Affirmative Action At The University of Cape Town: A Thorny Issue

The University of Cape Town, like much of South Africa, is caught in the affirmative action debate. Is affirmative action a fair system? Does it not say that black students who benefit from it are somehow inferior to their white counterpart? Does it not challenge the ideal of a non-racial society which South Africa is supposed to be? These are thorny issues. It must however not be forgotten that the very idea of affirmative action has been necessitated by the cruel system that was apartheid. Things cannot just go on after apartheid as if everything was normal during that period. While the idea of affirmative action is problematic, it must not be forgotten that it was meant to redress historic injustices. That system must not be lightly dismissed without putting in place another system that takes care of those who were historically disadvantaged by the cruel apartheid system. It must not be forgotten that South Africa is supposed to be a non-racial society but it is not yet so. Even more, the issue of class is crucial to the debate even though the injustice of class is far less critiqued than that of race. It is, however, good that South Africa is having this debate now.