AFFIRMATIVE ACTION CONTINUED August 27, 2008
Posted by frostygirl in History.Tags: , affirmative action, whites
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Relax Max asked a few questions in his comment on my recent post on Affirmative Action in South Africa and I am going to try and elaborate a bit more to improve understanding of the system in our country.
It is quite a huge subject to cover in the South African context, therefore I will not do an indepth post, just a few highlights, etc.
First of all, follow this link to go to the SA Labour Department’s website to see their definition of Affirmative Action:
http://www.labour.gov.za/basic_guides/bguide_display.jsp?guide_id=5848&programme_id=2670
Also click on the link on this page to see the “Employment Equity Act”.
In 1998 the following was reported on CNN about SA planning to adopt AA:
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9810/08/safrica.affirmative.action/
We have a huge majority of blacks in SA as everyone is aware, but prior to the ANC’s take over we have had a history of the minority (whites) paying the bulk of the tax revenues collected and a large portion of this was used to uplift the majority (blacks) i.e. schooling, hospitals, etc. There was only so much that could be done with the taxpayers money given the HUGE majority of blacks who were reliant on upliftment!
The whites actually made the blacks too reliant on handouts instead of teaching them to become self sufficient, but imagine the huge task for a minority race to try and help the majority to be educated, uplifted, taught skills, etc. The present Government cannot manage it either, despite all the International aid they received, there just is not enough resources or skills to cope with the upliftment of the multitude of blacks in South Africa.
Also bear in mind what a big gap there was between the two groups, the whites coming from a skilled and educated background from Europe and the blacks from a traditional “African rural” background with no “first world” skills.
Many people believed that the ANC should have rather gone the “class” route as apposed to the “racial” route when they implemented Affirmative Action. Why? Because there were Blacks, Indians and Coloured people who had the skills to TRULY qualify for a skilled job and who would have been able to handle the position well and they should have been given the opportunity to enter this type of job ahead of a white individual. Go to this link to read more about it:
http://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/product.php?productid=2228
The mistake the ANC made was to go the “racial” route! Now we have a enormous problem on our hands and once again they want to blame Apartheid for this instead of admitting that they threw the unskilled blacks into the deep end and said: “Sink or swim!” and of course the majority sank. To try and understand the enormity of the situation and the absolutely rediculous position we are in at present, go to this link:
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?newslett=1&click_id=79&art_id=vn20080827060000370C991228&set_id=1
So to answer your question Relax Max:
“No, the goals have not been met (they were not well thought out goals anyway and were set too high to achieve) and although a lot of blacks have moved upward in the employment ranks and are earning huge salaries, they are not efficient or effective in their posts as they were given their positions because of their colour not their skills.”
“The majority of the whites still have a good standard of living compared to the lower “class” black people, but the young white people have to seek employment overseas as they have limited opportunities in South Africa.”
So to conclude, Affirmative Action did not succeed in South Africa and should now be phased out and people should be employed on merit, not colour! There are thousands of vacant positions in government and municipal offices waiting to be filled, therefore if white skilled individuals qualify for the jobs they should be employed urgently!
When the ship is sinking (like we are) then differences should be set aside to save the ship and action should be taken to correct the position.
Popularity: 22% [?]
A TRUE STORY BY PETER HARRIS July 27, 2008
Posted by frostygirl in History.Tags: harris, MK, peter, siswe, umkonto
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“In A Different Time: The Inside Story of the Delmas Four” is the name of the book written by South African lawyer Peter Harris and is the true story about the “Delmas Four” and it a must read for South Africans and foreigners alike.
The book is a true account of events in the 1970s and ’80s: it tells the story of four young men who left the country to undergo training as members of umKhonto we Sizwe, the ANC’s armed wing, after the Soweto riots of June 1976.
Harris said the following at the launch of this book: “When I was writing this book I was fortunate to have access to this story. The so-called ‘Delmas Four’ came back to South Africa as hardened soldiers, but were soon incarcerated and facing the death sentence. Their trial was a sinister conspiracy against them. This is a fascinating story and a sad story. Whether I wrote it well enough I will leave that to you,” he said. “This book documents recent, although forgotten times - and it gives a tribute to those who died during the struggle.”
Written with the compulsion of a thriller, this extraordinary, true story of an MK hit squad fighting a guerrilla war in the 1980s will have readers turning the pages through to the unexpected gut-wrenching twist at the end.
Find this book through this link:
http://book.co.za/bookfinder/ean/9781415200490
Popularity: 62% [?]
FOUNDING PROVISIONS - SA CONSTITUTION May 18, 2008
Posted by frostygirl in History.2 comments
Chapter 1.1 of our Constitution states the following:
1. Republic of South Africa.- The Republic of South Africa is one, sovereign, democratic state founded on the following values:-
(a) Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms.
(b) Non-racialism and non-sexism.
(c) Supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law.
(d) Universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a multi-party system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness.
Once again we see that when our Constitution was written it was intended that the “New” South Africa would treat every individual equally and that there would be no difference between the various race groups in the country.
I agree that the previously disadvantaged individuals had to be uplifted and various projects were instituted to do so, but somewhere along the line we have seen reverse “apartheid” creeping in where it is nearly impossible for white South Africans to be gainfully employed.
Our young white males especially have to find a living for themselves overseas, which is not right. We are losing young engineers, doctors, etc. because of the policy of the country regarding employment of whites.
I saw the other day that there are 88,000 vacancies in Government departments that cannot be filled. Why? Because they cannot find skilled “black” South Africans and will not employ the skilled whites.
Popularity: 28% [?]
