“In reflecting on the meeting as a whole, CDE raised several issues: The first being; whether policies of racial redress were impeding the drive for growth and development. There was no exploration of the content and consequences of present policies of ‘redress’, whether and in what way they may have negative or unintended consequences, whether there are alternative policy choices, and whether the politics of the transition are such that race-based policies are inevitable and appropriate.
Second, it would seem that South Africans are not yet comfortable about having conversations in public about race. Despite the provocative nature of some of the points made in the course of the evening, the
audience was generally timid, and one had the sense that views were being held in check.”
