Cape Town -
City of Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille will host a dialogue to address the recent spate of racial issues in the city and will also include eminent people, she announced at the council meeting on Wednesday.
Since November 2013, the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court alone has heard 16 race-related cases.
De Lille said the campaign would be “an action of reconciliation, allowing us to confront divisions to strengthen our mission to create a united future”.
De Lille said in the next two weeks she will be putting together a framework for the dialogue and would announce full details next month.
“Racial issues have come to the fore in recent weeks. The recent spate of racist attacks demonstrates that some in our society are stuck in past attitudes and prejudices, including some in the ANC, which uses insulting phrases like ‘darkies’ to describe people,” she said.
De Lille emphasised her office was building a city where there was no space for racism or bigotry of any kind - from homophobia through to sexism.
“We need to interrogate this sentiment from within those very enclaves that seek to cling to the past and to racist prejudices. I want to create a platform where we can address these difficult issues in our city and confront what makes some people feel excluded and other people feel entitled.”
Cape Times