Posted Sunday, April 17, 2005; 2:50 BST
These trends manifest themselves in decisions about where to live. As blacks move into old white suburbs, many whites have migrated to the fringes of the country's cities, where they live in gated communities that keep the new South Africa and, they say, crime at bay. Little wonder then that 6 out of 10 South Africans say they still find it difficult to understand the customs and ways of other races, while 4 out of 10 don't trust fellow citizens of different races. "An inability to understand the 'other' continues to loom large," says Karin Lombard, project coordinator for the study dubbed the South African Reconciliation Barometer. "Breaking these barriers down takes time."
There are still extremists white radicals who dream of an independent nation, and black activists who ponder kicking the whites out altogether but they are now fringe dwellers. The real trouble lies within mainstream South Africa as it struggles to erase three centuries of prejudice and legal and social divisions. "The majority of whites who supported apartheid are in denial about their history and consider the subject beyond scrutiny," says author Heidi Holland, who is writing a book about an infamous racist murderer. "Many of them have psychologically emigrated from the country, burying themselves in their suburbs and cluster homes where they are not being challenged to realize that there are other ways of doing things."
The ijr study found that 32% of South Africans still do not approve of their child sitting next to a kid from a different race in the classroom, and although just over half of those surveyed approve of living in a neighborhood
in which half their neighbors are from a different racial group, 51% would not approve of a close relative marrying a person of another race. White people are particularly wary of interracial marriage; just 16% say they would approve of a close relative taking the plunge with a black, Indian or colored person. "A lot of people have deluded themselves that because we've taken the hard edges of apartheid legislation away, we're suddenly living in a nonracial society," says Manning. "We need to start accepting that racism exists in almost every sphere. Only then can we move on."
Reminders of the difficulties of moving on can crop up with metronomic regularity. Last December, the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) admitted that it regularly disposes of blood donated by black South Africans because of the possible risk of hiv contamination. The service had even incinerated a 2001 donation by President Thabo Mbeki because he had failed to fill out a form detailing illness, body weight and sexual activity. The outcry filled radio talk shows and newspaper front pages, despite the sanbs' explanation that it needs to dispose of high-risk blood because there is a short period when the aids virus can be present in blood but not detectable. Racial profiling, the SANBS said, is just one factor it uses to categorize high-risk donations. But that isn't good enough for many South Africans. "It smacks of racism," said Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
The government itself landed in the hot seat with plans to build a $35 million multiracial housing development across two scrubby hills on the northern edge of greater Johannesburg. Cosmo City, as the new suburb is to be known, will boast some 12,500 new houses, schools, libraries, sports grounds, shopping centers, an industrial park and a public swimming pool. Most of the houses will go to low-income black families from a nearby squatter camp, but there will also be more expensive houses for sale which the local government hopes will attract buyers from all races. "Cosmo reflects our dream of what South Africa must look like," says Provincial Housing Minister Nomvula Mokonyane. "Cosmo is the future."
But it's a future not all South Africans accept. Local residents, most of whom are white, have fought the development for more than six years. They object, they say, not to black neighbors, but to the environmental damage the development will create, the increased traffic and the negative impact on property prices. They argue that the government should spend its money rebuilding nearby squatter camps so that people are not constantly moved as they were during the old apartheid regime. "The problem is not the people who would live in Cosmo, but all the problems such a huge development brings," says Wessel Swart, chairman of the Jukskei Crocodile Catchment Area Association, a local residents' group. "It's the wrong concept in the wrong place at the wrong time."
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suddenly living in a nonracial society," says Manning. "We need to start accepting that racism exists in almost every sphere. Only then can we move on." 
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