Adv. Rod Solomons elaborates on the manifesto topic relating to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
We acknowledge that there are many dimensions of diversity within Cape Town.
- While equality in South Africa is entrenched in our constitution it alone does not make all South Africans equal. Our history of colonialism, slavery, imperialism and apartheid, has contrived together to make South Africa a very unequal society. The legacy of our unequal and racist past is present in the structural inequalities of our everyday lives, and the continued disenfranchisement of the poor, and the ongoing destabilisation of the middle class, particularly Cape Town.
- Our current history is one in which governments have served the interests of certain individuals over the interests of their country, and have used the benefit of having seats in parliament and councils to advance their own interests over the interests of the people of this country and their constitution, which has resulted in contrived outcomes that continues to keep South Africa as very unequal society.
- The CA1st, like the South African Human Rights Commission, is concerned with the eradication of inequality and unfair discrimination, particularly based on race, gender, sex, disability, and sexual orientation, and our communication, decisions and actions are guided by this understanding of equality, as an aspiration that we must work towards. We believe that equality can only be achieved through commitment to equity in policymaking that will result in re-defining the City’s mandate, and in how that mandate is executed.
- Equity is about accepting the principle that all Capetonians, regardless of their varied dimensions of difference should be able to access opportunities for them to realise their full potential as individuals and communities. A commitment to equity in local government is recognition that people who are economically, politically and historically disenfranchised do not have the same access to opportunity as people who are/were not.
- A commitment to equity is about giving individuals and communities a hand-up to achieve equality. The CA1st is committed to equity in thought, word and deed in local government. Inclusion is about doing all that we can to ensure that all dimensions of diversity can participate in defining what it means to have a city that works for all. Inclusion in local government is about making sure that the people of Cape Town have a say in what the city should be doing for them today, and in the future.
- Besides dealing with diversity through equity and inclusion, it also makes economic sense to create the conditions for all citizens to reach their full potential, because the growth and development of the City will benefit from citizens that function at their full potential.