The White South African Economy lives and breed racism 

20 December 2016

The ANC Youth League has noted the increased number of racist outbursts and racial profiling in public spaces, restaurants, schools, beaches etc. This signals a resurgence of racial arrogance that once again proclaims white supremacy with bravery. These racists incidences can no longer be classified as “pockets of incidents” but they show a deeper underlying racial hatred that continues to exist in our society.

The ANC Youth League holds a view that racist arrogance is as a result exercising power that is backed by historically accumulated privilege. This platform exists only for white people and against black people in the context of the centuries of material and social dispossession. Black people are lacking in material power as a result of centuries long dispossession whilst the majority of white racists believe their economic standing in society continues to make them a superior race.

The fact that the ownership structure of capital and the share in the economy of the country continues to be predominantly white, is what continues to feed the arrogance shown by racists. The arrogance of racists is feed by the belief that their wealth coupled with white privilege they continue to receive makes them a superior race. The ANC Youth League holds a firm view that if we do not temper with the current ownership structure of our economy we will not undermine white supremacy.

The ANC Youth League will relentlessly dedicate its energy in ensuring that the ANC led government passes laws that will pull the plug on the main sources of white privilege, white power and white arrogance. We must move faster with land expropriation and economic transformation because this is what sustains white supremacy. We must put sustained pressure on the ANC government to create a regulatory framework to do this. 

The ANC Youth League will start a lobby process for the development of a regulatory framework that should make racism a crime that is punishable by imprisonment. We can no longer file for charges that only result in fines. We should criminalize racism with a minimum jail sentence of 10 Years. There must be harsh consequences for racism the time for picketing and marches against racism is over we must jail racists and change the ownership structure of the economy.

Issued by Mlondi Mkhize, National Spokesperson, ANCYL, 20 December 2016