The Importance of Experience in building competitive businesses and; the destructive impact of Affirmative Action on the world of work in S. Africa

Ref: Balop002

07 January 2012

How does one teach experience in the workplace; is this teaching done by relevant exposure to the tasks at hand and; if so, how is teaching done without it resulting in repetition, sometimes of the same old and without application, or cognisance of the new age, technology and the need for constant improvement? How do we, through being taught, become inspired with a need to bring about constant improvement first with ourselves and then transferred to the jobs we do?

Please consider excusing me. You see, my training and one of my passions is employment law. This informs my interest in the world of work. Over time I have developed an understanding that there exists a huge chasm between what is fair and what is just. Justice and fairness are two very different concepts. I strive to be passionate about fairness. Recently I learned that it is more important to determine what is right, as opposed to whom is right. Therefore, my concern and indeed, unlikely hobbyhorse, is Affirmative Action and Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment, which is, not unlike Apartheid, the epitome of unfairness. Many have indicated, after attending the lecture, or after having read Balop001, that Affirmative Action is not only applied in South Africa, but also in Malaysia, a country where the people did not experience institutionalised discrimination as was visited upon the people of South Africa for nearly Seven (7) decades. All South Africans experienced Apartheid. 

I know persons who bemoan the application of this bizarre practice in Malaysia, and I am familiar with the arguments raised by those who opposed the now failed Affirmative Action Policies applied in the USA. However, I prefer not to confuse the issues and conflate unrelated arguments with the devastation that the result of Affirmative Action is bringing to the world of work in South Africa. Currently 38% of people who can work are unemployed in our country. The various media reports and certain government departments set this figure at 25% / 25.7% respectively and, almost in small print it is stated that the published figure reflect only the formal employment sector. What about those who have given up looking for work? You see of them at the traffic lights, begging. To give up is often the only alternative, or the aftermath of repeated rejection! The scourge of losing dignity is tantamount to tampering with humanity. Go to your traffic light in South Africa and see for yourself what I mean. How does it make you feel, or are you numb too in your make-believe “I do not see them” face mask? 

Today the need in South Africa has reached a critical state; dignity remains less important than the need for sustainable employment. In other words, we do not need dignity as much as we need sustainable jobs. Jobs will afford people opportunity to earn dignity and regain humanity. Sustainable jobs will not be created by employing people as determined by the skin tone that fate has dealt them, but development of ability will. 

People who are appointed more because of skin colour and less because of their ability will result in sustainable employment becoming unsustainable. This is what affirmative action as applied in South Africa today is resulting in, unsustainable employment, entitlement and an exposure to the trappings of quasi-successful dignified lives – it will be short-lived in most instances and the incumbents will not fulfill their potential because there is no short-cut to success and Affirmative Action is a get there quickly scenario. How many of us remember the State of Emergency and the “Kitskonstabels” (Instant Policemen) of the 1980’s? The principle applied with Affirmative Action appointees is the same as was the case with “Kitskonstabels” – appointees with a handicap.  I am informed that the latter term "handicap" applies in the game, golf. The “Kitskonstabels” were an embarrassing and colossal disaster. The main reason for this is because they were not sufficiently prepared to execute the role before being let loose on, amongst others, placard wielding factory workers. The results were often disastrous, images that will forever be etched in my memory. My contention is that Affirmative Action is the bearer of equally devastating results.

At schools and at tertiary institutions we need to learn the process of thought and how to work. Before assuming a position in the world of work it is important to understand how the job is done. Only then should we be appointed against a position and be charged with having to account for the concomitant responsibility. The more senior the position, the more stringent the preparation need be. Am I being ridiculous; perhaps more ridiculous than Affirmative Action and if so then hey, remember, I am due a handicap too, so go easy on me when you respond!

Part of our preparation should focus on how we are to unleash inherent potential and; then, on how we use our potential in order to grow the position we are appointed against through constantly improving our ability. Is Affirmative Action and Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment facilitating this personal and resultant job growth? However, Charity still lives at home, or words to that effect.

Is Affirmative Action resulting in a distinct flair for entitlement and as a result, are we encouraging the development of a class consisting of snobs who have no substance? Where is this going leave South Africa and; remember, we need to develop sustainable employment so that ordinary people, no matter their skin tone, can have jobs. Even people who wear fair skin tones have the right to dignity in the world of work.

Let’s mention two facets of affirmative action as applied in South Africa: (Bear in mind that there are many, but I limit my focus here to the Public Sector) 

1.    How many Affirmative Appointees account, or can account effectively for their responsibility and why is this the case;

2.    How many very senior Affirmative Action appointees are suspended for months together with full remuneration conditions, all because of some or other bungle they facilitated – recent examples include, the CEO of the South African Post Office, Ms. Motshoanetsi Lefoka and the Police Commissioner, General Bheki Cele – ironically both these bungles have to do with letting / leasing of property? (other occurrences include the CEO’s of Telkom, Eskom, SAA, many Government Departments, Government Ministers, Para-statal Institutions, and even Universities)

Remember, affirmative action is the elder sibling of the Black Economic Empowerment Act, a statutory law in South Africa. Apartheid was also a statutory law in South Africa and it was an amendment to the Police Act that brought about "Kitskonstabels".  The term "kits" in Afrikaans, which is one of the 11 official languages spoken in South Africa, means instant, as in instant coffee.  The term "Konstabel" was a police rank used to describe junior policemen.  My point is, when the devastation of the Affirmative Action Policies are realised, or when denial sets in, then who is going to account? When are people going to be taught to do the job before they are appointed against the position, particularly senior positions?

How many young people are at the receiving end of this discrimination? Is it because they have fair skin tones? Some argue that it is because their parents were beneficiaries during the Apartheid era and by implication it is now the turn of the dark skinned to be beneficiaries. Almost like Orwell's Animal Farm, not so? Yet, when President Mandela delivered his inaugural speech, he said “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.” Was President Mandela telling a lie when he made this statement? I think not.

There are those amongst us who unwittingly give this discrimination to others in order that they may be beneficiaries, all as a result of our dark skin tones and because of a past, which incidentally we, all of us, are not able to do anything about. Yet we insist to deny others who have at least equal skills to ours the right to work. We enact this denial because of the past when fair skinned people denied dark skinned people access to certain jobs. Who is right, or is it better to ask "what is right"? Is it better to try the impossibility of correcting what transpired over Seventy (70) years, or is it more important to harness  the potential and existing skills we have in South Africa in a determined venture to build the country today for tomorrow that we owe to ourselves? We seemingly choose to focus on that which we can do nothing about at the expense of a future, which future’s prosperity we can determine, but only if we do what is right. Sadly, I notice from the responses received after the first lecture and my blog entry on this subject that the persons who have no recollection of the tyranny which we refer to as Apartheid are the most vocal supporters of Black Economic Empowerment, the New Apartheid. These persons prefer not to respond on the blog. Yet, I think that it is logical to assume that an eye for an eye will at the end leave all of us half blind.