The grim racial stats behind the Dis-Chem furore

Dear DM168 readers,

When the CEO of Dis-Chem, Ivan Saltzman, wrote his memo explaining that the retail pharmacy giant was falling short on transformation targets, particularly in management, and therefore the hiring of white staff would be paused unless a strong case for their employment was made, our country’s centuries-old race divide reared its vicious head with white folk threatening to boycott Dis-Chem and black folk saying it is about time that a business leader took transformation seriously.

In this week’s DM168 newspaper our astute Business Maverick writer Ray Mahlaka has cut through the hysteria and explained the data and upcoming stringent amendments to equity legislation that lies behind Saltzman’s memo. I urge as many of you as possible to read every word of Mahlaka’s balanced, fact-based journalism on an issue that could easily plunge us into the emotionally charged morass of racial polarisation that will further divide us, when what we need is more understanding, more working together for our common good in a country teetering precariously on the brink of dysfunction, because of corruption, incompetence, poor education, petty power squabbles, a lack of foresight and politicians trapped in a prison of ideas that reached their sell-by dates long before the 20th century waved goodbye.

There is a very interesting graph in the latest Commission for Employment Equity annual report  which shows the demographics of top management in companies across South Africa. Of all senior management, those classified white constituted 63.2%, black African 17%, Indian/Asian 10.9% and coloured 5.9%.

Now contrast this with the latest population demographics of South Africa by Stats SA. Out of a total population of 60.6 million, black Africans constitute 81%, coloureds 8.8%, whites 7.7% and Indian/Asian 2.6%. If you look at this in perspective without any emotive attachment to one’s so-called designated race, it is clear that South Africa is a very long way from becoming an equal opportunity society for all who live here.

The data show that despite the Employment Equity Act signed in 1998, whites hold a greater proportion of senior management positions relative to their percentage proportion of the population than their black African counterparts. For only 17% of the 81% black African population to have the skills, experience and knowledge to reach senior management positions and lead companies, is just plain nuts. Equally nutty is the converse, that the minority 7.7% of the population holds the key to 63.2% of the economic kingdom. Only in South Africa.

The data come from the reality that privilege is generational. By privilege, I mean the basics that I believe are every human’s right: access to quality primary, secondary and tertiary education, a stable home environment that includes a solid roof over one’s head and good nutrition. Parents who have jobs that enable them to grow, learn, use their potential and provide for their families – this is the basic foundation the majority of black South Africans in our country are still deprived of.

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White privilege has lasted longer than any other racial group’s privilege in this country. The Nats made sure of this since 1948, when the Union of South Africa excluded black people from any kind of opportunity to grow by restricting them to semi-skilled labour and through the 1913 Native Lands Act, which limited two-thirds of the country’s population (black people) at the time  to 7.5% of the land while whites, making up one-fifth of the population then, were given 92.5% of the land.

We can make like ostriches and hide our heads in the sand, but it will not take away the harsh impact of centuries of economic exclusion that led to the generational disadvantage of many  black people.

The ANC spent the past three decades trying but failing to tackle this generational disadvantage. Perhaps the enormity of the task was so overwhelming that the greedy and myopic members of the ANC who took over from the thinkers, planners, managers, social democrats and humanists in the party, thought it easier for them and their families and friends to beg, borrow and steal their way up the economic ladder rather than address the challenge of creating opportunities for the people. Whatever the reasons might be, after close to three decades since apartheid ended, we still have a problem. A problem that is not going to be solved by denying that racial inequality exists or shouting platitudes of Radical Economic Transformation while feeding at the trough.

I believe in the genetic science as confirmed by several scientists including the American Society of Human Genetics, the largest professional organisation of scientists in the field, that the very idea of “race” is a lie. As they note: “The science of genetics demonstrates that humans cannot be divided into biologically distinct subcategories”; and it “challenges the traditional concept of different races of humans as biologically separate and distinct. This is validated by many decades of research.” In other words, “race itself is a social construct”, with no biological basis.

Racial concepts such as black African, coloured, white, other coloured, Indian and Asian were constructed in South Africa for the benefit of the descendants of European settlers over the inhabitants they found when they arrived here and the slaves they captured to work for them. The whole system of land appropriation, exclusion and oppression was based on a falsehood. We are living with the aftermath of this falsehood of white superiority and black inferiority which is why addressing the damaging effects of centuries of racism, today, does matter.

We need our economy to grow so that no one loses a job, black or white. We need more black skilled and qualified people who can fill in senior management and leadership positions on merit and ability. We need those 63% of white business leaders to follow Ivan Saltzman’s lead and do something to open more space and development for black junior, middle and senior managers on their teams.

We need good ideas and actions to break the cycle of poverty in generations of black families. We need more financial assistance and educational support for more black learners to access quality tertiary education, be it in the much-needed trades or professions. We need to stop shouting about racism and reverse racism and accept the fact that unless we do something to overturn racial inequality, actually many somethings, South Africa will always be no country for our young.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about the need for economic redress and ideas to tackle it. Write to me at [email protected] for your ideas to be published on our DM168 letters page.

Yours in defence of truth, fraternity and equality,

Heather

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.