One of the key intended outputs of the National Action Plan to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Other Intolerances (NAP) is a regular reflection of the levels of intolerance and discrimination within South African society. This includes information on the prevalence of intolerance and discrimination, the documentation of the policies and programmes implemented by Government, Civil Society and Business to combat intolerance, an assessment of the extent to which those policies and programmes are having any effect, and the identification of areas of work that require urgent attention.

In its report “The State of Intolerance and Discrimination in South Africa 2017-2019”, the Foundation for Human Rights studies the levels of intolerance and discrimination in South African by relying on the existing statistical data collected between 2017-2019 from a variety of sources, and investigates the responses by government and independent bodies to address different dimensions of intolerance and discrimination in South Africa. The research was conducted in 2019 and finalized in early 2020, and hence the report and associated annexes should be read with this in mind.

The study has been divided into multiple components. The final report summarizes the analysis and findings from all components of the study as detailed in the respective Annexes (see below), provides a grasp on the methodologies used and includes conclusions and recommendations.

The study was conducted by: Katarzyna Zduńczyk; Chido Muzanenhamo; Katherine Brown; and Dr Zaid Kimmie.

ANNEXES

Annex 1: The Level of Intolerance and Discrimination – Attitudinal Surveys

This document analyses the levels of intolerance and discrimination in South Africa in 2017-2019 using results from several attitudinal surveys. In its analysis, the report refers to the following grounds of intolerance and discrimination:

• Race                                                                         
• Gender or Sex     
• Nationality
• Sexual Orientation          
• Ethnicity                                                  
• Religion
• Language
• Disability
• Political Affiliation       
• Socio-Economic Status

Annex 2: The Level of Intolerance and Discrimination – Attitudinal Surveys

This component of the study combines a desk review of Rajen Govender’s report, The Analysis of Methods of Data Collection on Incidents of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and related Intolerance and quantitative analysis of administrative data on employment and education.

Annex 3: Justice and Human Rights System Response to Racism, Xenophobia and Other Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination

This component provides a snapshot of cases before the Equality Courts, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), the Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) and the cases reported through the National Task Team (hereinafter NTT) on Gender and Sexual Orientation-Based Violence Perpetrated Against LGBTI+ persons.

4: Review and Assessment of Governmental Departments

This fourth component provides an in-depth analysis of government’s responses (at the national departmental level) in terms of goals, strategic objectives, programmes, projects, and interventions that align with NAP and hence, address the intolerance and discrimination. In order to identify and review government responses, an analysis was done of the Strategic Plans and Annual Reports as published by 36 government departments.

Annex 5: Analysis of the 25 Year Review as Published by Government

This fifth and last component of this study involved a desktop analysis of the ’25 Year Review’ as published by government. We have analyzed each chapter through the lenses of the NAP, assessed the government response and identified the possible shortcomings in the government’s focus.

Annex 6: The Levels of Perceived, Experienced and Reported Discrimination (2017 – 2018)

The document contains a table comparing the levels of perceived, experienced and reported discrimination between 2017-2019 based on the information from five sources, including:

•  The 2017 Foundation for Human Rights (FHR) Survey on Constitutional Awareness
• The 2018/19 Governance, Public Safety and Justice Survey by Statistics South Africa
• The 2017 South African Reconciliation Barometer produced by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation
• The 2018 Afrobarometer Survey
• The 2017 South African Social Attitudes Survey produced by the Human Sciences Research Council
• The South African Human Rights Commission

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Annex 7: Baseline Checklist – Intolerance and Discrimination

The document contains a table that summarises the findings on the levels of intolerance and discrimination from all researched attitudinal surveys.

Annex 8: Alignment of Strategic Plans and Annual Reports with the NAP

The document contains a table that reflects the findings from the analysis of the government’s Annual Reports and Strategic Reports.

Annex 9:  Information about the Attitudinal Surveys used in the study

The document contains a table that collates all most important information about each survey that we have referenced in the study.

Annex 10: Terminology

The document contains the explanation of the relevant terminology used across all research outputs.