Human Rights Office, Projects and Progress

Integration Project

Within South Africa you will find many diverse groups of people. Since the days of apartheid people have been categorised as blacks, whites or coloureds and the legal segregation of these groups dates back to 1948 where the introduction of apartheid laws meant that racial discrimination was institutionalised and over three million people were relocated through forced removals. Blacks, whites and coloureds were unable to mix and each had their designated areas within which each had to legally stay.

Apartheid did not end until the 1994 elections, creating the abolition of apartheid and legal racial segregation. But although laws were abolished and changed, it was not so easy to abolish the opinions that were engrained into a nation. The legal barriers were broken down but memories still remained and it was because of these that it was not as easy to change the way people felt towards another. Coloureds and blacks held much resentment towards whites after they had lived under their rule for so long, and many whites still held racism towards those of colour. To the rest of the world, a new nation had been born, but under the surface there were still a lot of problems and damaging perceptions which were not being addressed and these got in the way of South Africa's progress in becoming the real 'rainbow nation'.

Although over time things have improved and with time wounds have healed and people have learnt to forgive and forget the past and accept people as equals; reports still show that to this day barriers still exist between people within South Africa and it has been hindering the positive progress of the country for some time. People are not so openly racist anymore but there is still resentment between the races and many are not as accepting as it would have hoped they would have become by now. Based on what is observed, children seem to be growing up with an in-built mentality that people from a different race or with different skin colour are inferior. Those less educated stick to their own race and rarely take the time to get to know others and it is from these problems that the idea for this project came.

The aim of this project is to address the next generation of South African's, namely the children, to find out what their thoughts are about people of a different race to themselves and how they act towards them. We want to educate and integrate them with others regardless of their race and skin colour. The project focuses on strengthening the 'Rainbow Nation' by breaking down the invisible barriers between South Africa's diverse set of people.

Volunteer Testimonies

“All of the kids we work with are really talkative and intelligent, they have a lot to say and they are extremely interested in debating and discussing these things.”
Katja Andreasen, Denmark, 2 months