Call to renew fight against racism on anniversary of Madiba's release
Struggle stalwarts Ahmed Kathrada and Laloo Chiba have called on South Africans on the 25th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from prison, to renew the fight against racism.
Their statements follow an increasing number of reports of racial and xenophobic incidents, and public debate around matters relating to race over the past few weeks.
Kathrada and Chiba, both in their mid-80s, were jailed alongside Mandela for 26 and 18 years respectively.
"As Mandela walked out of prison with the ‘Amandla' salute, we knew that the values of non-racialism and democracy were triumphant over apartheid. It is however, disheartening and of great concern to me, that 25 years on, we still see blatant acts of racism being perpetrated. We have made significant progress since 1994, but racism still lurks under the surface," said Kathrada.
"I read the newspapers daily, and I am perturbed at the reports of racism, especially at places of learning. Young people are the future of this country, and it worries me when they are being separated in classrooms based on race, or when one hears that race may have played a role in the recent Northern Cape school abuse case. One hopes that such incidents are isolated. We need to pay more attention to youth development so that young people can become agents of non-racialism," he stated.