RApartheid



	South Africa and the Post-Apartheid Era Apartheid's gone - long live apartheid. The African National Congress and all their comrades fought for years to rid this country of an evil system, a system put in place by H.F. Verwoerd and our subsequent leaders. That was until P.W. Botha's "Rubicon" speech. Mandela got released, the ANC unbanned and a new election "for all". It cost the country a fortune and many saw this as a time for making lots of money (and boy, did they!). White South Africans panicked, unsure of what this new South Africa will hold for them. We bought "war food", ammunition and joined the neighborhood watch. Emergency locations were defined and doctors put on standby. The election went well, though this did not stop the "brain-drain" that started six months before. Now we have our second president. Mandela did a good job of pacifying white citizens. And it seemed that the months spent on draughting and approving the new constitution, whites were fairly safe in this new situation. More and more black faces started appearing on television, people in high places in government. The white South Africans that rallied the black cause in the past were all sitting pretty in good government positions. Out of the woodwork came crawling hundreds of educated blacks (so much for the oppressive white regime) all cashing in on the new South Africa. With the ANC's second term in office, things don't look so good anymore. More and more whites in this country start to realise (only now) that talk is talk but the walk is something totally different. Government departments are occupied by black employees. The few whites left are forced to retire at fifty and their posts will be filled by blacks. Black empowerment became such a big issue that government will not do business with private concerns unless they have a social upliftment program or they have black directors. Mechanisation is out - job creation is in. Considering that there are in excess of thirty million blacks in this country of which forty-five percent is unemployed, the government sure has a big task ahead of them. There are only so many government positions. In this light then, the affirmative action plan was tabled in parliament. Employers were warned that this was the stepping stone and if they don't comply, stricter laws will be put in place and enforced. Over and above this, various other laws were put in place to eradicate any form of discrimination - against black or white. Discriminatory words such as "baboon", "kaffir" and such were outlawed. New2s reports could no longer report the race of a person. Identity documents had to be re-issued to get rid of any race indicators and the old ANC "military wing" was integrated into the Police and Army. Practically overnight the blacks were promoted to being the upper echelon of South Africa. This was obviously quite a shock to the mostly conservative white. Questions being asked were ignored and the black tidal wave was with us. In our constitution women's rights are properly addressed. Addressed to such an extent that a white woman with the right qualifications cannot lay claim to a position if a black woman (with no qualifications), applied for the same position. Companies could hire, but not fire. Delloitte & Touche realised years ago that this would be the situation in the near future. They started employing blacks in minor positions in order to groom them for the new South Africa. It cost them a bundle and it didn't work. If you're white and a male, you stand no chance. It's as simple as that. Highly qualified people are out of a job, replaced by bungling, incompetent and under-qualified blacks. The sad part is that these blacks are getting paid more with more benefits for doing nothing or as little as possible. Young upstarts are being told to start their own businesses, only to be knocked over by high taxes and very limiting labour laws. In the years to come the working class white will become the beggar. It is Mbeki's dream (and promise) to see South Africa as a totally black country. If any of his pre-election speeches are anything to go by, it won't be long now. White-owned farms are being occupied and once productive land is being allocated to the "previously disadvantaged". Sport and education are being geared more and more for total black domination. But there is a backlash. There is revolt. Schools are at the forefront with violence that we haven't seen before between black and white. All educational institutions are suffering from some sort of conflict. And mostly these incidents are instigated by blacks. Revolt against paying fees and reverse apartheid against whites. Racism to the extreme. And when these incidents take place, it takes the form of extreme violence with people getting hurt and killed. I won't even mention damage to property (any property). It is clear that Mandela's viewpoint of forgiveness and togetherness in the new South Africa is not shared amongst the majority of blacks. It is pay-back time! With the government behind them there sure is no way of stopping this tidal wave.