Bring back apartheid’s Population Registration Act or commit to real non-racialism with #NoMoreRaceLaws Bill – IRR

Following the publication today of the #NoMoreRaceLaws Bill, the IRR calls on Parliament to either adopt this law − which would repeal all race-based statutory provisions in South African law − or reenact the Population Registration Act to provide legal certainty as to whether the South African state can or cannot legally practice racial classification.

Since the repeal of the Population Registration Act in 1991, the South African state has been legally barred by law from classifying people by race. Yet, more than 30 years on, despite a constitutional settlement founded explicitly on non-racialism, the state clings to the apartheid-era power of racially slicing up South Africa for the purposes of calculated and deliberate discrimination.

Says Hermann Pretorius, IRR head of Strategic Communications and lead author of the #NoMoreRaceLaws Bill: "From a purely legal standpoint, it is long overdue that Parliament picks a side: either we are a country that endorses pencil tests and race classification boards, or we are a country based on the constitutional foundation of non-racialism. Parliament’s doublespeak can only go so far to avoid the legal fact that, if we are going have race-based laws, a statutory instrument by which the state can racially classify people is a legal necessity."

The pioneering #NoMoreRaceLaws Bill gives legal definition for the first time to section 9 of the Constitution in clearly outlining when racial discrimination is unfair or fair.

Says Pretorius: "Given the vicious nature of racial classification and discrimination in our history, the logical legal definition of not unfair racial discrimination must avoid the characteristics of racial classification that made the Population Registration Act an affront to human dignity. This means that the only racial classification that would not be unfair, and therefore not fall foul of the Bill of Rights, would be racial classification that is voluntary, self-determined, and completely and transparently free of preferential or detrimental consequence in terms of government policy.

"Any form of racial classification failing to meet these criteria must legally be deemed indistinguishable from the Population Registration Act in statutory outcome and must therefore be unconstitutional. The IRR's #NoMoreRaceLaws Bill codifies this critical step beyond apartheid-era law."

The IRR has begun discussions with MPs on bringing the Bill to Parliament and achieving a majority. Over the coming months, the IRR's #WhatSACanBe campaign, of which #NoMoreRaceLaws is a key pillar, will engage in extensive lobbying efforts with citizens, political parties, academics, jurists, and decision makers at all levels of government.

The IRR has launched a public petition in support of the #NoMoreRaceLaws Bill. Members of the public are invited to sign and share the petition here: https://irr.org.za/whatsacanbe/no-more-race-laws

Media contact: Hermann Pretorius IRR Head of Strategic Communications Tel: 079 875 4290 Email: hermann@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za