Statement by the City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille
Know your rights to fight racism
Note to editors: the following is an extract from a speech delivered by the
City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille, at the launch of Phase 2 of the
Inclusive City Campaign at the Civic Centre today, 29 February 2016.
Good morning, goeie dag, molweni, as-salaam alaikum, shalom.
I would like to thank you for joining me for the launch of the second phase of
our Inclusive City Campaign.
You have joined us in the fight against racism and the drive to promote an
awareness of our rights in society.
Indeed, this task goes back to the foundation of our democracy.
Our Constitution states that we:
‘Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity’.
And further, we wish to:
‘Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic
values, social justice and fundamental human rights’.
As someone who contributed to the fight for freedom and our Constitutional
order, I have had to ask myself a very difficult question: have we, as leaders,
done enough to heal our divisions?
For animosity and tension rear their heads during everyday interactions.
While racism, a global and South African phenomenon, is not new, we have
to rededicate our efforts to building the inclusive democracy we set out to
create 22 years ago.
Last year, on Human Rights Day, I launched the City of Cape Town’s Inclusive
City Campaign under the banner of: ‘Don’t let racists speak for you’.
The objective was to condemn racism publicly and promote a culture of
rights awareness.
We engaged with residents via social and traditional media, outreach
campaigns, and a number of cross-institutional collaborations with different
leadership structures in Cape Town – from the universities to religious bodies,
from the hospitality industry to the media, from political bodies to unions.
We decided it was time to amplify the voices of ordinary people in Cape
Town that are against racism and encourage people to publically distance
themselves from it and embrace a culture of human rights.
The message was simple: don’t let racists speak for you.
I am very happy to see some of those stakeholders present here today.
Everyone came together and prioritised engagement on this very important
issue facing all of us.
Everyone acknowledged the role that they can play to address racism in
their various sector bodies.
One of the stakeholders, Independent Media, also went on to launch their
‘Racism stops with me campaign’ which we both commented on and
supported.
We were privileged to have both Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Arch, and
Ahmed Kathrada, Uncle Kathy, endorse our campaign.
Our beloved Arch said that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was but
the beginning.
He went on to say the following, and I quote:
‘I don’t know that we will ever reach the point where we feel that we can
relax, because we are now reconciled’.
He shared that we weren’t created for separation and we need to think
critically about those who have embedded alienation into our communities
for their benefit.
When the first phase drew to a close, we made several commitments about
how our learnings would inform this programme of action going forward.
We committed to establish a desk for reporting incidents of racism.
We have done so and I can report that 21 cases have been brought to our
attention.
We wanted to create the opportunity for those who felt that they were
victims of racism to come straight to us, so that we could guide them to the
various bodies mandated to protect them against discrimination.
There were many lessons learnt for us during this time – all of which we used to
understand how we can contribute to broader social awareness.
We also agreed to a programme of engagement for councillors who wish to
engage their communities further and keep these conversations alive and
ongoing.
We promised to make materials available to fight racism at its facilities and to
staff.
We continued to urge business, civil society bodies, academia, and religious
bodies to take a stand against racism.
We also committed to promote education awareness of rights through its
communication channels.
Today, with the launch of the second phase of the Inclusive City Campaign,
we are delivering on all those pledges.
This year we would like to open that dialogue even further.
We are taking the campaign to the communities across Cape Town.
Councillors will be distributing the pamphlets and posters you see here today.
They will also be engaging with community representatives where discussions
regarding the nature of racism and possible solutions can be discussed.
These sessions will start from 7 March 2016 and I will also be participating in
one of them taking place in Gugulethu next week.
We will continue to educate people about their rights so they know which
action to take if they are confronted with racism.
We want to people to feel confident in their knowledge about their rights.
All people must be assured that they are equal before the law and have the
right to equal protection and benefit of the law.
We want to work towards everyone being secure in their inherent dignity and
the right to have their dignity respected and protected.
We also want people to be aware of their prejudices.
Overt racism is not our only enemy.
Hurt also lies in the seemingly insignificant acts like assuming that a person of
colour works in an establishment that they are frequenting.
Hurt lies in the inappropriate comments passed off as ‘little jokes’.
Hurt lies in the assumptions people make about you and your competence.
Hurt also lies in the insensitivity of denying people’s experience of racism.
These insights are part of a broader network of global awareness against
racism.
The City of Cape Town is also working with the Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes,
who is running a similar campaign.
The Mayor of Rio promotes the following tagline at all events taking place in
his city:
‘You don’t need to be black to fight racism. You don’t need to be a woman
to fight sexism. You don’t need to be gay to fight homophobia’.
Our reflections from Rio tell us that this is not a problem which can be solved
by just some of us.
We all have a role to play.
In 2001 the United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance took place in Durban.
The former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, said that ‘the Conference must
help heal old wounds without reopening them; it must confront the past, but
most importantly it must help set a new course against racism in the future’.
In the 15 years which have passed, we have not yet reached that goal but
we have started here in Cape Town.
I look forward to the progress that we will be making on the journey we are
on together.
Thank you, baie dankie, enkosi.