A few good whites: Will civil society take Dr Ramphele back?

By Sisonke Msimang – 

Ramphele’s assumption that she will be accepted into civil society, where she can continue her project of ‘active citizenship’ without having to be directly accountable to a real live constituency, speaks volumes. The good doctor is not wrong in this regard. Sadly, many civil society groups will accept her because the sector is not yet robust enough, not yet racially secure enough to tell prominent blacks (and whites) where to get off when they mess up.

When Dr Ramphele announced that she was quitting politics to go ‘back’ to civil society she said her motivation was a desire to “return to working alongside my fellow citizens in civil society to pursue the dream of transforming ours into a more just and prosperous society.”

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