Eusebius McKaiser: We Don’t Talk about the Nature of Racism

As South Africa enters its third decade as a democracy, the idea of a rainbow nation, so carefully nurtured over the past 20 years, is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain with the stark realisation that the country remains largely untransformed. The lack of economic progress and social mobility for the vast majority of black South Africans means that apartheid-era social divisions have proven difficult to overcome, fuelling mistrust and undermining social cohesion.

Meanwhile, as frustrations mount, the sharp edge of South Africa’s racial divide has re-surfaced in several incidents and public debates in recent weeks. The moment seems right to test the authenticity of South Africa’s claims to non-racialism in an effort to identify some of the drivers of our nation’s discord.

On Monday, February 2, 2015, SACSIS and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung South Africa Office (FES), two partner organisations that promote constructive engagement through social dialogue, turned their attention to South Africa’s racial discord by co-hosting a panel discussion on how the media covers the race debate in South Africa.

Writer and political analyst, Eusebius McKaiser was part of a high profile panel of speakers that offered frank observations on what is recognised to be a complex issue.

Other panelists included, Kaya FM presenter, John Perlman, Editor-in-Chief of the City Press, Ferial Haffajee and Associate Professor from the University of Cape Town, Xolela Mangcu.