Paradise lost: race and racism in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

At the dawn of South Africa's democracy, the sense of hope of a new nation where citizens would stand equally in what once was a discriminatory and racist country was palpable. All South Africans would stand, walk and live equally and free in a country that would no longer discriminate on the basis of race. Yet, as South Africa moves towards the third decade of democracy, the hope of a non-racial paradise seems lost. We see an increasing number of racist incidents coupled with intensified racialised politicking which brings to the fore deep-seated feelings of inter-racial dislike and mistrust. These are expressed privately and publicly in the form of harmful stereotypes that often perpetuate inter-racial hostility in a country that once held so much promise of building a reconciled and united nation rooted in its diversity. The promise of a non- racial paradise that so many struggled for remains elusive after more than a quarter century of democracy.