ANC Today --------------------------------------------------------------------- Volume 1, No. 29, 10 - 16 August 2001 --------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WEEK: * Letter from the President: Peoples of the world unite for equality, justice and dignity * Reparations: Past racist injustices demand far-reaching remedies * Racism and globalisation: Global economic change must not entrench colonial legacy --------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Peoples of the world unite for equality, justice and dignity In just under a fortnight, events will begin in Durban that will culminate in the week-long important World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerances that will begin on August 31. When the United Nations General Assembly decided in 1997 that the Conference should be convened it stated its objectives as follows: to review progress made in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerances; to consider ways and means to ensure the application of standards and the implementation of instruments to combat these phenomena; to increase the level of awareness; and, to formulate recommendations for action-oriented measures to combat these phenomena. At its session last year, the General Assembly adopted the following as the theme of the Conference: "United to Combat Racism: Equality, Justice, Dignity." Thousands of people from across the world will convene in Durban for a fortnight to carry out the processes indicated in the 1997 resolution of the UN General Assembly, hopefully driven by the resolve to unite to combat racism, for a world of equality, justice and dignity for all. As South Africans we know what racism means. We know the criminal damage it caused in our country, from which we still have to recover. Surely, we cannot forget that the post-Second World War expression of racism in our country, apartheid, is characterised in international law as a punishable crime against humanity. Our history tells us of the tragic story of the virtual annihilation of the Khoi and the San people almost as soon as the earliest European settlers arrived in our country. The language of the motto on our national coat of arms, /Xam or Cham (in the Xhosa orthography), seeks to pay tribute to these Africans many of whom perished at the hands of colonists who were un-apologetically racist. These settlers considered it within their rights to kill these Africans whom Jan van Riebeeck described as people who are dirty, who are lazy and who lie. Today, the /Xam people are extinct. They no longer exist. We can only access their language thanks to work that was done by European scholars before those who spoke this language were completely wiped out. Our history also tells us that a valued part of our population consists of people who were brought into South Africa as slaves from the east. They were transported to these shores by a racist imperial system that considered all black people, whether African or Asian, as less than human and therefore available to be subjugated as slaves. Apart from other things that constitute part of the rich, proud and diverse heritage that our national motto in /Xam celebrates, these slaves brought Islam to our country. Our history further informs us that our multi-racial and multi-cultural society also includes people of Indian and Chinese descent who were brought to what is now their own motherland by an equally racist imperialist system, which viewed these fellow human beings merely as objects for exploitation. These South Africans first came to this country as indentured workers to toil on the sugar cane fields and the mines. This was work that was considered below the dignity of white workers, who were also not available in sufficient numbers. Subsequently, as whites moved out of agriculture, the importation of Chinese workers was stopped to make way for unemployed poor whites to get jobs on the mines. And while these had the right to vote as citizens of our country, the Chinese immigrants they displaced on the mines, as well as the Indian workers, suffered the same fate as all other black people of South Africa. The history we are talking of also speaks to us, of course, of the wars of subjugation waged by similarly racist colonial and settler armies over a protracted period, to rob the African people of their land and their freedom. The victories of a white minority over a black majority ultimately led to the proclamation and imposition of the system of apartheid as an official state system based on the racism that had been fundamental to the establishment of the colonial system in our country from its inception. >From our history and our direct experience, we know precisely what all this has meant. It meant the systematic impoverishment of the African majority. It meant the transformation of this majority into nothing more than objects for exploitation, for the enrichment of and the provision of a high standard of living to the dominant and ruling white minority. To maintain this system put in place by force of arms, force had to be used to ensure that the oppressed and exploited do not rise against this gross injustice, to gain equality, justice and dignity for themselves. Accordingly, the history of racist domination in our country is also a history of systemic state and personal violence carried out against the black majority. In the end, violence became a terrible distinguishing feature of our society because the state itself and the dominant political, economic and social sectors of our society themselves celebrated violence against people as a necessary and important part of the process of ordering human relations. In this situation, inevitably, white society, the perpetrator of violence against the majority, itself became affected by this violence, expressing itself, among other things, in domestic violence within white families. The direct violence of the apartheid state was to assume its most brutal forms as it progressed towards its defeat and collapse in the nearly twenty years between the Soweto Uprising and the victory of the democratic cause in 1994. A full account has still to be made of how many people died during this period, killed as the apartheid state sought to save itself from defeat by the risen people. Similarly, nobody knows how many millions perished merely during the 20th century, as a result of the pursuit of the inhuman socio-economic, racist policies, which even gave birth to such a gruesome concept as "surplus people". What we know is that to this day, we have to battle with the legacy of the conscious pursuit of these policies, driven by the racist conviction that white South Africa had the Christian right and duty to subjugate and exploit, without mercy, those who are black. We have to overcome the entrenched and widespread poverty that afflicts millions of our people. We have to eradicate the diseases and the ignorance from which our people suffer as a result of the condition imposed on them because a racist white minority considered them to be sub-human. Because the racist colonial and apartheid system in our country sought the total and permanent subjugation of the African majority, it systematically sought to wipe out everything that would give the African people a sense of identity and national pride. It sought to depersonalise every African, to the point of imposing names on individuals. It was in protest against this practice that the work chant evolved - abelungu ngo-damn! basibiza o-Jim! As we engage in struggle to overcome the racist legacy of colonialism and apartheid, a critical part of that struggle must be the reaffirmation of the culture, identity and pride of the African people which racism sought to obliterate. Today our country is divided into unequal parts. As we have said before, one of these is white and relative prosperous and the other black and poor. Some in our country have protested against this characterisation of South Africa, arguing that this description of reality constitutes incitement to racial conflict. The reality, however, is that this is an accurate description of the situation in our country. Others may similarly protest about the fact that in this Letter we have recalled elements of our history. Again, the reality is that what we have reflected constitutes part of our unchangeable historical record. At the same time, that history continues to inform our national agenda in terms of what we need to do to transform South Africa into a non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous country. It indicates the challenges we have to address in our own country to respond to the objective of the World Conference against Racism of building a world of equality, justice and dignity. If South Africa is divided into the two unequal parts of which we have spoken, so is the world divided into these two unequal parts. Contrary to the denial of the truth among some in our country, nobody denies that our globe is divided into the North and the South, the developed and the developing worlds. Nobody denies that the North is relatively rich and the South, poor. Again, nobody would contest the fact that, as in our country, this is the result of a long history that has included genocide against native populations, slavery, colonialism and white minority domination. No serious person questions the fact that racism informed these actions which constitute an indelible part of global human history. Again, there is no doubt that the North-South divide is both a consequence of racist policies and practices of the past and itself encourages the perpetuation of racism throughout the world. There is also no doubt that there is a resurgence of racism in many parts of the developed North. In part, this is driven by the inevitable population movements from the South to the North, as the black people of the countries of the South try to escape poverty and underdevelopment by emigrating to the North. Accordingly, the global struggle against racism cannot be detached from the global struggle to end poverty and underdevelopment everywhere, within and between countries, and to close the North-South divide, within and between countries. All this underlines the central importance of the forthcoming World Conference against Racism. As a country and people who are honoured to host this important Conference, we should do everything in our power to welcome the foreign delegates. In our interests and in the interests of the billions of the people of the South, we must also do whatever we can to ensure that the youth, non-governmental and government conferences that will be held, focus on the historic tasks with which they are charged, without any distractions. As we have said, the theme of the World Conference is: United to Combat Racism: Equality, Justice, Dignity. For us, who are engaged in an epoch-making effort to transform our society and to contribute to the progressive transformation of Africa and the rest of the world, there can be no more urgent objective than to unite the peoples of the world against racism, for equality, justice and dignity. Thabo Mbeki --------------------------------------------------------------------- REPARATIONS Past racist injustices demand far-reaching remedies The most effective remedies for the crimes of slavery and colonialism are far-reaching structural changes to the world economy, according to a draft ANC submission to the World Conference against Racism NGO Forum. The document, which is being distributed for discussion to structures of the ANC and its alliance partners, says measures aimed at reversing the devastating consequences of racism in history must necessarily extend beyond the narrow understanding of reparations as individual financial compensation to victims. These measures could include debt relief to developing countries which have borne the brunt of slavery and colonialism; increased direct investment and development assistance; ensuring greater access for developing countries to developed markets; and transforming multilateral institutions like the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organisation to better serve the interests of developing nations. The growing demand for reparations, which has been a contentious issue in preparations for the World Conference against Racism (WCAR), correctly identifies the need for compensation to the millions of people who have suffered, and continue to suffer, as a result of the most brutal forms of racism. However, the sole focus of public debate on individual financial compensation obscures other elements of reparations, and - more significantly - could detract from the more important task of defining forms of compensation which address the ongoing structural manifestations of these wrongs. "There is no doubt that slavery, colonialism and apartheid were crimes against humanity. The nature of the damage caused by slavery and colonialism is complex and manifold: it involves the wholesale destruction of peoples and groups, the erosion and in some cases theft, of social, economic and human capital and the destruction of the social fabric of entire peoples," the document says. "In recent years, there has been a growing demand that some form of satisfaction be provided for these serious and grievous wrongs. South Africa's experience convinces us that to delay or avoid this discussion would not serve the cause of human fraternity," it says. In legal terms, such wrongs are separated from less serious ones by describing them as crimes against humanity, war crimes or the crime of genocide. These are international wrongs and the wrong doers are subject to universal jurisdiction, as for example in The Hague and Rwanda tribunals. Until recently, any state could, either on its own behalf or on behalf of its citizens, bring claims for reparations. This term, which is borrowed from international law, provides for various remedies, including reviving the status quo ante, a remedy that would wipe out all the consequences of a wrong or a crime. Such an approach would not be easily applied in the instances of these crimes. Financial or other forms of compensation is another form of reparation. This approach is based on wrongs committed to individuals who are identifiable, when the parties against which the action are brought are also identifiable and where the nature of the wrong can be compensated by monetary means. Satisfaction is a form of reparation where the aggrieved party receives, in one form or other, a recognition of the wrong committed. This could take the form of an acknowledgement that the activities such as slavery, racial discrimination and colonialism were crimes against humanity. Acknowledgement could be accompanied by an apology for the grave crimes committed or a statement of contrition. However, the problem with these remedies is that they remove the element of the structural consequences of these wrongs. The core of modern racism lies in the historical injustice that continues to shape the relations of economic and political power. The unequal distribution of wealth and power between the world's developed and developing nations is the direct result of a history of slavery and colonial domination, which was sustained by, and was supportive of, racist ideologies. As the ANC submission notes: "The ideological, economic and political legacy of this history continues to colour relations between and within countries. It continues to shape the contours of wealth and poverty in the world. It continues to define the terrain on which we must determine our common destiny. Privilege and underdevelopment, which were its outcome, are not artefacts of history, but a living legacy." Structural changes in the world economy that would contribute to eradicating the material basis for global racism include: * debt reduction or cancellation extending beyond the current Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative; * reversing the trend among developed countries to reduce their overseas development assistance to developing countries; * ensuring equitable market access and fair competition for developing countries by ending protectionism and unfair state subsidy in developed countries; * taking direct action towards bridging the digital divide to ensure Africa in particular is not further marginalised in the formation of global networks; * democratising and transforming the multilateral institutions of global economic governance, like the IMF, World Bank and WTO, to ensure they can better serve the interests of the developing world; * promoting an environment conducive to increased capital flows to developing world. This includes countering unfounded Afro-pessimism, which is itself often rooted in racist prejudice. This approach is reflected in the New African Initiative adopted by the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Lusaka in July 2001. The plan, which incorporates the Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Programme (MAP) and Plan Omega, recognises the centuries-old historical injustice in Africa and the need to correct it: "The central injunction of the new partnership is, however, for combined efforts to improve the quality of life of Africa's people as rapidly as possible. In this, there are shared responsibilities and mutual benefits between Africa and her partners. We are convinced that an historic opportunity presents itself to end the scourge of underdevelopment that afflicts Africa. The resources, including capital, technology and human skills that are required to launch a global war on poverty and underdevelopment exist in abundance. And are within our grasp. What is required to mobilise these resources and to use them properly is bold and imaginative leadership that is genuinely committed to a sustained effort of human upliftment and poverty eradication, as well as a new global partnership based on shared responsibility and mutual interest." Above all, a world free of racism requires us to acknowledge the past and change the present. In South Africa, more than anything else, repairing the damage caused by apartheid is the central focus of all government programmes. "We are convinced that unity in action on a global scale can build the partnerships required to address past wrongs. Remedies must be developmental: they must be directed towards reversing the manifest developmental consequences of racism in history," the document says. MORE INFORMATION: Non-Racialism in Action: Acknowledging the Past; Changing the Present; Building the Future. Submission of the African National Congress to the World Conference Against Racism NGO Forum http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/misc/racism.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- RACISM AND GLOBALISATION Global economic change must not entrench colonial legacy More than a century since the colonisation of Africa fuelled the first period of globalisation and European industrial expansion, only a determined worldwide effort will prevent the rapidly unfolding new world economic order from deepening this legacy of racist exploitation and marginalisation. The ANC's draft submission to the World Conference against Racism notes that nowhere is the role of racism in justifying the morally indefensible more clearly illustrated than in the histories of the Atlantic slave trade, the conquest and colonisation of Africa and apartheid domination in South Africa. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Western Europeans developed a technological edge over the rest of the world, making possible the conquest of other parts of the globe and the domination of other peoples. Political and economic domination gave birth to, and was sustained by, the notion that Europeans were intellectually, culturally, spiritually and morally superior to other peoples, races and cultures. Conquest justified white supremacy, as white supremacy justified conquest. The Atlantic slave trade was driven by economic imperatives. However, it could be represented as morally acceptable because of the belief that Africans were less than human. Between 10 and 20 million people were transported across a vast ocean in conditions that resulted in the death of up to 20 percent of the captives. The reduction of Africans to the status of possessions was for many years organised directly by the agents of European states in partnership with favoured commercial interests. This commerce in humans, sugar, cotton, tobacco, indigo and other goods produced on the basis of slave labour in the Americas played a vital role in the emergence of a global trading system and contributed decisively to the industrialisation of Europe. Colonialism allowed the extraction of Africa's rich natural resources and created markets for Europe's manufactured goods. The conduct of these commercial activities resulted in widespread hardship, enslavement, impoverishment and even genocide. "Racist ideology played the role of moral justification in the minds of the functionaries of this terror, and lent legitimacy and moral sanction to it among the broader European public," the document says. The current form of global economic relations is a product of this racist colonial history: "The endowments of human, social and physical capital held by the nations of the world in modern times have not been the outcome of unconstrained bargaining in a free market, where economic agents respond to price signals in their own interest and a benign invisible hand ensures the optimal allocation of resources." "The underdevelopment of the majority of the world is directly correlated to the industrialisation of its minority. These inescapable relations of power and resource allocation are defined by the history from which the present global order has emerged: a history of slavery and colonial domination sustained by, and supportive of, racist ideologies. "The ideological, economic and political legacy of this history continues to colour relations between and within countries. It continues to shape the contours of wealth and poverty in the world. It continues to define the terrain on which we must determine our common destiny. Privilege and underdevelopment, which were its outcome, are not artefacts of history, but a living legacy," the document says. It is therefore not surprising that, for example, income in the whole of Africa is little more than that of Belgium. Africa is the poorest region of the world. Colonialism intended to ensure Africa's permanent role as a supplier of cheap labour and raw materials, deliberately degrading Africa's human resource endowments, undermining and destroying its social capital and skewing investment towards the extraction of raw materials in order to serve European industry. While the process of accelerated globalisation over the past twenty-five years has resulted in an overall increase in global wealth, inequality in the distribution of wealth has widened, both between developing and developed societies, and within societies, including within the developed world: "Globalisation threatens to inaugurate a new Apartheid, on a global scale, where the victims of past abuses are consigned to an economic and developmental abyss, while the beneficiaries accumulate greater wealth and power." In particular, globalisation could result in the further marginalisation of Africa. The opening of the world to trade does not necessarily lead to the convergence of growth rates between the developed and developing world, and the continued exclusion of Africa from global productive networks presents the danger of the divergent growth. Racist and xenophobic attitudes can exacerbate these tendencies. For example, attitudes of Afro-pessimism can fuel sentiments that impede long-term capital flows to African countries. Racism and xenophobia can restrict legitimate access of people from the South to business opportunities and trade in the North. The advent of a global economy also provides us with important opportunities to address global inequities: "Combined these factors open the possibility of unity in action for a non-racial world on a global scale. Partnerships between peoples and governments can be built to ensure that globalisation, far from entrenching the calamities of history and the animosities they have generated, enables humanity to enter a new era of common dignity." The strengthening of organs of global governance and the emergence of developing economies as independent nation states have created the political and institutional framework within which global developmental action can potentially succeed. With the demise of the old colonial systems, millions of formerly colonised people now enjoy - in varying degrees - formal national sovereignty and basic citizenship rights. The existence of many more independent states within the world system places on the agenda the need for, and the possibility of greater equity in world trade regulations, the reform of multinational institutions and more genuine global partnerships between peoples. The information and communications technology revolution, while dominate by companies of the North, nonetheless creates an infrastructure and a potential flow of information that can underpin a greater sense of our common humanity. Growing globalisation, including media globalisation, has been accompanied by the development of a wide range of generally progressive and genuinely popular social movements, focused on peace, disarmament, gender questions, the environment, health-care and human rights questions -including the world-wide movement against apartheid and racism. "While these increasingly well-mobilised social movements are often hostile to the present character of globalisation, they are also often the products of the new realities and they have used the global information and communications infrastructure to publicise their perspectives, and to network amongst themselves," the document says. The challenge to the World Conference against Racism is to develop a programme of action which will enable the countries of the world to harness the process of globalisation for the benefits of all. --------------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of ANC Today is available from the ANC web site at: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/2001/at29.htm To receive ANC Today free of charge by e-mail each week go to: http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday/subscribe.html