It is actually a co-requisite for building the new South Africa as one nation. Reconciliation cannot be a short-term project. It is not something that can be turned on and off depending on the whims of politicians. It cannot only be reserved for certain occasions where it can be handed down like crumbs from the table to people who should be all too thankful. Reconciliation is an indispensable ingredient in the process of building one nation.
Reconciliation is both a goal and a process.
Part of the battle that people like me are fighting, and I don't think that our colleagues in the ANC always understand it, is to convince minority communities not to withdraw from politics and give up hope. Part of the continuous battle that we are fighting, is to convince inter alia white South Africans not to isolate themselves. Part of this continuous battle is to convince white South Africans that there is no salvation in the Ian Smith option of mobilising whites and other minorities on the basis of their anger and their fear. No political party, no regional government, and no artificial barrier can isolate whites or any minority grouping from the realities of this country. The concept of two nations is a throw-back to the outdated concept of analysing South Africa in terms of racial and class warfare.