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.
