Racism as epithet in the context of post-apartheid's demographic parity goals

Abstract

Nearly twenty years after the capitulation of the apartheid state, South Africa's post-apartheid government continues to find it necessary to seek means to direct change in the demographic profile of the country's leading institutions towards a situation where it reflects the national demographic profile. Among those is legislation to achieve what is known as employment equity—which has been criticised for being a reverse form of racism. The article outlines some of the features of that legislation and various policies that have been introduced in order to realise its goals, considering some of the rhetoric that has followed in which those policies as well as their implementation have been described as racist. And it raises questions about how one should understand racism in such a context, arguing that racism is always historically situated and reflects power struggles through categorisation.