Off the wire
• Results of WCBA League  • Rwanda to tighten security during festive season  • Standings of WCBA League  • UAE hails formation of Lebanese new cabinet  • BiH Presidency Chairman expresses condolences over Berlin attack  • China to raise farmers' income, upgrade agricultural products  • Urgent: UN chief slams terrorist attack in Berlin  • Turkey vows continued cooperation with Russia on Syria after envoy slaying  • "The Great Wall" tops Chinese box office  • Japan, EU put off agreement on free trade pact to 2017  
You are here: 　 Home

Racists incidences can no longer be classified as "pockets of incidents": ANCYL

Xinhua, December 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

The recent outbursts of racists incidences can no longer be classified as "pockets of incidents" but show a deeper underlying racial hatred that continues to exist in South Africa, the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) said on Tuesday.

The whites-controlled economy lives and breeds racism in the country, the ANCYL said in a statement.

This came after racist comments were posted by a Facebook user on a picture of a packed Durban beach last weekend. In the comments, Ben Sasonof, a white man, said the beach, packed by blacks, "must have smelt like the inside of Zuma's asshole," with the apparent reference to President Jacob Zuma.

His comments raised the ire of other Facebook users who accused Sasonof of being a racist.

In a separate incident on Sunday, a restaurant in Cape Town described two customers as "2 BLACKS" on a bill. A photograph of the bill has gone viral on Twitter, having been retweeted more than a thousand times.

ANCYL national spokesperson Mlondi Mkhize said black people are lacking in material power as a result of centuries long dispossession whilst the majority of white racists believe their economic standing in society continues to make them a superior race.

"The fact that the ownership structure of capital and the share in the economy of the country continues to be predominantly white, is what continues to feed the arrogance shown by racists," said Mkhize.

The arrogance of racists is fed by the belief that their wealth coupled with white privilege they continue to receive makes them a superior race, he added.

"If we do not temper with the current ownership structure of our economy we will not undermine white supremacy," he said.

The ANCYL will start a lobby process for the development of a regulatory framework that should make racism a crime that is punishable by imprisonment, according to Mkhize.

"We can no longer file for charges that only result in fines. We should criminalize racism with a minimum jail sentence of 10 years. There must be harsh consequences for racism," Mkhize said. Enditem