The Democratic Alliance (DA) seems poised to renounce the use of race as a policy tool. This emerges from a draft party document on values and principles.
Emphasising that the document was a work in progress, DA head of policy, Gwen Ngwenya, said that ‘the DA unequivocally stands for nonracialism, not multi-racialism’. This signified a rejection of race as a means to categorise people.
The document noted that: ‘The assumption that one’s “race” represents people who think, feel or have the same experience of shared events, based on their physical appearance, is false.’
It noted, though, that groups existed on cultural, linguistic, religious and political grounds, and that racism was real. However, this did not mean that people should be confined to rigid boxes inherited from the country’s past.
‘Individuals, when free to make their own decisions, will not be represented in any and every organisation, sector, company or level of management according to a predetermined proportion. The DA therefore opposes race, gender or other quotas.’
The place of race in policy has been a difficult one for the DA to navigate, with some of its leaders in favour of according it a prime place given South Africa’s history, and others feeling that it was divisive and ineffective in addressing real problems.
The DA is expected to discuss these matters at its policy conference in April.