13 January 2013
The South African Communist Party (SACP) commends the City Press (Sunday, 12 January 2014) for its investigative report and lead story exposing persistent racism and racist practices in the property rentals market. The story was prompted by one of its black journalists being `told he couldn`t rent a house in Pretoria because he was non-white`. This sums up the results of, as it were, a short survey on racism in the sector, something that incidentally is well known especially among young black professionals entering the labour market.
The SACP therefore calls upon government, especially led by the Department of Human Settlements, together with the National Consumer Commission and the Department of Public Works, to undertake a comprehensive investigation into racist and other discriminatory practices in the property, rentals and housing markets.
These racist practices as revealed in the City Press story, we believe, are a tip of the iceberg, and if not thoroughly exposed and acted upon, they will reproduce and recreate apartheid group areas. This will undermine one of the critical goals and objectives of our democratic government, that of building non-racial, mixed and post-apartheid human settlements.
These practices underline what the SACP has always said about the close relationship between capitalism and racism in our country, and the extent to which economic power is still being used to consolidate privileges for significant sections of our white population.
Based on a sample of rental agents and landlords in major cities and towns, the City Press survey confirms the persistent perpetuation of racist practices exercised against black people, who are excluded from gaining access to available property that is still reserved for whites only. Racial practices in the rentals and housing markets are still to be found in different cities and towns prevailing at varying extents.
The SACP also strongly condemns the collusion by many estate agents and property developers and managers in the maintenance of these racist practices.
The story touches on one of the ghastly practices prevailing in the rentals, housing and property markets in general, which the SACP has been campaigning against since the launch of our financial sector campaign in 2000, and more recently through the actions of our SACP Gauteng provincial structures in the last few years. These practices include unscrupulous and collusive evictions which are often associated with corruption.
The racist practices prevailing in the rentals, housing and property markets in general stand against everything that as a country we stand for: non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society, as well as integrated and mixed human settlements. We wonder to what extent are some of the perpetrators of these practices also government beneficiaries in terms of property deals and office rentals. And it is for this reason that we call upon the Department of Public Works to take an active interest in this matter, so that any racist property dealers who have dealings with government will have to be named, shamed and blacklisted from any future dealings with all of government.
Issued by SACP
Contact:
Alex Mashilo - Spokesperson
Mobile: 082 9200 308
Office: 011 338 3621
Email: alexmashilo.sacp@gmail.com