| dc.description.abstract | T Drawing from in-depth interviews with 26 prominent South Africans,
this article looks at how leaders in government, political parties, business and
civil society understand and interpret non-racialism today. It interrogates
whether non-racialism is an active political and social project among leaders in
South Africa and whether, and how, they are attempting to redefine nonracialism. The article demonstrates that non-racialism is a term still
ambiguously understood and defined by South African leaders. Some respondents
consider races to be products of social construction and, as such, believe these
constructions can be transcended. For many, however, the idea of multiracialism
prevails over that of non-racialism. Although non-racialism remains largely a
rhetorical ideal among many leaders, respondents did have well-defined views of
the challenges facing non-racialism, particularly those of socio-economic
inequality and poor leadership from the African National Congress (ANC).
Overall, there is a strong sense from many respondents that the values of nonracialism are currently under threat. However, through using social sectors such
as education and the media, as well as fostering open debate on non-racialism
and facilitating stronger leadership from all areas of society, interviewees did
see potential for building a path toward a non-racial South Africa | en_US |
