Hartbeespoort Dam. [Picture: SA-V]
Black residents and business people in Hartbeespoort have described the tourist hub as a “centre of racism”. They claim Whites impose harsh restrictions on them, which they do not themselves comply with.
Harties Community Development’s Russell Baloyi told Newzroom Afrika said the town, located 70 km north-west of Johannesburg, was a microcosm of racism. This was against the backdrop of historical racism, he said.
“Hartbeespoort has been a typical pocket of excellence for racism. Over the years, White people have actually established Hartbeespoort as their centre of racism. They are in charge of everything that happens there,” he claimed.
He said Black people who attempted to open shop on the banks of the Hartbeespoort Dam were discriminated against. “As Black people come in there to start businesses, that’s where the problem happens,” he said,
Businessman Hartley Ngoato, also speaking on TV, said: “As a Black business, you are denied the right to participate, to even operate. They’re subjected to horrendous regulations that they themselves as Whites do not comply with”.
Both claim White residents have put up permanent structures on state-owned property.
“When you’re operating on government land as a tenant, you are not allowed to build permanent structures. They have built permanent structures on government land which they’re not supposed to do,” said Ngoato.
