ANALYSIS
All these years later, race, exclusion and inequality are still central to our political reality
Our workplaces and schools are more diverse than ever and our society should, on paper, be moving inexorably towards further integration. But while much has changed in the past few years, our social cohesion is still under threat. A recent comment that President Cyril Ramaphosa made about race and exclusion could spark much-needed conversations about reality and power in South Africa.
On Sunday, News24 reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa had told the 40th-anniversary commemoration of the United Democratic Front that Indian, coloured and white people “feel excluded” in South Africa’s political life.
As The Citizen put it, he also said that coloured and Indian people feel they are not properly represented in decision-making structures, and that “many white South Africans wrongly believe there is no place for them today, and some have drifted towards laager-style politics and a siege mentality”.
This comes amid a series of issues that have led to claims from these groups that they are suffering discrimination.
First, there were changes to regulations in the Employment Equity Act that allow the minister of labour and employment to set racial and gender targets for different industries in different areas.
Employment Equity Act — yet another act of absurd South African self-harm looms
Then there was a claim that the government was trying to limit the amount of water which can be used by farmers, under changes to the National Water Act. However, despite what was claimed, these changes apply only to what is described as “new water” — water that is being allocated to farmers for the first time. In short, farmers currently receiving water from our rivers will not be affected (it is worth noting that almost all of these farmers are white — it’s estimated that only 5% of agricultural water is used by “emerging” farmers).
Both these examples were useful for politicians looking to score points.
The ANC could claim that it was looking after its voters. But the DA and other parties could say they were opposing these policies in the interests of their voters (the DA referred to the Water Act suggestions as a Parched Earth policy).
More recently, EFF leader Julius Malema sang the song translated as “Kill the Boer” at the EFF’s 10th birthday rally, leading to the DA saying it would file charges at the United Nations for Malema’s “incitement of ethnic violence”.
This is a classic case of political parties deliberately dividing people for their own gain.
At the same time, the ANC has been aware of the feelings of coloured and Indian people for many years.
As far back as 2014, the then Gauteng Premier David Makhura said the government had “neglected coloured townships”.
A less diverse Cabinet
It certainly appears the top levels of both government and the ANC have become less diverse over time. A brief look at South Africa’s first democratic Cabinet under President Nelson Mandela and the current Cabinet will demonstrate this.
Also, some people feel that if they do not fit the demographic that the ANC or another political party is chasing, then the party ignores them — or worse, deliberately attacks them.
However, the true picture is more complicated than that.
As Professor Steven Friedman has observed, the voices of only around one-third of the adults in South Africa are heard in our national debate. Those in the middle classes have a louder voice than the poor.
And Indian, coloured and especially white people are surely more represented in these middle classes than black people.
It is also true that inequality has deepened since democracy. Those who were rich before 1994 and their children are more likely to be rich now than those who were poor.
That inequality has been to the benefit of some of the people within these classes (again, mainly white people).
At the same time, the proportion of white people in SA has declined to just 8.4%, while the proportion of coloured people is about 8.8% (based on the 2011 census, which has been published as a graph by Statistics South Africa; the 2022 census findings have not yet been released).
This would suggest that our current Cabinet is roughly representative of our population, although some groups are not represented.
This gets to one of the nubs of the issue.
In politics, symbolism is important, and if a group of people is absent from elected leadership, members of that group will notice. This is what gave the debates about the racial composition of our rugby and cricket teams such power 20 years ago. Much has since changed in those sports.
For example, it was surely politically significant, as Cyril Madlala noted, that no Indian people were elected, or even nominated, to the Provincial Executive Committee of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal last year.
This trend has been evident in the ANC for many years and was first apparent in the ANC Youth League (ANCYL). From the time Malema took over leadership of the league in 2008, there was a noticeable absence of Indian, coloured and white people at ANCYL gatherings compared with the past.
It would be no surprise then, 15 years later, to find that there are also no Indian, coloured or white people in the ANC’s Top Seven national leadership.
The difference between this and the racial diversity of the all-male leaders of the new Multi-Party Charter for SA is striking.
There is yet another dynamic within all of this — groups that were accustomed to having power may feel its loss very deeply. But this does not mean they have less power than they should have.
That Ramaphosa made the comments that he did, as the President of South Africa and the leader of the ANC, is important.
But there does not appear to be any real motivation within the ANC to change the feeling of exclusion of white, coloured and Indian people. While it will occasionally campaign in the suburbs, it is likely to concentrate on townships, where most of its mainly black supporters live.
This will allow other parties to concentrate on Indian, coloured and white people, as they have in the recent past. It means that despite our daily reality, where in urban areas, schools and workplaces are becoming more diverse (despite huge problems, such as the recent example of the Crowthorne Christian Academy), political parties are still going to spend a large amount of focus devising campaigns that target racial elements of identity.
During this weekend’s UDF ceremonies, Ramaphosa noted that one of the organisation’s strengths was its slogan, “UDF Unites, Apartheid Divides”.
An apt description of South Africa’s modern moment may be, “Our Society Unites, Our Politics Divide”. DM
I could spit reading this.
Enough already with the interminable racial sideshow.
The challenges in this country are ECONOMIC.
And the cause? Our useless ruling party.
Educate! Enforce the law! Stop stealing! Stop racist politicians shattering all hope!
And our lovely country will be everything we all want it to be.
I agree
“Those who were rich before 1994 and their children are more likely to be rich now than those who were poor.” Gee Stephen; how insightful. But which side of this economic imbalance as been more prolific reproductively?
And economically productive!
Why cannot the ANC (and the EFF) not think in terms, not of race, but of our country, South Africa. Is this not what even the Freedom Charter says? That we are all South African and the country belongs to all who live in it?
In any event, whites are an ageing and declining sector – demographical changes and done more for change than the wholly misguided and wholly ineffectual policies of both the ANC and the EFF.
So cut out the racist policies – black South Africans are not as incompetent as your BEE policies set them out to be. Our future demands that they rise to the challenge; they are overwhelmingly a much younger sector, and their numbers in pre-school, school and colleges shows this, they make up 95% in these age brackets.
None of us can succeed unless the future succeed, and we can see how present policies are crushing this; just look at youth unemployment levels and see how abysmally we are facing up to job creation, and on present trends, based on demographics alone, it is going to get worse – far worse.
So we need to focus all our efforts on the twin requirements of massive job creation and the fuel that will ignite this engine of employment growth, our savings and investment rate – which must be increased to at least 15% of GDP. Together with this we need to stop the internal bickering, harness the full skills-set of all South Africans and get moving!
We know that together we can do more!
Come on dude you know the BEE was created to force historically racist white companies and institutions to stop excluding black people in their economic activities. To date we still have entities that evade these rules in order to give preference to white folks. The use of language preference is a good example that white companies use to exclude black people. If the Government required Isixhosa & Isizulu for the judiciary, legislatures and executive members, that would be seen as a way to exclude white falks despite the fact that Isizulu and Isixhosa are the most spoken languages in the country. BEE plays an important role to black businesses, it gives them a chance to prove themselves or a stepping stone of sort. Whats sucks is when politicians exploite/abuse this tool to enrich their friends and family members, but they learned this from white companies that in the 1990’s used black people as a front in order to get BEE benefits so dont be suprised that they do the same now. In other words stop giving these politicians ideas coz we all know they are not creative enough to come up with their own corruption ideas. They copy from the private sector.
BBBEE is a complete and total farce, while the original intent was noble, the implementation and reality is that is just a get-rich-scheme for connected cadres
I certainly agree that BEE was necessary to force change.
I don’t think many would disagree with the principle as it is a fairly obvious human trait – for any race – to naturally resist changing a comfortable status quo; so change needed to be forced.
That being said, I likewise don’t think anyone – of any race – can deny that the implementation of BEE has been both disgusting; of likely negative value to the poor and certainly disastrous for the country.
It is however simply one of many illustrations of ANC failure and what we all need now is EE.
And for that the ANC must go, as they are a slow acting but lethal poison for all South Africans.
CRT is in the DNA of the ANC without which they would not exist. How do you remove CRT will require a new revolution which SA will not survive. Do we need to continue protecting the majority of the population from the 8% white citizens?
Absolutely spot on, on ALL points.
If the ANC leadership (who seems to conveniently forget that it IS in charge of the dysfunctional government) focused on its Freedom Charter and our Constitution, and decided to bring action instead of lip service to them, we’d go a long way to solving myriad crises and better investing in that future you speak of.
As you point out, there are plenty of capable and perfectly ethical black South Africans who could do the job at the top of the government (and coporates for that matter). Naive of me I know, but wouldn’t it be nice if instead of cadre deployment, those ethical, qualified people actually got a chance to run the country and we stopped worrying about the (false) perception that a tiny proportion of society isn’t being represented?
And the other thing that the mainly-black ANC are good at being – apart from prolific breeders – is being out and out thieves and totally incompetent rulers. I dare you Stephen to come to the Cape and show us what awful people whites and so-called coloureds are. At least they can run a province!
Wow. ‘… mainly-black ANC are good at being – apart from prolific breeders’ … Nope, that’s not racist stereotyping at all … Yuck.
I would urge you to re-read the article objectively and re-evaluate your conclusion that Steven’s intent is to demonstrate how awful white people are. He simply makes an excellent point that ‘… groups that were accustomed to having power [spoiler: that’s us whities] may feel its loss very deeply…’ but that most importantly in terms of correcting the misperception, it ‘…does NOT mean they have less power than they should have.’ Also, just for the record, the Western Cape is not a success story because it is run by white and coloured people – it is a success story because there is effective leadership by the DA, who has a big enough majority that it can affect good policy decisions. It would not matter what colour skin they have.
Many years ago, SADTU was allegedly involved in a process of murdering school principals and then their vacant posts sold to the cadre with the most money. Nothing was done about that.
The idea caught on and now we have all sorts of officials gunned down by someone who feels they wish to have that position. And especially anyone who tries to stop the looting.
In that environment of murderous competition for posts, is it not surprising that nobody from outside the inner circle of cadreship has any position at all?
Point is, it’s the cadre system which is inherently corrupt and racist. But Ramaphosa continues to defend it because he sits at the top of the cadre pyramid.
Think you need a rest Stephan
I look forward to your pieces but the last few have veered between waffle and ramble
I was just thinking the same thing!
Again Ramaphosa is talking as though the ANC, which is the source of all evil, is a third party. Not his government.
Just like SAFM… “soft-ball”
Zuma and Melanoma are the exact two politicians that started and have been allowed to preach race-based political rubbish. Stop them and set a precedent for all other trash-talkers. It will go a long way to making all feel welcome in their home country!
When the tormented becomes the tormentors …..
Thank you Stephen for that nostalgic reminder of the good old UDF slogan, “UDF Unites, Apartheid Divides”. It is a reminder of the primacy of non-racialism in that movement. Back in the eighties, we in the UDF would have said you were mad if you claimed that, 30 years into democracy, we would still have official racial classification and race based laws in place. It is a betrayal of all that the UDF stood for that our society, led by the ANC, still divides us into these nonsensical categories.
A poor article, divisive politics is what politics is about – except when society unites against a common enemy. Representation is important, but competent government more important – colour and demographics should be secondary. Imagine China and India having the final word in international organisations based on the size of their populations! Look at Singapore and their recipe for success.
SA politics must move on to a recognition that the best among us, regardless of colour and race, should be in government and leadership roles. Lowering educational standards and clinging to an ideology that has failed miserably in the world and here is not the answer.
“….. the best among us, regardless of colour and race, should be in government and leadership roles.” I agree 100% Andrè, the result would be that most government and leadership roles will be occupied by non-anc (most likely Whites, Indians and Coloureds) individuals. What would then happen to their NDR and the not-so-slow intentional destruction of the country? They (the anc) would have to admit failure. Something that absolutely does not happen in Africa …. and only by exception happens elsewhere.
The proof is in the pudding, I guess. They may as well be called the African Nationalist Congress. Our politics, driven by ethnic identity as they are, have had a devastating effect on our idea of belonging. We are a nation state, but we are not a nation, because we do not share a national imaginary. Our cultural diversity has become a divisive mechanism instead of a uniting one. This has happened because the ruling party wants it so. And this is sadly also the reason why we are not succeeding. Our leaders should be capitalising on our diversity. Rainbowism is what makes us unique on the continent – and the world – not black African nationalism.
A multi-facetted problem as you say Stephen. Allow me to add two further facets. First, the legal system appears to sit with the politicians in divisiveness. How else is it possible that singing “Kill the Boer” is not clear hate speech? How else is it possible that not a single senior ANC person sits in prison following state capture? Second, the ANC appears to favour division on the grounds of education and skills. How many well educated and highly skilled people have emigrated because they feel there is no place for them in South Africa? How many well educated and highly skilled people vote ANC? But I agree with the overall thrust of this article, that outside of the political manipulators our South African society has much more cohesion and good will than is often recognised. We need to build on that.
It may be true that if you were well off in 1994 that you or your descendants are likely to be at least as affluent BUT the article omits to mention that a substantial “previously disadvantaged” middle class has arisen which, I believe is now larger than the “previously advantaged” middle class. I agree with the comments that point the finger at the obvious culprits responsible for the deepening mess we are in, and who do not appear to have the will or the capability of beginning to dig SA out of the hole it finds itself in
Again you state that the DA is a party for whites and the ANC is representative. What a lie you perpetuate. Show us all the faces of ANC representatives and show us the DA representatives. You also tone down not only the anti-white politics of both the EFF and ANC but also the violence inciting slurs of the EFF. This seems to be in an effort to single out the DA as a racist party. You put fuel to the anti white racist fire. Denise Smit
BEE is, by definition, racist. It assumes that blacks are not capable and smart enough to advance without BEE using their own wits. This is, of course, absurd. Hard work gets you ahead, not BEE.
This article misses the mark. Sure the ANC are still pushing racial policies but the problems are more Economic as this is where the ANC have fallen down. The fantastic amount of corruption, the bloated cabinet and civil service, the continual unnecessary court cases and related costs have removed a enormous amount of money which could have been better used for the country, and job creation. This coupled with the removal of restrictive labour laws would have allowed the country and its people to flourish. The ANC have been killing off the soul of the country
The ANC is not a party of magicians, the 8,9% of white people in RSA still own 84% of the national economy and 72 % of the commercial land. You cant expect to build an equal society without addressing these inequalities. The whites kill any policy or law that seeks to address this unfair distribution of resources which stems from the racist policies implemented by the apartheid government. Every atempt made at addressing the effects of apartheid, the whites always see it s an attack on them or an attempt to make them poor depite the fact that all they have is thanks to the apartheid government that excluded all people in order to make them wealthier.
If you seek an equal society simply relinquish and disassociate from all that was gained through apartheid policies and stop defending it as if its a birth right. In other words “economic freedom for all or economic freedom for none”. FYI we also dont like to see our white people poor and begging on the streets, thats not the kind of society we strive for…its scary and traumatic for most black people, i dont know why we feel that way given the history of this nation.
Qondile:
How did you determine that whites own 72% of the land? We don’t have a race register so if my name appears on a title deed, what race do you assume I am – you most certainly have to guess or assume because you certainly do not know? On this topic, what race do you count companies that own land as – you would have to guess as we don’t have a beneficial ownership to trace to a person and if you did trace to a person you anyway don’t know the race of the person. What race do you assign to land owned by the various levels of government, or land owned by pension funds? What race do you assign to the millions of hectares owned by traditional leader trusts?
You are speculating and perpetuating myths, presenting them as fact.
If the ANC continue ruling South Africa then SA will continue sinking to save south Africa the ANC must be difeated.
Opportunity knocked for a new SA after 94,the Goverment stuffed it up by being Cadre orientated,and self enriching thieves.No” we” only “us” eating at the trough
Why, why, why…The majority of our society just wants peace and harmony, and job security for us and a future for our children. The small % of radicals however overwhelms the media and therefore it seems that this sickening racial division is the status quo of our beautiful country…BUT ITS NOT!
The politicians, immorally use racial divisions only for political gain and power – not to make a difference in the lives of ordinary people and the people who really needs the change. If those politicians indeed focused on change and adding value, they would not have needed to still use racial division to win votes.
They ANC has been in power and had a magnitude of resources to make a huge impact the past 30 years – did they use it? Do they deserve to ‘serve’ another term?
The DA has been in power in the Western Cape for 15 years – did they make a difference? Do they deserve to ‘serve’ another term?
The EFF – apart from destruction, promises and radical racial division, what value did they add to the society in 10 years?
If the ANC stops racial division, they will lose many votes as the racial division is the only thing that can still distract their voters from their own incompetence and poor ‘service’. It therefor suits the ruling party and the president to maintain the racial division in our society. No, it doesn’t suit them, they absolutely need it…
It is time for the majority of our society to stop the minority of radicals in dividing our beautiful country!!
Corruption and incompetency are the reasons for South Africans being unhappy and poor, nothing else. Race is the scapegoat.
Absolutely correct.
I would be interested to learn from SG why less than 2 decades after a disastrous war Germany and Japan had rebuilt their economies, whilst we in three decades have destroyed ours.
Hardly surprising that the most recent census numbers available are from 2011!
Declining white population 2011 – 8.4%… laughable!
How about 2023 – 3%… plausible?
Stephen, who are you trying to impress with all this woke waffle? Ramaphosa has made it abundantly clear that he is NOT a particularly talented individual and of questionable integrity. Why do you bother to quote the man on speeches that he didn’t write? As far as Malema is concerned, maybe your wokeness plays tricks on your mind. Without an enemy, Malema’s politics is impotent. ”Dubul’ ibhunu” clearly identifies a particular sector of the South African population and the chant clearly advocates to kill these people. There is no nuance in chanting to kill, even if a South African judge seems to think so. Aside from this, I find it puzzling that my professional life is defined by mutual respect and normal interaction with black counterparts. We gain new insights and understanding all the time to draw us closer as individuals, regardless of skin colour. Politicians don’t like that.
Possibly a positive ray of sunlight to this intractable blathering on about race based politics is the fact that the black middle class is growing exponentially and I don’t believe for moment that they will turn to the ANC or the EFF as their political party of choice – they have far too much to lose in terms of their consumerism and lifestyle choices.
The ANC, with its use of comrade this and comrade that is clinging to an ideology that is past its sell by date and as for the EFF’s sycophantic support of that barbarian Putin – well that won’t land them any more friends either.
I read up until ‘More recently, EFF leader Julius Malema sang the song translated as “Kill the Boer” at the EFF’s 10th birthday rally, leading to the DA saying it would file charges at the United Nations for Malema’s “incitement of ethnic violence”. This is a classic case of political parties deliberately dividing people for their own gain’.
Articles like this would encourage me to stop donating to DM, and stop reading rubbish like this. I’m sorry Stephen, you are increasingly missing the plot. I shake my head in disappointment. MXM
One would have thought that Apartheid taught us something. When black people were discriminated against, they went into the township laagers, politically and economically. They disrupted, avoided and attacked the regime. They had no other outlet and they exercised it. Now the shoe is on the other foot. People who are discrimnated against will not support the system.
Ramaphosa is powerless within the ANC and government, but from the comments at the top of the article you can see that election campaigning has already started. Don’t believe a word he says.
what is interesting is that SA does not have a race register in terms of Mary is black, white, indian, colored, asian or whatever classifications exist. Heaven knows how a researcher determines property / company share / wealth ownership per race? Guesstimate? Self-identification?
Yet, we are obsessed with race.
Oh but is DOES have a race register, although they may nor call it that. If you’re employed your race is registered, if you’re an employer your race is registered, if you’re a business owner or entrepreneur your race is registered, if you supply goods and services, your race is registered, if you own agricultural land… your race is registered. We may not have a formally named “Race Register” but every document and report produced through the requirements of the Labour Law, BCEA and BBBEE Acts provide the register.
And when the form is completed, you choose your own race. There is no prescription regarding how race should be determined.
“Our workplaces and schools are more diverse than ever” : “But while much has changed in the past few years, our social cohesion is still under threat”
Yes. Stephen, and whose fault exactly is that???
It does not matter what happens in a society if there is a lack of accountability. What came of tbe Zondo commission? Nothing.
We mock the name democracy. We are no longer a democratic country. This government has shown its true colours and aligned itself to socialism/communism. This political agenda is all about centralised power for the top elites. The rest of these issues are all diversion tactics to focus our energy elsewhere.
True leadership requires values, morals and integrity. True leaders serve and encourage others to do the same.
We have been teetering on the edge far too long. The question is, is there still a way back.
Without a radical change in leadership, there will not be.
PAP!!! — Policing, Apprehension, Prosecution. Start with Traffic Offenses, Pedestrian, Cycling, motoring and TAXIS! Keeping it up until Not only must Justice be done; it must also be seen to be done, everywhere!!! Then JOBS!!! — and the rest will follow.
Meritocracy is just so mean and racist….according to the master racists…the anc
I agree with you that the ruling party must go, but who is the appropriate replacement cause most black falks feel that its too soon to give the country back to a white party like the DA. i refer to them as white cause the majority of the leadership is white and they show no interest in black communities, unless they are located in urban areas or in economic active areas. They lack presence in the former transkei area or in any of the former TBVC states.
Nonetheless the ruling party must fall, but it wont as long as “we” the black majority remain suspicious of the DA , unless some charismatic black dude shows up with a new party we can identify with. Becareful of the ANC, they know how to play the game, they might find themselves a charismatic white guy whose competent as president Mbeki and with a history of fighting for black people rights. Such a Trump card might already be in motion cause Cyril Ramaposa is not popular among black falks, we even wondered “why him?” When they picked in 2017…. but hey im just speculating here.
Inequality has made a negative impact on progress and development as the poor are getting more poorer while the rich are getting richer. This is due to the high rate of taxes on debts for the poor while rich are enjoying less taxes on the exorbitant amounts they have borrowed. Let us collective bring out the people’s alternatives in 2023. It starts with you.