Organized racism, institutional racism, let’s talk about Human Rights Day in modern society.
This year the Bill of Rights marks 30 years and as we commemorate Human Rights Day tomorrow under the theme “The Bill of Rights at 30 – Making human dignity real”, I would like to reflect on how far the nation has come and how far we still have to go on issues of equality and human dignity.
Hi, everyone. My name is Refilwe Mochoari. How long must the generation of today wait until we are all equal in different institutions across South Africa?
On 21 March 1960, the police opened fire on a crowd of about 5000 people in Sharpeville, during a peaceful protest against apartheid pass laws.
On that day, sixty-nine people were killed and 180 were injured.
The Pass Laws Act of 1952 required black South Africans over the age of 16 to carry a passbook also referred to as a “dompas” everywhere and at all times, a system that was used to control the movement of Black, Indian, and Coloured people.
The ‘dompas’ stated which areas a person was allowed to be in, and if they were found outside of these areas, they would be arrested.
Following the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960, several black political parties including the African National Congress were banned by the Nationalist government, which was the governing party of that time, but the liberation movements continued to operate.
On this day, as South Africans, we commemorate the sacrifices that were made by Robert Sobukwe, the founding President of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) a breakaway party from the ANC, which initiated the anti-pass laws campaign and led the protest to the Orlando police Station in Johannesburg
We celebrate Philip Kgosana, a university student and PAC member who led the march in Langa Township in Cape Town where over 20 people were killed.
We celebrate Potlako Leballo, Clarence Makwetu, and many other brave young men and women who fought against the ruthless apartheid government.
This day is a symbol of the constitutional promise of dignity, equality, and freedom for all South Africans.
Yet thirty years into democracy the ideals of the constitution remain unevenly realised.
What is the meaning of Human Rights in modern society?
How rife is racism still in the communities that we belong to?
We cannot afford to celebrate freedom while ignoring the persistence of organised racism.
Over thirty years later, it is still difficult for the black and white South Africans to co-exist and really look at one another beyond skin colour.
Organised racism is everywhere and it is rife.
In education, the former model C schools today referred to as quintile 5 schools, black children remain oppressed. These schools remain hostile spaces for many Black learners.
Many black children are abused by their teachers, they are discriminated against, and deprived of opportunities.
These schools foster racist practices and the lack of transformation in these schools affects the well-being of many learners, perpetuating systemic inequality.
In the workplace, black professionals are suffering from corporate inequality. Unequal opportunities and great opportunities are more often than not viewed as Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) placements.
In these institutions, it is so unequal that as a black individual, you have to work twice as hard to prove that you are capable of doing your work.
In residential complexes black occupants and tenants are abused and bullied by the trustees.
To me, Human Rights Day represents a project of unfinished inequality.
Tell me why South Africa still experiences organized racism after so much blood was shed?
A town like Orania a ‘white’s only town’ in the Northern Cape’s Namaqualand district is not an isolated case.
Spending a weekend in this district two weeks ago, was a demonstration that organised racism in South Africa is still in the country.
Driving into that district, I saw an apartheid flag flying with pride on the street poles, and community members of these small towns see it as normal.
What the 69 people of the Sharpeville massacre fought and died for, should be a lived reality and not just cited in the constitution, the speeches, and the government rallies.
The bloodshed during the Sharpeville Massacre, is a call for the invisible “dompas” to be dismantled wherever it hides and it is the duty of government to ensure to fight aggressively.
South Africa cannot afford to ignore organised racism while celebrating freedom.
For me, the long walk to freedom is not yet over.
By: Dibolelo Mance
In 2019 the President of the Republic, His Excellency Matamela Ramaphosa expanded the scope of responsibilities for a department that was originally known to South Africa as Public Works and added Infrastructure. Since then, the call to servitude has come with the recognition that our mandate extends far beyond building roads, bridges, and clinics-it is fundamentally about advancing human rights and ensuring that rural development is tangible, inclusive, and felt in the daily lives of our people.
Across the Free State and the country at large, there is a growing frustration, particularly among the youth, that development remains distant and uneven. This sentiment is justified. Too often, infrastructure delivery has been undermined by inefficiencies, delays, corruption, and a failure to integrate seamlessly with broader developmental programmes.
The result is a gap between policy and lived reality, where access to education, healthcare, housing, and economic opportunity seems like a distant dream, and the promise of human rights is yet to be fully realised in every community.
Our mandate is clear: infrastructure must be the backbone of rural development. More so in a Province considered to be the bread basket of the country wherein every connecting road is significant to the delivery of any and every staple need to the less fortunate. Without the full compliment of infrastructure in rural communities, the most vulnerable, the youth and society at large is disconnected from opportunity and alienated from their full human potential.
As a politician, I view this alienation not only as a social challenge but as a moral and political imperative. Karl Marx’s theory of alienation highlights the estrangement of individuals from their own humanity within hierarchical systems-a reality that resonates in our rural communities, where historical inequities continue to shape access to basic services and opportunities. To truly address the alienation of our citizens, infrastructure must not be delivered in isolation; it must be strategically aligned with human development initiatives, ensuring that investments translate into dignity, mobility, and empowerment.
Infrastructure provision is inseparable from the realisation of human rights. Every school built, clinic upgraded, or road constructed is a step toward ensuring that citizens can access their constitutional rights. When infrastructure delivery is poorly coordinated, it risks reinforcing exclusion rather than alleviating it. We must therefore adopt a human rights-centred approach, where development decisions prioritize the needs of communities, particularly those historically marginalized by race, gender, disability, or geography.
Infrastructure is not simply a technical solution-it is a moral obligation and a tangible measure of social justice. As we broaden our understanding of Infrastructure this Human Rights Day, it is as vital to prioritise access to services through effectively managed and maintained state-used and owned properties. These edifices house government’s machinery, men and women whose rights we are mindful of in our quest to build a capable state.
March 21, Human Rights Day, reminds us that our responsibilities as leaders extend beyond policy documents and budgets. It is a day to reflect on the tangible impact of our decisions on the lives of ordinary South Africans. Whether a young artisan whose life has been greatly altered by the permanent employment recently received through some of the departmental programmes or the children of Xhariep who will benefit from the recently completed Orangekraag Combined School, every decision must be a strategic brick for the road we are paving ahead of us.
Our rural development programmes must work hand-in-hand with infrastructure delivery, creating integrated, sustainable systems that empower citizens and realize their rights. We are accountable not only to legislation and governance standards but to the people whose dignity, potential, and futures depend on our capacity to plan, deliver, and oversee infrastructure that truly serves them.
Past the commemoration of Human Rights Day, we must reaffirm our commitment: to ensure that every road, clinic, and school is not just built, but strategically placed, effectively maintained, and fully integrated into a development framework that leaves no community behind. Human rights, rural development, and infrastructure provision must operate seamlessly, for only then can we truly claim progress, and only then can our citizens live free from the alienation of the human condition.
About the author
Dibolelo Mance is the MEC for Free State Department of Public Works and Infrastructure
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By Staff Reporter
The African National Congress (ANC) has scrapped its planned regional and provincial conferences, opting instead to fast-track the nomination and selection of councillors in a move that signals urgency ahead of looming electoral deadlines.
The decision shifts focus from internal deliberations to candidate processes, with party structures now expected to prioritise branch-level nominations and streamline the selection pipeline to ensure readiness for the upcoming polls.
In a letter addressed to provinces and the party’s electoral committee chairperson, Kgalema Motlanthe, Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula directed party members to officially kick off the selection process of councillors from 1 April, while putting a stop to internal elective conferences.
“This instruction effectively means that all ANC elective conferences at regional and provincial levels must be put on hold from 1 April until immediately after the date of the 2026 local government elections, which is yet to be announced by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC),” Mbalula said in the letter.
He further ordered that, in line with the selection process, all NEC-approved rules and guidelines must be strictly followed.
“We wish to emphasise that adherence to rules and guidelines approved by the NEC is sacrosanct and deviations of any form shall not be tolerated by the ANC,” he said.
The IEC has indicated that local government elections are expected to take place between November 2025 and January 2026.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has said he did not approve the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) and was dissatisfied that he had not been consulted by suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu beforehand.
Ramaphosa said this in written responses to Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations made by KZN provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. He submitted the responses on Tuesday.
He said the decision was taken by Mchunu and should have fallen under the authority of the national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola.
Ramaphosa said he was informed of the move on or about February 1, 2025 by Masemola, who indicated that Mchunu had instructed that the unit be disbanded.
Masemola also made it clear that he disagreed with the decision, Ramaphosa said.
“He further assured me that, notwithstanding this instruction, a disbandment could not be effected immediately, as this would negatively affect pending investigations,” Ramaphosa said.
The president said he subsequently requested a meeting with Mchunu, which took place on or about February 13, 2025.
“At this meeting, the minister informed me that he had given the instruction to disband the task team and his reasons for doing so,” Ramaphosa said.
“I conveyed my dissatisfaction at not having been consulted prior to this decision being taken. I further indicated that, in my view, this was a decision for the national commissioner to make.”
Ramaphosa said he made it clear that he expected to be kept informed of any further decisions affecting investigations into political killings.
“It was my understanding that the steps to be taken fell within the purview of the national commissioner’s authority,” he said.
He added that he understood from Masemola that the PKTT would not be disbanded and that its work would continue despite the directive.
Ramaphosa’s responses follow calls from members of the parliamentary committee for him to appear in person and be held fully accountable.
The presidency had missed an initial deadline to submit answers and requested an extension.
The committee was established after Mkhwanazi made explosive allegations in July last year, raising concerns about political interference and corruption within South Africa’s criminal justice system.
Mchunu previously told the committee that he had not consulted Ramaphosa before issuing the disbandment directive.
He said his decision was based on a police research study recommending the consolidation of violent crime investigations into the murder and robbery unit.
Meanwhile, Mkhwanazi has intensified his allegations, claiming Mchunu personally authored the December 2024 letter disbanding the PKTT but had been “captured” into doing so.
“I believe the minister was captured to write that letter,” Mkhwanazi told the committee on Wednesday
“He does not accept that - he owns it.”
Mkhwanazi said forensic analysis showed the letter was drafted on Mchunu’s iPad and later deleted, but investigators were able to recover the data.
“You delete, we retrieve,” he said. “We know he is the author.”
He outlined how the document was circulated, saying it was sent from the minister to his chief of staff, then to a personal assistant, where an electronic signature was added before distribution.
Mkhwanazi also alleged that the document was sent to both official and private email addresses on the same day.
He argued that the disbandment had serious operational consequences, including leaving the police service without a head of crime intelligence for nearly a year and disrupting ongoing investigations.
He said arrests linked to the Crime Intelligence division, including that of Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo, brought key operations to a halt.
Officers involved were unable to work, access resources or receive payment due to funding constraints tied to intelligence structures.
He added that millions of rand from the secret services account were spent during this period and are now under audit scrutiny.
Appearing before the committee on Tuesday, Masemola said Mchunu had ample opportunity to brief him on the decision but failed to do so.
“We had not yet agreed. I said ‘gradual’; the minister said ‘immediate’,” he said.
Masemola confirmed earlier testimony that the disbandment directive was sent via WhatsApp while senior officials were engaged in festive season safety operations.
He maintained that he had not been consulted before or after the directive was issued.
“It remains my evidence that the minister never consulted me about the directive, either before or after issuing it,” he said.
Masemola added that the stated aim of the disbandment was to halt investigations into murder accused businessman Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala, who is alleged to be linked to the so-called “Big Five” cartel.
He said he initially questioned the authenticity of the disbandment letter and, once it was verified, instructed departments to compile reports in response
*This article was first published by IOL News
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has issued a rallying cry for South Africans to join forces with the party and its alliance partners in an upcoming "People’s March".
The march, set for Saturday, March 21, coincides with the 66th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, with Mbalula saying it will also serve as a pivotal moment to reaffirm commitment to the nation's Constitution, which he claimed is under siege from "peddlers of disinformation."
"We have seen people peddling disinformation in the US, lying that there is a genocide. President Cyril Ramaphosa went to the White House to engage and dispel these lies. Because of these lies, we have seen an unprecedented amount of attention where our foreign policy is being attacked, BEE is being attacked, and threats of bad-faith investigations by the Trump administration are rampant. This is why this march is important," he stated.
In a media briefing alongside party spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri and first deputy secretary general Nomvula Mokonyane, Mbalula further emphasised that the march is not an ANC initiative, but a collective national movement aimed at defending the country's democracy.
The march is intended to commence at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg, making its way towards Mandela Bridge before concluding at the Constitutional Hill.
Mbalula called for a collective show of support, saying it is time for South Africa to unite behind one common vision and purpose.
"This march is also an affirmation of unity. It is also a recognition that the future of South Africa cannot be built by one group alone but requires the collective effort of all who live in it. It is a call for unity across race, class, gender, and geography, and a reminder that our diversity is a source of strength," he said.
Mbalula addressed the recent comments made by the US Ambassador to South Africa, Brent Bozell III, whowas criticised for making "anti-diplomatic" remarks regarding the "Kill the Boer" chant.
Over a week ago, while participating in a podcast, Bozell labelled the chant as hate speech, contradicting a 2022 ruling by the Equality Court, which deemed the chant neither hate speech nor incitement. "I do not care what the courts say, but that chant is hate speech," Bozell had said.
Mbalula slammed Bozell, stating, "Bozell came here and spoke out of turn even before he presented his credentials. He fought against this democracy by protesting against OR Tambo. He disrespected and undermined our courts. We will not allow disrespect, and that’s why our government decided to demarche him because of his undiplomatic utterances."
*This article was first published by IOL News
