Demographeid: Re-engineering South Africa’s population demographics
Between 1948 and 1993 South Africa’s National Party government pursued a system of legal racial segregation known worldwide as Apartheid. Under this system the country’s inhabitants were classified as black, white, coloured or Indian and segregated – ofte
Today – in the dark chambers of an office somewhere in Luthuli House (ANC headquarter) – the new chosen race is busy carving out every manner of race division they wish. They call it “righting the wrongs” of the past – but in reality it’s a social engineering project as insulting as the very policy they rallied so hard against. Before I continue this tirade would you please place a “tick” in the appropriate box? Are you Black, Coloured, Indian, Chinese, Other Asian, White English or White Afrikaans?
Your “value” still hinges on your colour
In their attempt to redress the wrongs of the past the ANC (now the governing party of South Africa) has descended into the murky world of race politics. Their legislation is littered with race-based measures and outcomes – often in stark contradiction to the country’s impressive constitution. To date the people have accepted these laws. They understood the requirement for Affirmative Action and Employment Equity in the work place. They even understood the need for these policies to be rush-implemented, often ignoring the safety nets built in to protect the new minority.
Nobody blinked when the private sector sat with government and set about creating race-based redress through Broad Economic Empowerment and so-called sector charters. And we sat by as these policies shifted massive wealth from the private sector into the hands of a select few… Corporate South Africa has largely ignored the long-term negative impact of race-based policies in favour of keeping the peace. Who knows how much growth has been sacrificed due to inexperienced board appointments, premature promotions and the appointment of correct-race cadres to state run institutions. In recent times, instead of apologising for damage these policies are causing, government ministers are calling for an acceleration of race transformation.
Group Areas II – send a couple more coloureds this way please!
Government’s latest plan is the most insensitive yet. Trade union Solidarity and the opposition Democratic Alliance have expressed dismay at proposed amendments to the Employment Equity Act, which would require a massive racial realignment of employment in provinces. By simply changing a few words in the Act politicians would require Employment Equity plans to mirror the national demographics of the economically active population rather than the economically active population of a region, as currently required. Solidarity’s deputy general secretary Dirk Hermann claimed on Sunday the amendments amounted to “a massive and unfeasible social engineering programme”.
If successful the legislation would require a massive race-based redistribution of citizens. The economically active distribution in the Western Cape, for example, is approximately 54.8% coloured, 29.1% black, 15.6 percent white and 0.5% Indian. Solidarity says firms in the province would have to radically increase their black and Indian headcount, while reducing white and coloured representation by 80% and 22% respectively to reflect the national race spread. Solidarity says for the legislation to “work” employees in Limpopo Province would have to attract at least 10 000 economically active coloured persons, while around 268 600 economically active black persons would have to move from the province.”
“The proposals also invalidate the concept of ‘black’ as defined in the Employment Equity Act. In reality, coloured and Indian South Africans are thus, as it were, written out of the designated group,” says Henneman.
A definite step backwards!
The news wires were full of reader comment lambasting the proposal. Although the arguments offered by Solidarity and the official opposition probably inflate the impact of the proposed amendment, government has done little to prove it has the interest of all races at heart. If the policy is implemented it will result to higher (than the national average) rates of unemployment among coloured and white residents in the Western Cape. Likewise it will result in higher (than the national average) rate of employment for blacks and Indians in the same province.
And heaven forbid we even see a return to the days of slave trade. Imagine one of the major financial services companies in the Western Cape getting on the line to his race quota advisor in Durban… He might say: “Send us two more busloads of Indian customer services workers – and make it quick – we’re contravening the Employment Equity Act!” What? They don’t want to move to Cape Town? Smash their houses and rough them up a bit – they’ll get the message – it’s what’s best for the country…
Editor’s thoughts: I cannot believe government is more concerned with race profiling and equity targets than service delivery. The truth is they could do far more for the previously disadvantaged by creating an enabling environment for the private sector than with each of their increasingly draconian race-based legislations combined. To make matters worse their legislation has created a culture of entitlement and “pockets” of filthy rich businessman. It has eroded accountability, led to massive tender rigging, pushed up prices across the board and forced honest businesses to break the law to survive. We shouldn’t be talking black, white, coloured and Indian two decades into democracy. Are you ready to drop race classification once and for all? Add your comment below, or send it to [email protected]
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