Zuma conviction great victory, and test, for RNTP
4 July 2021
Over the past few weeks, the new initiative, Racism Is NOT The Problem (RNTP) has sought to do away with the notion that racism is South Africa’s biggest problem. The argument we are making is based on data collected through a survey that involved ordinary South Africans from all walks of life.
Recently, two enormous events have occurred that we, and everyone who believes racism is not our biggest problem, can claim as victories.
The first is that senior ANC figure Ace Magashule was defeated in court in his appeal against his suspension, and this was a strong indication that country and the courts did not fall for Magashule’s attempts to racialise what is fundamentally a political issue. Although some came to his defence initially by saying that he was being targeted due to his race, these arguments were quickly set aside as we started looking beyond race to identify the bigger issues at play.
Similarly, the sentence handed to former President Jacob Zuma by the Constitutional Court is strong evidence that South Africa knows how to move beyond focusing on race as the biggest issue to the issues that really are far more pressing. This despite attempts by Zuma’s allies, including some within his family, to racialise the issue by saying “WMC [white monopoly capital]” is to blame for the ex-President’s fall from grace.