Deputy Speaker, hon President, hon Deputy President, hon members, the Presidency's reported mission is to realise the strategic agenda of government by, among other things, mobilising the nation towards a common vision. The strategy is based on the 10 priority areas identified in the medium-term strategy framework for 2009 to 2014, which includes building cohesive, caring and sustainable communities.
Deputy Speaker, I will be endeavouring to highlight what appears to be hampering this mobilisation of the nation towards a common vision and also negatively affecting the levels of patriotism in our country. In so doing I will be associating myself with the concern raised by hon Mulder yesterday during the Parliament Budget Vote debate.
It is true that Rule 103 makes provision for debates on matters of public importance while Rule 104 makes provision for debates on matters of urgent public importance. The fact that we have not had a single debate on such important matters in more than three years necessitates action in this regard. Therefore, on behalf of the ACDP I'll be requesting the Speaker to place, as a matter of public importance on the Order Paper, a debate on who is an African.
Among the challenges identified by the National Planning Commission and contained in the first diagnostic report that was released by Minister Trevor Manuel on behalf of the commission is that South Africa remains a divided society. I find the racial classification and profiling in the report not helpful as it will not narrow the divide but will continue to increase it.
The following four race groups are cited in the report, namely, African, white, coloured and Indian. The word African is used in the document exclusively for black people. This raises the question of whether or not black people alone are Africans. Yes, as the President has said this afternoon, we must talk about who is an African.
Deputy Speaker, we have to ask and answer the question of whether or not whites, coloureds, Indians, Khoi and San born in South Africa are Africans. If they are not Africans, then who are they? Am I wrong in believing that anyone born in South African is an African? The nation is divided on this issue and Parliament must lead the debate that hopefully will serve to bring us closer to one another.
The booklet Statistics in Brief, 2011 by Statistics SA has some inconsistencies that are also not helpful in this regard. On page seven it has a column about black Africans but on page 12 it refers to Africans. Are these black Africans on page seven and Africans mentioned on page 12 the same people, or what is the difference?
A relevant question to ask is why, when a white man criticises a black man, he is labelled as a racist, but when a black man criticises a white man he's not labelled as racist? The anger, controversy and threats of violence these past two weeks around the The Spear saga which is characterised as art, also raised allegations of racism.
By the way, hon President, we in the ACDP view that painting with disgust and indeed it shows disrespect to you as the head of state. It is a known fact that the ACDP condemns all forms of pornography regardless of whether it depicts the head of state, politicians or the most vulnerable members of our society, particularly women and children.
In conclusion, I want to revert to the question of race and ask whether racial classifications are appropriate in a country that is aspiring to build a nonracial society. I don't think so. In fact, I'm concerned about increasing racial polarisation and how the race card is used in this country recklessly.
That is why I believe we need a national discussion on who is an African and which is the appropriate term to define us as the people of South Africa. There are valuable lessons we can learn from America, for example. Anyone born there, regardless of their skin colour, race or religion is considered American.
South Africa is a dynamic country with a racial mix that blends beautifully together. Let us work together towards accepting one another as Africans; build our nation together; and show the world the beauty of unity in diversity. Thank you. [Applause.]