DURBAN - PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa encouraged South Africans to identify themselves by their nationality and not their race groups.
He was responding to comments by an audience member during a visit to Durban last week when he listened to the community’s concerns.
The woman, a member of the public health sector, spoke about racial tension in the workplace in KwaZulu-Natal, and job appointments being carried out under the act of transformation.
She said that those were creating divisions among South Africans.
The doctor, who works at an NPO which treats more than 4 000 people, added that she wanted to be known as a South African and not a South African of any descent.
She wanted to be known as a citizen who was contributing towards the country and trying to uplift her fellow human beings.
To that, Ramaphosa replied: “You want to be known as a South African and not a South African citizen of Indian origin; that is what we aspire to have as we build this democratic society, to ensure that all South Africans continue to see themselves first as South African and nothing else.”
Ramaphosa said that although there might be different cultural and language group affiliations, it should never override or overshadow people’s identity as South African.
“We’ve got to come to a stage where we don’t see ourselves as a majority or minority. We should see ourselves as South African, which is what we are and that should define our identity.”
The doctor, who declined to be named, questioned the president about racial tension in the work environment.
She said racial tension in the workplace was being fuelled by discriminatory job appointments.
“It is all being carried out under the act of transformation but, unfortunately, what it is doing is creating huge division again among South Africans,” she said.
Ramaphosa blamed the country’s past leaders for the racism that continued to exist.
“Unfortunately, race is our continuing fault line as a nation because the past rulers of this country made sure that racism was the order of the day in our country and we have to continue closing that fault line.”
Ramaphosa said South Africans needed to ensure they built a nation and enhanced social cohesion in order to show that, as a country, its citizens were committed to being a non-racist and non-sexist country.