Issued by Christo van der Rheede on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation on 05/06/2025

 *This statement was first published by News24.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s response to a question raised in parliament by both the Patriotic Alliance and the ACDP about the government’s continued use of racial classification categories raises serious questions about his commitment to the National Constitution which envisions a non-racial society based on human dignity, equality, human rights, non-racialism, non-sexism, accountability, responsiveness and transparency.

The President admitted that he would like to see our country finally do away with racial classification that was introduced during apartheid. However, according to him, this can only happen when the inequalities caused by the past have been effectively addressed, especially in the economy.

What a lame excuse! And an insult! 

But more than that, it makes a mockery of our Constitution that envisions a non-racial society. Nor does it take into account its impact on the black and brown majority in particular, who have been trapped in poverty, inequality and unemployment for the past thirty years.

The continued use of racial classification in various laws promulgated over time serves no other purpose than to misuse it for political patronage and as a means to retain voters. The outcome of enforcing ethnic or racial targets at the expense of expertise has had disastrous consequences at all levels of government, especially our public enterprises. Not to mention its impact on service delivery at the municipal level, in schools, hospitals and so many other public institutions. And it is the poorest of the poor, the black and brown majority, who suffer.

Do away with racial classification, Mr. President. Finish and klaar!

There are alternative ways to overcome the legacy of the past. Through the smart collection and use of data, interventions by the public and private sectors can be launched to address the socio-economic challenges faced by specific communities. Using a wide range of tools to determine the social status of citizens, as opposed to using blunt tools such as racial classification, is a much better way to overcome the legacies of the past. However, skills, expertise, dedication, integrity and ability to deliver should be the crucial indicators in appointing people to critical government positions.

Returning to obsolete, divisive and degrading racial classifications and the use of employment equity targets does nothing at all to help overcome the injustices of the past. In fact, the past thirty years have proven that such blunt instruments do more harm than good. It’s insane to think that we’ll overcome the legacy of the past by continuing with racial classification and policies. It drives mediocrity and undermines our constitutional order!

Any society that builds a future on ethnicity or skin colour is doomed to fail. South Africa, with its unique history of apartheid, should have learned from its terrible past, but no, the president and his political party, the ANC, continue with toxic policies based on race-based targets that actually amount to quotas. Quotas which are in fact unconstitutional as the South African High Court found that they violate the constitutional right to equality and dignity.

The president should instruct his cabinet ministers in the Government of National Unity to go back to the drawing board and devise a new system that balances the need for redress with merit, as well as the development of mentorship and learnership programmes aimed primarily at economically and educationally disadvantaged people, regardless of their ethnicity or ‘race’. This should be a legal obligation for all businesses rather than the enforcement of quotas. Such learnership programmes have been used with great success in many businesses and these students are in high demand.

South Africa is bleeding talent that, if it had been harnessed, could have contributed greatly to helping us overcome the legacies of the past, especially in terms of the economy. Continuing on this path of racial classification undermines the dream of progress and prosperity for all.

South Africans deserve better and it starts with appointing the best people to critical service delivery positions. Not in terms of race!