ARTICLE: CULTURAL DIVERSITY, DIALOGUE AND DEVELOPMENT: MANAGING EFFECTIVELY WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE
2014-05-20
The 21st of May is World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development.
It is recognised to provide an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to learn to “live together” better.
The South African Constitution fully recognises the diverse nature of our society and states that South Africa belongs to all who live in it – united in our diversity.
A core policy directive in the Department of Sport and Recreation’s 2013 White Paper on Sport and Recreation stated that “The racial composition of national teams should not be advocated, nor should National Federations be prescribed to on how they should select their teams. National teams should be selected on merit but transformation should be implemented at school/youth levels to prepare a broad basis of athletes for participation at higher levels in future”.
Sunday, 6 April will be the 362nd anniversary of the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in the Cape – and of the founding of our mother city – Cape Town.
The way the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) of South Africa presently recommends candidates for judicial appointment to the President has been the subject of controversy and widespread criticism and raises concerns that it attaches excessive consideration to race and not enough to whether candidates are fit, proper and appropriately qualified.
The sorrow and adulation that the world has expressed following the recent death of Nelson Mandela are a worthy tribute to his greatness. Last Monday the British parliament added its voice to the global chorus. It was appropriate – because it was the same parliament that set the course for South Africa’s future history when it created the Union of South Africa only 103 years ago. In so doing it set the stage on which Nelson Mandela – who was born only eight years later – would play out his extraordinary career.
The deepening turmoil in Egypt provides some sharp lessons on the potential pitfalls of winner‐takes-‐all democracy in deeply divided societies. Democracy is in essence a convention in terms of which competition for political power is resolved by elections - rather than by violence. Participants agree that the party or parties that win the election can form the government and rule the country for a prescribed period until the next election.