The establishment of CANRAD is in line with the vision and mission of NMMU, launched officially in March 2010. CANRAD is a response to the grave concern that racism, its alternatives and associated impact on development has not been given sufficient scholarly attention in South Africa. While other universities have established centres of excellence for research, the NMMU has taken the additional step of promoting non-racial and democratic activism within communities of practice, thereby promoting a transformative and lasting culture institutionally, regionally and nationally, and internationally