Ethnic labelling still part of life in SA –
Swartz

2010/09/23
Khanyi Ndabeni

RACIAL or ethnic labelling is still a part of
everyday life in South Africa, Nelson
Mandela Metropolitan University vice-
chancellor Prof Derrick Swartz said in Port
Elizabeth last night.

This was despite the clearest commitment to
create a non-racial, democratic society as
envisaged in the Constitution, he said in a
public lecture at the Red Location Museum. It
was part of the museum ’s series of Heritage
Month debates.

Touching on South Africa’s racial history,
Swartz described multiculturalism as the
recognition, acceptance and promotion of
culturally diverse social norms in public
institutional life.

“The association of multiculturalism with
apartheid might seem odd, if not perverse
at first sight, given their starkly different
aims.

“Apartheid was based on the separation of
people. It was conceived as culturally and
socially incompatible for them to exist
within the same geographical and
institutional spaces. Multiculturalism is an
idea born of an expressed commitment to
enjoin cultural popularity within the same
spatial and institutional contexts. Their
political motives are quite different, ” Swartz
told the audience.

Since 1994, he said, the problem with group
identity was whether its purpose was to
represent individual life choices and beliefs
in all aspects of identity, and if the
autonomy of the individual was subsumed
under a group.

“This presents a significant problem if the
bases of the assumed group formation are
based on ‘racial’ grounds, seen as political
communities. Not only would this reinforce
what many consider to be a relic of racist
19th century evolutionary biology – the
idea that there actually exist different ‘races’
– but it would also politicise these groups
into political communities.

“This is best illustrated in our current use of
ethnic categories as legal categories of
social recognition. These categories have
been inherited from the apartheid era. They
are now used as not only markers of social
recognition, but as indicators of social
advantage or disadvantage.”

He said while there was ample evidence that
affirmative action and equity measures
taken in the past 16 years had hugely
shifted the demographic patterns of
employment and resource distribution to
those previously discriminated against,
most public and many private institutions
did not look to function along the same
racially defined lines as in the past.

“Yet theses advances cannot be disputed.
The use of these categories has also tended
to reinforce group identities that make
nation-building deeply problematic, ” Swartz
said.

premiershiprugby.com

I actually agree with you. As you know I’m a big JS fan, but what if this is the end? We need to know what our options are. We also need some more experience in the depth positions, like flyhalf, hooker (esp. if Bissie isn’t fit), and the tour is a good way of introducing them in a less “Smit-like” environment.

But personally I’m no longer a PDV fan. Playing our players like he did, overplaying them in spite of knowing how much over the limit they already were was too much for me. That was a very unprofessional move, willing to sacrifice for a short term result that didn’t happen anyway.

I think he’ll take VIC with him, I just don’t see him having another plan at this stage of the game. Maybe he’ll surprise me but that’s ok. I’ll hapily eat my words

yep that’s awesome if I want to know how many times rio ferdinand had his nappy changed last season.

28th review for pdv

i know bloggers will disagree, but this lod omission from eoyt a great opportunity for pdv to become the ‘boss man ‘…..get out of the shadow of Plod….start making the tough calls….best thing for pdv….mark my words.

plod on way out

succession planning….

matter of time

i’m struggling to find the stats for last years GP.

hardenthefuckup..

just give us the stats then.

stop being subjective and emotional.

…Time for PPpresentations is lacking

I’m looking for a power point presentation from you on the subject…

something to stuff up granties inbox.

Luke was the cancer of WP. Look how well they’re doing since his departure…. Lets not open that wound again!