'It's not too late, say sorry for apartheid'
28 February 2008, 07:03
By Ay'esha Kassiem
It is not too late for white South Africans to apologise for the wrongs committed during apartheid.
That's according to South African Human Rights Commission chairperson Jody Kollapen, who said on Wednesday that the recent apology by the Australian government to the Aborigine people would have been equally welcome in South Africa.
"One would have hoped that that kind of apology - where there was no excuse in terms of saying they didn't know or that it was just a bunch of loose cannons - would have been offered (in SA) at the appropriate time.
"Even if it didn't happen then, it is never too late."
Kollapen was speaking at a one-day conference - whose theme was Contesting With The Past: Citizenship In The New South Africa - at the University of the Western Cape.
And former education minister Kader Asmal, answering questions after addressing the conference on covert and overt forms of racism in society, said there needed to be a review of affirmative action because, in some cases, political power had been abused.
Asmal, who is to take up the post of Extraordinary Professor in Law at the university next month, said "People are being appointed who have no experience. We need to do an introspective evaluation of affirmative action. You can't employ a tone deaf person to direct an orchestra or a brain surgeon who doesn't know science."
There needed to be a stronger mentoring system that saw skills transferred, he said.
Kollapen, when asked how he thought the apology for apartheid should be tendered and by whom, said: "There should be some discussion around it and it should not just be only former leaders and former presidents. Looking at the Australian situation can help create some momentum."
Kollapen said South Africa was not moving toward healing and reconciliation in the right way and that there were still "gaps" left behind by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which had not necessarily been conducive to healing the hurt of "ordinary people".
It was "questionable" in terms of whether South Africa was moving toward healing.
"We are dealing with so many (racial) issues and incidents which suggest that we haven't unpacked the consequences. We didn't address the hurt because we liked (the fact) that everyone was so in awe of our miraculous transition.
"In South Africa, reconciliation has been given a restricted meaning. It was just a case of move on and not dwell on the past."
Kollapen said while he was not blaming the TRC, there were certain "fundamental faults" in its work.
"The TRC did not create sufficient space for the ordinary South African to reflect...
"So when we entered the new SA, we entered through different doors. Reconciliation was meant to mean minimal disruption to our lives.
"Reaching out could have had unintended consequences where we thought we didn't need to do anything more."
He added that as per some of President Thabo Mbeki's recent comments, the question facing the country was how to "manage white fears and black expectations".
There needed to be a serious conversation about the past and to give people space to ask themselves what their role was.
aeysha.kassiem@inl.co.za
It is not too late for white South Africans to apologise for the wrongs committed during apartheid.
That's according to South African Human Rights Commission chairperson Jody Kollapen, who said on Wednesday that the recent apology by the Australian government to the Aborigine people would have been equally welcome in South Africa.
"One would have hoped that that kind of apology - where there was no excuse in terms of saying they didn't know or that it was just a bunch of loose cannons - would have been offered (in SA) at the appropriate time.
"Even if it didn't happen then, it is never too late."
Kollapen was speaking at a one-day conference - whose theme was Contesting With The Past: Citizenship In The New South Africa - at the University of the Western Cape.
And former education minister Kader Asmal, answering questions after addressing the conference on covert and overt forms of racism in society, said there needed to be a review of affirmative action because, in some cases, political power had been abused.
Asmal, who is to take up the post of Extraordinary Professor in Law at the university next month, said "People are being appointed who have no experience. We need to do an introspective evaluation of affirmative action. You can't employ a tone deaf person to direct an orchestra or a brain surgeon who doesn't know science."
There needed to be a stronger mentoring system that saw skills transferred, he said.
Kollapen, when asked how he thought the apology for apartheid should be tendered and by whom, said: "There should be some discussion around it and it should not just be only former leaders and former presidents. Looking at the Australian situation can help create some momentum."
Kollapen said South Africa was not moving toward healing and reconciliation in the right way and that there were still "gaps" left behind by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which had not necessarily been conducive to healing the hurt of "ordinary people".
It was "questionable" in terms of whether South Africa was moving toward healing.
"We are dealing with so many (racial) issues and incidents which suggest that we haven't unpacked the consequences. We didn't address the hurt because we liked (the fact) that everyone was so in awe of our miraculous transition.
"In South Africa, reconciliation has been given a restricted meaning. It was just a case of move on and not dwell on the past."
Kollapen said while he was not blaming the TRC, there were certain "fundamental faults" in its work.
"The TRC did not create sufficient space for the ordinary South African to reflect...
"So when we entered the new SA, we entered through different doors. Reconciliation was meant to mean minimal disruption to our lives.
"Reaching out could have had unintended consequences where we thought we didn't need to do anything more."
He added that as per some of President Thabo Mbeki's recent comments, the question facing the country was how to "manage white fears and black expectations".
There needed to be a serious conversation about the past and to give people space to ask themselves what their role was.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Times on February 28, 2008
Durban
