Racism threatens S. African national security: minister

Racism poses a risk to South African national security if it is allowed to manifest itself like in other parties, institutions and countries where racists are harboured and sought refuge, Security Minister David Mahlobo said on Tuesday.

"Over the last few months we have witnessed incidents of major concern to the life of our South African society. We cannot claim to be truly free when insidious and blatant racism still exist in our society," Mahlobo said in his budget vote speech in Parliament.

He was referring to a new wave of racism that has gripped South Africa in the past few months. It all started early this year when Penny Sparrow, an real estate agent, labelled blacks as "monkeys".

"As South Africans, we should refuse to be part of this barbaric, backward thinking and inhumane belief that some races are inherently superior physically, intellectually, or culturally to others and therefore have a right to dominate them," Mahlobo said.

Racism, a stark reminder of South Africa's painful past experience, creates profound racial tensions and conflict in virtually all aspects of life in a society, he said.

He said South Africa's national democratic society is founded on the respect for the human rights, the rule of law, good governance, independent judiciary and independent media.

"Finding a balance on how to effectively address security, while respecting human rights, constitute a key challenge of our times. The reality is that the two are interdependent and mutually reinforcing," Mahlobo said.

Nations cannot secure their national sovereignty unless they assess the new emerging threats accordingly, he noted. Endit