Much has been said about Apartheid in South Africa. It's a word that invokes strong reactions in most who hear it, and it has a legacy that seems unwilling to leave South Africa alone. But what was apartheid? If you take a look at the simple meaning of the word, apartheid means separateness. In 1948 NP terms it meant separate development and racial segregation. It was racial discrimination.

Racial discrimination is a thorn that has plagued the world for many years. In 1966 the United Nations issued the "International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination" (ICERD). In this document, racial discrimination is defined as:

"... any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life."

The Forum for Black Journalists (FBJ) recently organised a briefing with the president of the ANC Jacob Zuma. This was an off-the-record briefing, and it was organised to be blacks-only. This move to exclude white journalists from a briefing by the leader of the largest political party in South Africa, and the man likely to be the next president of the country has sparked debates and arguments across the country. And through this, FBJ have defended their decision to exclude white journalists by claiming that they have the right to organise themselves however they wish, and have also claimed that this action was not racial discrimination.

Racial discrimination has a sordid history in South Africa, and has cost the lives of many thousands of men, women and children. Many of South Africa's current leaders were involved in "The Struggle". These people are seen as heroes who fought the forces of oppression and racial discrimination to ring in a new age of freedom for all. There are many names in this list of heroes, and one of them is Jacob Zuma. Mr Zuma, hero of the struggle, hero of the people, president of the ANC. And speaking of the ANC, it's interesting to note that in it's constitution it states that it's aims are (among others) to
"Unite all the people of South Africa, Africans in particular, for the complete liberation of the country from all forms of discrimination and national oppression".


Back to the FBJ briefing and racial discrimination. I'd like to paraphrase from the ICERD :
"Racial discrimination is any exclusion based on race which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political field of public life."

Based on the Human Rights definition, it certainly appears that this briefing was racial discrimination. This should be raising red flags everywhere, but especially, I think, in the ANC (and with Jacob Zuma, president of the ANC), the organisation who states that one of their primary aims is to "Unite all the people of South Africa ... for the complete liberation of the country from all forms of discrimination".

I think it's important to point out that apartheid hurt everyone, whites included. The "white minority" that held power and oppressed the blacks, coloureds, Indians and other non-white groups was not the whites of South Africa collectively - it was a small group of people in power who created and enforced the apartheid system to the detriment of anyone (white or black) who disagreed with or opposed them. Most whites were guilty of nothing more than apathy (still a very serious sin, given the lives that were ruined), and people who did not follow the party line were labelled and shunned. When blacks call other blacks "coconuts" (a racially discriminatory term by definition) when they disagree, and other blacks sit back in apathy and say nothing (or worse yet, defend an action that is in direct opposition to their stated aims) , I see a parallel between society then, and where we're going now. In 40 years, will a black man, looking back on these days and reminiscing about what has happened, write that most blacks were guilty of nothing more than apathy?

We are living in great times. Each of us has the potential to influence others around us to do great good, or great evil. We have a constitution that boldly declares that all people are equal. It is up to each of us to ensure that we do not wake up one morning to find that someone has scribbled "some are just more equal than others" underneath it.

It's sad, but when thinking about what has happened, and contemplating the FBJ's official responses, I'm reminded of a quote:
"... the ruling group could not help but show itself for what it is - a clique of diehard racists, hidebound reactionaries and bloodthirsty fascist braggarts who will heed nobody except themselves."

Oliver Tambo, Lusaka, August 16, 1985