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Thabo Mbeki backs ANC call to criminalise racism

Former president Thabo Mbeki has come out in support of the ANC call that racists should be criminalised.

Speaking yesterday at a conference on racism organised by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), Mbeki called for the punishment of racists.

"It would seem obvious that to combat this subjective racism we must, among other things, strengthen the legal capacity of the state to act against racism, including punishment of unacceptable hate language" Mbeki said.

Other ANC leaders who spoke at the conference also used the platform to endorse the planned anti-racism law, including parliamentary speaker Baleka Mbete and MP Mathole Motshekga.

Mbeki also called for values of nonracism to be specifically taught from the lowest grade upwards. He blamed the country's failing reconciliation project and black people's poverty for the persistence of the scourge of racism.

"The country was failing to make the requisite progress in meaningfully advancing the objectives of nation building. The objective truth is that in many of its socioeconomic features our country continues to be characterised by racial and gender defined poverty, underdevelopment, marginalisation, social exclusion and economic disparities."

Mbeki said true reconciliation required the construction of a common nationhood through the abolition of disparities on the quality of life among South Africans.

Citing his own 1998 debate speech which he said was still relevant today, Mbeki said South Africa was a country of two nations.

"A major component part of the issue of reconciliation and nation building is defined by and derives from the material conditions in our society which have divided our country into two nations - one black and the other white," he said.

Mbeki, however, said the recent racist outbursts were caused by individual prejudices and not by the country's inequalities.

"I am persuaded by the view that it was not the tenacity of the racist legacy in terms of our country's socioeconomic structure which has brought the matter forcefully back into the public discourse that we are still confronted by the scourge of racism," Mbeki said.

"Rather it was prompted by the extremely reprehensible comments by one Penny Sparrow about Africans being monkeys ."

On Monday, delivering her own address to the same conference, Mbete also blamed inequality as a stumbling block to combating the scourge of racism.

The two-day conference, which ended yesterday, was attended by several prominent South Africans including former president Nelson Mandela's lawyer George Bizos, public protector Thuli Madonsela and several MPs.

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