Second phase of reconciliation needed.

There is in reality probably only a "them" and "us" for very few South African families.

Fact is, that before apartheid and racial classification by law, large numbers of mixed communities and mixed unions existed.

When the classification commenced, many people had to be reclassified and separated from brother and sister. As time passed, family bonds were, in some cases, purposely severed and forgotten. Many of us must therefore have family members that we never knew existed. Many of us might still have an old aunt or uncle, or cousin that we have never met.

It is time that a second phase of reconciliation commences in this country - a phase where we demonstrate that we really have overcome racism instead of simply our mere "say-so."

It should start in our own backyards with research into our roots - roots about which many grandparents and parents were deadly silent during our growing up years. Research can yield surprising results.

Then we should have the moral fibre and the guts to reunite with those deprived of our love and kinship due to the horror of racial classification in the apartheid era.