THE tale of Sodwana guesthouse owner and white supremacist Andre Slade, who refused to host black, lesbian or gay guests, raises the question of the extent to which South Africans are free to discriminate privately. Private discrimination is as wide and all-encompassing as the African sky.Discrimination by guesthouse owners is interesting because it seems to straddle the private and the public. The Slade incident raises questions about the line between discriminating privately and publicly. The Constitution applies both vertically and horizontally. Vertical application means it applies between the individual and the state. Horizontal application means it also applies between private individuals.Whereas most democratic constitutions only apply vertically, our Constitution makes no room for unfair discrimination of any kind. This means there is no sphere in which South Africans can freely discriminate — the long tentacles of the Constitution reach into almost every nook and cranny of ...
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