PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has called for reparations for victims of slave trade in the form of the adoption of special measures, including affirmative action programmes and targeted financial assistance, as restitution to communities whose ancestors were sold into slavery.
Ramaphosa was speaking at the General Debate of the 76th Session of teh United Nations General Assembly via video link on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
He said with the country’s constitution South Africans were called upon to build a society based on social justice and fundamental human rights to correct the injustices of the past.
Ramaphosa said slavery was one of the darkest periods in the history of humankind and a crime of unparalleled ‘barbarity’, saying its legacy persists in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and in Africa itself.
“Millions of the descendants of Africans who were sold into slavery remain trapped in lives of underdevelopment, disadvantage, discrimination and poverty. We support the adoption of special measures, including affirmative action programmes and targeted financial assistance, as restitution to communities whose ancestors were sold into slavery.”
Ramaphosa said representation of people of African descent in global institutions and in positions of leadership should be increased.
“As we strive to correct the wrongs of the past, we must combat the racism, sexism, and national chauvinism of the present. Racism directed at ethnic minorities, migrants, refugees, the LGBTQI+ community and other marginalised groups has led to the denial of opportunity, to institutionalised discrimination, and to violence,” said Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa said just as the world stood united to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, every nation, world leader must recommit themselves to implement the Durban Declaration and Platform for Action.
“We must pursue this objective with energy and goodwill. Ending racism is a fight in which each of us has a stake,” said Ramaphosa.
“Let us all allow humanism to be our guide and solidarity be our strongest force. We are called upon by history to redouble our efforts to build a world free of racism, to right the wrongs of the past and to restore the human dignity of all.”
The Durban World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, which was held from 31 August to 8 September 2001, was a seminal moment for the international community to address racism and the actions needed to create a just and fair society free of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance at the national, regional and international levels.
- Inside Politics
