Top South Africans from all walks of life are among those who have signed a "declaration of commitment by white South Africans" acknowledging the damage apartheid caused to black South Africans.
Some of the names on the declaration include Constitutional Court judge Richard Goldstone and SA actor Sir Anthony Sher, cartoonist Zapiro and rebel cleric Beyers Naude of the Dutch Reformed Church.
The list, faxed to Sapa on Tuesday, comes ahead of the launch of a "Home for All" campaign on Reconciliation Day.
The campaign is being headed by Carl Niehaus, an African National Congress member and former ambassador to the Netherlands, and Mary Burton, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission former commissioner.
Others who have signed are writers Andre Brink and Antjie Krog, Whitnail And I film star Richard E Grant, who was born in South Africa, Constitutional Court judges Kate O'Regan and Albie Sachs, Ruth Rabinowitz, an Inkatha Freedom Party spokesperson, artists Cecil and Pippa Skotnes and actors Gavin van den Bergh and Tobie Cronje.
The list also bears the names of most of the Springbok rugby team, including triple-try scorer Breyton Paulse.
Wilhelm Verwoerd, the grandson of former prime minister and one of apartheid's architects Hendrik Verwoerd, also signed.
Reaction to the campaign has been mixed.
Former president FW de Klerk said he already had apologised in front of the TRC and that "group judgment" would cause ethnic tension and prejudice.
Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the Democratic Alliance deputy leader, said it would increase racial polarisation and did not take into account the full circumstances of the time.
The full text of the declaration reads: "We acknowledge that apartheid inflicted massive social, economic, cultural and psychological damage on black South Africans. It undermined our common humanity.
"We acknowledge the white community's responsibility for apartheid since many of us actively and passively supported that system. Some white people were deeply involved in the struggle against apartheid, but they were very few in number.
"We acknowledge our debt to fellow black South Africans since all whites benefited from systematic racial discrimination.
"We acknowledge that the damage caused by apartheid has not been overcome. The legacy of racial discrimination remains evident in the acute deprivation experienced by most black people and in the privileged lives of most whites.
"We acknowledge that racist attitudes of white superiority and black inferiority continue to shape our lives, communities and institutions.
"We acknowledge that our failure to accept responsibility for apartheid has inhibited reconciliation and transformation.
"We deeply regret all of this.
We, therefore, believe that it is right and necessary to commit ourselves to redressing these wrongs. We pledge to use our skills, resources and energy, through individual and collective action, to empower disadvantaged people, eliminate racism and promote a non-racial society whose resources are used to the benefit of all its people.
"To these ends, and in recognition of the need for restitution, various initiatives will be undertaken, including the establishment of a development and reconciliation fund."
The organisers said that some black people also had chosen to sign.
The campaign will be officially launched at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town on December 16. - Sapa