Chairperson, the recent comments made by Judge Isaac Madondo at the hearing of the new Judge President of KwaZulu-Natal are more worrisome in that they don't only indicate that racism is alive and well within the upper echelons of our Justice department, but also that such comments are becoming representative of a wider national consensus in respect of race relations in our country.
We can quite comfortably surmise that race relations in South Africa are currently at one of the lowest ebbs since the dawn of our new democracy; and that the ugly face of racism is now, once again, coming out of the closet and is being spread by a small group of self-serving individuals. These individuals, including Mr Julius Malema, have nothing save their own personal ambitions and agendas as priorities.
Chairperson, the spreading of such racial divisiveness does not augur well for the country and must not be tolerated or allowed to proliferate within government or, for that matter, within any political party or public entity.
We are at an impasse, or Rubicon, of racial divisiveness that must be crossed in order for our country to move successfully forward. Our failure in this regard will be catastrophic. Thank you. [Applause.]