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Johannesburg: Ruling ANC party leader Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday that racism was still a problem in South Africa, after a video in which white university students degraded black campus cleaners sparked outrage.
It showed white students feeding the workers soup they had earlier appeared to urinate in at the University of the Free State, provoking fury in a country scarred by apartheid.
University classes were cancelled and staff and students protested, demanding action against the four men. The video was released by South Africa's eTV television channel last week.
"We can say that what happened at the university last week is a stark reminder to all of us that you cannot defeat racism overnight," Zuma said, calling for a non-racist future in South Africa.
"It is a struggle that we must all wage collectively to build a non-racial society."
Along with Nelson Mandela, Zuma formerly was imprisoned for conspiring to overthrow white rule, spending 10 years in jail before going into exile in neighbouring states.
He defeated South African President Thabo Mbeki in the race to lead the African National Congress in December.
Zuma is likely to become state leader in 2009 if he defeats corruption charges in a trial that starts in August.
"Very early on in our liberation struggle many white compatriots joined the growing ranks of the oppressed people in the struggle against apartheid," said Zuma.
"Many of these white compatriots were Jewish. They were horrified by the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis. They knew what human suffering meant, and swore to fight the scourge of racial, ethnic and religious discrimination, wherever it was found," Zuma told in a speech.
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