“Race, disability and ethnic or social origin are the most common grounds of discrimination reported to the commission,” the report said.
“Discrimination on the ground of disability and ethnic and social origin, respectively, comprised the second and third most common grounds of discrimination.
“Given our past, inequality in South Africa is highly correlated with race. South Africa’s history has been shaped by segregation, oppression and institutionalised discrimination.”
In the four financial years the commission has compiled the report, equality-related complaints have consistently been one of the top five rights violations that it had to deal with.

The number of these complaints has steadily increased, peaking in the 2015-16 financial year.
This has been attributed to the increasing number of people becoming aware of their rights, the evolution of technology, the inequality of lived realities and the disparity in social dynamics in South Africa.
A number of complaints that have been investigated by the commission relating to unfair discrimination have ended up being litigated before equality courts.

“Given the historical background of the country, it is inevitable that conflict behaviour throughout South African society is prevalent in the wake of years of social, cultural and political conditioning,” the report said.
“Changing social dynamics and social perceptions are a formidable challenge to overcome.
“The ever-increasing number of equality-related complaints that the commission has received over the period under review, specifically on race, is but one indicator of the challenges faced.”
This year already, two alleged racist incidents which left a farm worker dead near Krugersdorp and a second man critically injured in Witbank, Mpumalanga, have surfaced.

A 43-year-old man was allegedly shot and killed by a security guard at the Matshelapata informal settlement in Tarlton. The deceased was accused of trying to steal a farmer’s tractor.
In another incident, a 21-year-old man from Witbank was attacked by a group of white men outside a local restaurant.
The attackers, who were drunk, allegedly made racially derogatory remarks about black and white people mixing socially.
According to the report: “Despite the significant achievements over the past 24 years of democracy, deep inequalities and unfair discrimination remain commonplace.
“The achievement of equality and non-racialism will remain a distant reality for many if the scourge of inequality, particularly racism, is not addressed fully and collectively.”
From 2012 to 2016, Gauteng recorded the most number of equality-related complaints.
In three of those years, KwaZulu-Natal recorded the second highest number of equality related complaints.
The number of complaints recorded by KwaZulu-Natal have increased yearly but not as sharply as it did at the end of the 2015-16 financial year.
According to the Gini coefficient, as well as other inequality measurements, South Africa ranks as one of the most unequal countries in the world.
At the end of the 2015-16 financial year, the percentage of equality-related complaints accounted for 16% of complaints recorded.
After race, discrimination based on disability and ethnic origin account for the most number of equality-related complaints received by the commission.

Source: The New Age