| introduction |
| bright future |
| racial harmony | ||
we keep to ourselves Two-thirds (64%) of respondents have low levels of trust across the racial divide. Trust among races appears to be under strain, particularly black attitudes to whites. It appears that while whites are beginning to believe that trust between blacks and whites will develop over time – four in ten (44%) whites think this – two-thirds of Africans (68%) disagree, and feel blacks and whites will never trust one another. Just a fifth (20%) of Africans rejected the notion that ‘blacks and whites will never really trust each other', suggesting that respondents have low levels of confidence in racial harmony between blacks and whites. This finding appears to indicate that Gautengers are at a low point in terms of race relations. This question has been asked in many different surveys over time. A discernible trend is the softening of white attitudes since 1990, with more and more whites (slowly) coming to agree that they will learn to trust their fellow black citizens over time. However, running parallel to that trend has been a hardening of attitudes among black respondents who were far more tolerant toward their white counterparts in the early 1990s. This suggests a growing polarization of attitudes between blacks and whites in the city-region. This is an issue which should rightly be of real concern to all residents of the city-region.
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...while keeping 'the others out' In the GCRO ‘Quality of Life’ survey, 69% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement ‘foreigners are taking benefits meant for South Africans’, an indication of entrenched xenophobic attitudes at community level, which are widespread across class, race and gender divides. It is also indicative of a conception of democracy as a source of redistributive justice for citizens of the city-region. It highlights the unequal distribution of resources and wealth in South Africa, which manifests at community level in the form of a perceived ‘competition’ for resources between South Africans and non-South Africans. |
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| Focus Group commissioned by GCRO (2009) 'Violent Community Protest Roundtable' | ||
