the other” and gloss over the statements of people who look or sound like themselves. Does this get us anywhere as a nation?
A while ago, I wrote an article entitled, “Race is back in fashion.” What a pity this is so. However, there is a gap a mile wide in our public discourse for people who want a non-racial future to commit themselves to working for reconciliation, for a lessening of racial tensions, for respect for others, for tolerance of differences. Nothing symbolises that better than a commitment to the Rainbow Nation. That is why I make no apology for believing in it with all my heart.
Douglas Gibson is a former Opposition Chief Whip and a former ambassador to Thailand.
