There was a time when weekly news coverage of South Africa was dominated by forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related incidents of intolerance.
These painted a grim picture of the respect for human rights. However, in the history of contemporary South Africa, there has been plenty of optimism about the prospect of deepening the understanding of human rights and entrenching a human rights culture among citizens.
This optimism is underscored by deliberate actions by the country’s government to promote, protect, and monitor the development and observance of human rights through institutes such as the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE).
While these institutions – and many other policy instruments to ensure compliance – are central to creating an environment conducive to advancing rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights, citizens also hold significant responsibility to prevent the escalation of discrimination and racial tension. But many of us face an uncomfortable truth we have become accustomed to avoiding: the ability to show unusual restraint in the face of injustice.
Beyond formal political rights, human rights also entail the progressive realisation of the right to the structural social determinants of well-being, such as access to clean water, food, and a healthy environment.
However, while the process of social change in South Africa has many unique attributes, the response to the process reflects two extremes: There are those who cultivate an image as defenders of the rights of the “oppressed” and are predominantly black activists; and on the other hand, anti-transformation forces who stall the country’s progression towards a more inclusive and egalitarian future and are primarily white activists. These activists, whether advancing the reclamation of rights, perpetuate legacies of the past instead of asserting a positive commitment to eradicating socially constructed barriers to equality. They are found everywhere and are part of our education, religious, political, and social establishments.
Reflecting on the painful past of the country, these activists do not help in fostering diversity as an ethos, but advance the conscious and unconscious practices of structural racism. Aided by hyper-personalised social media feeds, they can stretch the boundaries of logic and destabilise fragile and established democratic and human rights.
The problem, they claim, is that those who embrace diversity and want to find amicable solutions to longstanding social injustices are either advocates of white supremacy or want to abrogate their right to freedom of expression. In such cases, when people in a hate frenzy find something to hate together, they become bonded. And anything contrary to their beliefs goes into an echo chamber of mockery.
After three decades of democracy, attempts to eliminate systematic and institutionalised under-privilege must be welcomed. Likewise, our response to the perceived threats to efforts to enhance diversity as an ethos in public institutions and society matters.
In many instances, when subjugated to hatred, hostility, or even violence, there is a tendency to believe that the best approach to such an absurd situation is more absurdity.
While there have been concerted efforts internationally and nationally for the progressive realisation of social rights and efforts to strengthen democratic resilience and rights-respecting societies, South Africans have been passing the buck.
Prof. Sethulego Matebesi is an associate professor and academic head of the Department of Sociology at the University of the Free State (UFS).
The views expressed in this column are the writer’s own, and in no way reflect those of BloemExpress.
