Those who are dead are not dead they live inside my head

BaldOpinion 06

Dedication

For Thelma Elizabeth (89), a native from the Saint Helena island off the west coast of Africa - my mother.  Thelma continues to be concerned about my humility “Boy” she says, “Your writing is too indulgent man”  

…The transistor radio in the fisherman’s bag was concealed by the long protruding Eveready battery. The workers travelling in that third class train carriage must have found comfort in the old, but familiar sound.  Outside, the sound of the train wheels rolling over interrupted tracks, and on the inside the otherwise silence too is pinched by the intrusion sounds from the wheels and even more, that morning, by the tune from the grainy, but familiar sound… of “Smile” coming from the fisherman’s tog-bag.   

“…Smile, though your heart is aching.  Even though it’s breaking…Though, there are clouds in the sky you’ll get by…” [1]

Peter September was then a boy, maybe eight years old, on his way to school. He always had time to dream though. “When I am big I’ll drive a train like this one”. 

The burgundy and grey train wormed slowly along the sea from Muizenberg to Simonstown.  The first smell of salt on the always wind as the train leaves Steenberg Station for Lakeside, then Muizenberg and from there all along the sea edge, past Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek en route to its final destination, Simonstown; also  the Head Quarters for the South African Navy and location of Peter’s school. 

Ringing in Peter’s Head, “I want to drive a train next to the edge of the sea; across a big river, and; through a tunnel in the mountain, and if I cannot drive the train – if I can’t, even when I am big, then I’ll be a Train Conductor and clip the tickets quickly, so that I can look through an open window and see the sea…”.

Job Reservation 

Ten years on and Peter could not become a train driver!  He could be a conductor, yes.  He would wear a brown suit with matching cap. The other conductors; men at the first class end of the train; they wore black suits, white shirts and matching uniform black caps – not as smart as the South African naval officers, those who also travel on the train.   

Women were not conductors, nor were they train drivers…, but they were in the navy; smart, was what they were in those uniforms, elegant and smart…, swans that is what they are called, swans.  

“… If you smile through your fears and sorrow…” 

… Certain parents tell their children “Finish your studies. Go overseas… find a job there.  The colour of your skin is not right for you to find a job in South Africa…”   

The young adult is often away for a year; next it is two years, and soon six years will have passed. Back home the father tires from listening to the mournful shaky tone in the mother’s voice when she repeats the now familiar…, the one always ending in “… Peter September! Will our youngest boy, Robbie, ever come home? …”  “mmm” says Peter, “… he might, but I don’t think that he will stay for long …” Peter then turns, and with that silent faraway expression, clutching the lip of the kitchen sink with his thumbs and index fingers, he gazes over the nothingness that is the windswept neighbourhood; their home, their house, but now the place where they raised their four children – now living in other countries.  

Sydney Bikwani, the Head Boy in Robbie’s Matric year, also, like Robbie, became a Civil Engineer after graduating from The University of Cape Town (UCT). Soon after graduating, cum laude, Sydney was appointed against a position of General Manager. In the Annual Report the construction company, Sydney’s employer, boasted that they employ a dark-skinned person at a very senior level. Sydney was 28 years old.  Sydney was always a brilliant boy though; complete with presence and the gift of charm – a raconteur of note and a natural leader.   

Over the past six years Sydney was General Manager with four different companies - all different industries.  Today, at age 34 Sydney is the Chief Executive of an Investment Company.  

Meanwhile, Robbie wants to come home to where the sun shines differently, to where his earliest memories are rooted.  Instead, his posting is, this time, as Site Engineer to build yet another bridge – this bridge will cross the river Tyne as it slithers with polluted water past Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England en route to the North Sea. 

Peter often thinks about his train ambitions; but more about Robbie’s journey and compares it to Sydney’s. Peter is cautious, cautious not to have his silent pain consume him. 

“…Smile and maybe tomorrow you’ll see the sun come shining through for you…” 

A few wines later and on a Saturday afternoon is when Peter speaks softly and gently with Valerie. He says “…One has to be careful because we paralyse ourselves with wonder and wonder can become envy.  You know, I have difficulty forgetting about the past and, even the people who are dead are not really dead, but they live in my head; our children, though gone, they too live in my head; but why is it that I only remember the recent experiences? I remember the old experiences differently and then often only the good parts. For instance, I remember you telling the children to have confidence. You constantly reminded them that confidence is not something that they have, but that they give to themselves – I wonder if they apply your words there in the foreign lands?

“Light up your face with gladness

Hide every trace of sadness

Although a tear may be ever, ever so near

That’s the time you must keep on trying”  

Nonetheless Valerie, time is a good healer. It heals the way we feel. That is why we forget the bad experiences, but we never can forget what those experiences felt like; the bad experiences, I mean.  Like the time when my mother was marched off the beach.  She watched over me while I stole a quick swim.  It was a hot Wednesday afternoon.  I had the Wednesday afternoons off in lieu of my work on Saturday mornings.  That Wednesday we decided on Fish Hoek Beach – there’s a fish shop there too. I remember those men, the one who dragged my mother because of her dark skin from the bench she was not supposed to sit on. I also remember her calling whilst being dragged, “Boy!” she shouted “Don’t swim too far, go back to the beach…” and later she said, “Those men were doing their jobs because they also have families to feed…” - strange how we could buy fish at the beach shop, but could not swim in the sea.

Yes Valerie, amnesia is a funny thing. 

“… How every good is tinged with a measure of bad? Look at our children.  They worked hard at school, achieved at university; they never stop studying, learning and becoming better at what they do.  It is a real pity that they cannot find suitable employment here at home where their skills are needed more. I think that to have a fair skin in South Africa is a curse.  In the past, to have a dark skin in South Africa was also a curse. 

Job reservation is for people with darker skins. In the past job reservation was for people who had fair skins. Why are we not having job reservation for people who have the better ability, the better skill, are more passionate and committed to their work? Instead we obsess about the damn past, correcting the past. Who can correct what was done; who can unsay what was said?”

BBBEE (B³ E²) 

The motive is to redress past imbalances.  The importance of this is widely agreed upon. However, the method applied is warped and onerous. 

Will B³ E² policies remain relevant?  The quick answer:  “yes, in part.” 

Will these policies as applied in South Africa be relevant for businesses to prosper and compete favourably with the rest of the world? The quick answer: “No.” 

There will come a time when Robbie and others like him come home to the air they know.  They will be revered for having persistently grown their experience in chosen industries and professions.  Business requirements in this ever increasing global economy will necessitate that those skilled persons be identified and appointed irrespective of their skin tone – lest we want to lag further behind the rest of the world… 

Whoever shares this view is dreaming. In South Africa we will continue to lower the standards of our education and lower entry requirements will favour dark-skinned people.  Fair-skinned people will have to comply with the higher entry requirements. We will insist that dark-skinned people remain preferred employees – after all, the employment of dark-skinned people in South Africa remains synonymous with equal employment. In the rest of the world equal employment means the employment of people without prejudice. In England there are currently concerns that women are not given sufficient opportunities in the world of work. The British Government will not facilitate this correction by lowering education requirements for women, even if they are forced to bring about correction by legislative means, as is the case in South Africa. No, academic entry levels for women will not be reduced and neither will women be able to secure positions without a demonstrable ability. The same criterion is not applicable in South Africa. Instead, no matter superior skill and ability, it is us who are born with a dark skin who will be classed as the better employee – the so-called equal opportunity candidate. 

When the fruit of this South African discriminatory employment fiasco is realised, then those who have moved from one job to another on the back of their dark skins, but without developing provenance through honing their ability, these people will be rendered less employable.  Talented women and men, like Sydney, will be retired or forced to take jobs less senior than those against which they are currently appointed; but which are more in keeping with their ability and experience.   

Will the reason for B³ E² policies have attained its objective? The short answer here too is, “no”.  

When this is realised then the accusation, “RACISM”, will again be levelled. Apartheid will be blamed; global warming perhaps; Yes, even the extinct toothless ferret of the North Pole could become a likely candidate for blame, but never will we look at ourselves, this dastard policy, and admit to how damn stupid we are to inflict our past at the expense of our future prosperity as a world contributing nation. No, instead we will persist in correcting the past by replacing one form of oppression with another, whilst expecting a different outcome from what those who have done so previously expected, but who have failed embarrassingly - Ben Franklin. Will the Chinese increasingly do in South Africa what they so vigorously are doing in Angola and other African countries? A new scramble for this Africa we call home…perhaps that is what South Africa wants? 

But then, how are we going to restore an expectation of entitlement caused by the form of affirmation herein discussed, and; how do we build a conducive environment for education when teachers are increasingly seen gyrating in the streets, often during teaching time, and at the expense of those whom they have to instil the discipline of learning for?  

“…Smile, what’s the use of crying…you’ll see that life is still worthwhile”

How easy it is to criticise!  In seeking an alternative I fail to see a quick fix.

 “…If you’ll just smile.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmw1yYRdDOM
Taken from the silent film, Modern Times, 1936 (Sir Charles Chaplin); sung by Mr Michael Jackson

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[1] Interlude – “Smile” by Sir Charles Chaplin. The music as we know it, is composed by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons

Bumped heads, sustainable jobs & film stars

The Bald Opinion!

Bumped heads, sustainable jobs & film stars

The Bald Opinion!

Ref: Balop003

20 January 2012

Welcome to the third in a series of six pieces, each which seek to table differing impact views about Affirmative Action / Black Economic Empowerment and its impact on the developing South African Society.

To start this opinion piece it is decided to discuss the following:

1.    Let’s assume that South Africa is geared to celebrate people who are prepared to work hard in order to learn skills, earn experience and help the country realise its potential;

2.    Most talented people are identified, rewarded and encouraged that others can swelter in the nobleness of their varied, collective and inspirational contributions, and;

3.    Labeling, blaming and the past is outdated; the consequences thereof is often negative stereotyping.

What would it be like to live in a South Africa as described above? Is it impossible, farfetched and utopian?  I think that we can make this a reality, but only if we want, and then only if we want badly enough. 

My mother, now Eighty Nine (89) years old, continues to be intimidated by people with fair skin-tones. Like other mothers of her generation my Ma worked as a cleaner, studied and raised us children whilst my father busied himself with naughtiness. Reasons for my Ma feeling intimidated are borne out of her status as a Saint Helena immigrant in South Africa; a third class citizen, raising a family in the plural setting with a back street address on the Cape Flats. Despite her magnificent academic qualifications, given the times and the slog it took to earn these, my Ma has never been able to shake off her inferiority.  So much so, that when she was forcibly removed from Fish Hook Beach while I there stole a swim she berated me, using our home language, a dialect of Afrikaans, she said “Boy, you know that we do not belong on this beach man, why do you bring me here ...?”  Today I am on the wrong side of 45, and when we speak, my Ma and I, then she says, “Boy, speak louder man, I can’t hear that well any longer – julle kinnes praat soe sag, tut…” (you children do not speak loudly enough)

No worries, for in the last piece of this series I shall tell more about that beach experience, particularly now that the coast is clear. We need to be mindful though, mindful that I tell one story, but it is not an isolated story.  All of us have a story to tell and there is always a story to listen to, read and think about. If we want then each of us can tell where and when we gave discrimination. Strange, but true, the same people can tell of a time when they received discrimination – you see, we’re like that, us people; we give and we take just as well as we give. The challenge though is to develop an understanding of this thing we label, discrimination. It is developing an understanding of discrimination that will help us develop good practice.  In South Africa we love to speak about when we are discriminated against.  We think that discrimination is a synonym for racism. We forget that racism is but one form of discrimination.  In my experience, those who cry the loudest about discrimination are often themselves guilty of practicing discrimination. Maybe they do not understand the concept and if so, what are we going to do about it?

With Black Economic Empowerment / The New Apartheid, we are developing a national segment of people who increasingly act in a manner indicative of entitlement. This entitlement vests in South Africa often as determined by being born with a dark skin-tone and not because the person worked in order to be entitled to a benefit – the case in most other countries. Therefore, being afforded opportunities determined primarily by that skin-tone and using the justifying argument, “the past...” is at least a practice of negative discrimination. How is doing unto others going to correct what you did not like when it was done to you?  

We are a humble people, a respectful people, a considerate people some are even altruists.  I read, it is alleged about the city of my soul, Cape Town, that my city is declared, by Mexican Researchers, to rank amongst the most violent in the world – the mother city of arguably one of the most violent countries in the world.

They, including these Mexican Researchers, never did a study to determine where the most gifted, skilled and hard-working people in the world are. Maybe it is not as important. Negative reinforcement is often part of the reason why we feel intimidated and then behave in the way of such description. The reverse too applies, but we must not hide the facts, just be balanced.

These days I live in a place made famous by a movie star and a princess, and; infamous by a rodent chief of police and a constant supply of fresh mayors.  However, on a recent trip to the supermarket whilst walking down the aisle and minding my own business I bumped my bald head against a protruding shelf – my fault. “Oh! Sorry” “Sorry” and “Are you okay?” rang out from every direction.   On hearing the commotion, and seeing me clutch my head the cashier locked her register and with  loud stern sounding words she said to another woman, which words included those I could understand, viz. “… first aid box…” 

I am just a person and those people who came to help me were persons too.  I do not know the people who offered their sympathy; I do not know them still, but we smile knowingly at each other each time we share space in that shop. Sometimes I notice of the people glancing to see how my head has healed. After all, in the shop we are South Africans. Skin-tone matters not in the shop. The Shop South Africans instinctively care for each other, I think.  I think also that we are inherently a caring people and this damn New Apartheid, Affirmative Action, or whatever label you wish to use, this thing that we are inflicting upon each other; this thing is foreign to what our souls remember.  It is a thing that is increasingly turning us into an ugly people; an ugly people who will be left behind because the world requires of us to be skilled, passionate and determined in order to forge ahead, and; it matters not that Ekurhuleni is the only Aerotropolis on the continent of Africa and that the often new mayor looks good on a photo.

As I write, recalling is the memory of years back when the same happened; when I bumped my then balding head whilst shopping at Sainsbury’s, a supermarket chain in England.  The fellow shoppers, pushing their trolleys with inserted One Pound coins must have thought me terribly clumsy as they glared and moved on… Maybe I should wear a helmet, I thought!

You see, in time Affirmative Action Beneficiaries, who are actually deferred victims, shall, like the syndrome my mother suffers from, albeit differently applied, they too shall grow old, but their thinking will increasingly be one informed by entitlement because it is habit forming – How do I maximize what I take, receive and get whilst making the least effort?

Jackie Selebe, a onetime South African Commissioner of Police, is infamous for his inability to see something wrong in receiving gifts of money, shoes and clothes from a convicted criminal. Jackie is, therefore, but one example of what can result from an euphoric sense of entitlement.  We take things for nothing in return because we are entitled to. We will end with a small gang of “entitled” snobs; a small class of snobs wearing dark skin-tones, but what about the rest of us many of whom also have dark skin-tones? Dark skin-tones are stupid criteria.

These are nouveau snobs. Nouveau snobs created by affirmative action have little to no substance. They will have no substance because they would not have worked and earned the experience required before behaving in that entitled manner.

The very clever people sometimes write books about how children learn.  They call it pedagogical learning methods.  Others write books about how adults learn and, in turn, label it andragogical learning theory. Don’t worry, because it is Greek to me too – maybe because it is derived from the Greek word anere (adult) and agogus (the art of helping students learn). Nonetheless, the crux of andragogical learning is the ability we have to tap into previous experiences when called upon to take decisions. The contention is that we have the solution and that it will come to the fore if the right set of questions are asked; questions that will remind us of experiences where the same principle applied.

These clever people go on to explain that if we repeat certain practices, or live by certain norms then it will determine the way we behave.  Therefore and, among many other factors, if we do not challenge the rot, aftermath and leftover feelings we create through Affirmative Action, then what are we going to do with a horde of folk who have not earned sufficient experience to sustain positions of leadership in an ever increasing global community that we have no choice, but to competitively participate in?

Governments the world over are in place and yes, you do get the government that you deserve; but these structures are in place to regulate and not to be creators of work.  We live in a society that is beset by job creation – driven by government with its passionate embrace of Black Economic Empowerment policies.  It is known that small business is at the cusp of job creation. Entrepreneurship and an enabling environment should be regulated by the state. Is the South African State facilitating the creation of sustainable jobs through encouraging small business development via its regulatory practices?

When are we going to begin talks about the creation of sustainable jobs? It seems that we have taken the sustainability out of job creation.  The result is that as jobs are being created others are being done away with.  Business is often not successful because the people employed to lead are not sufficiently equipped, and then ordinary people suffer the loss of dignity through sweeping retrenchments, redundancies and other methods of shedding employees – and then we blame the economy.  I wish for the regulator to regulate the creation of sustainable jobs.  Let’s move away from hoisting the number of created jobs upon billboards as a show-off announcement when the same numbers are being retrenched elsewhere. Let’s build businesses that are sustainable so that when people are appointed against company owned positions, that such employment too is sustainable. 

In fact, we must demand from the regulator that created jobs are sustainable, and it has to do so by ensuring that the companies who own the jobs themselves are sustainable. Sustainable companies are built by people who have talent, ability, passion and who are prepared to commit to realising growth objectives, goals and targets.  You earn your salary and your bonus is earned only when the business is profitable. Sustainable companies are not created by people who feel entitled, because the feeling of entitlement, in this context, is tantamount to an empty vessel - noisy man; very noisy, but vacant.

We must demand the creation of sustainable jobs and; not create jobs only to reflect as fodder used by statisticians and politicians when they gloat. If this factor is not sufficiently challenged then we are participating in a plan that will find people enjoying employment for short periods before again being retrenched – stripped of their dignity, and it will become a habit, a habit of rejection and failure – a sick debilitating habit, just like divorce and single parent families are fast becoming a habit, the new norm – it is a self-deprecating shame on us. So too we can speak about this being a violent place…

I conclude this article with thanks to all the folk out there who comment privately and in writing.  Thank you to those who disagree and who have taken time to articulate their disagreement.  Each one has to teach another and I am thankful for being taught, particularly by those who disagree with my views; I too am just a person, I remember that.

I think though that we need to defend ourselves against the bad habits we form, both as adults and as children of adults. 

An elder brother was placed in foster care. When things did not work out he was returned to the orphanage from whence he came. The norm was established when this practice was repeated over and over again.  In time his protective reaction was never to allow a feeling of settlement to occur. This, because each time settlement dawned something happened and he was returned to the orphanage.  A new set of parents and again he was the fostered one.  Happiness at last and he decided to feel settled, safe, cared for and protected. After several years, it was an evening in September, Dad announced at the dinner table that the family was moving to a smaller house because he had been retrenched. On hearing this and after his post-dinner chores André left the other siblings, went to his room and began to pack the suitcase. When Mom came upstairs and asked, “Why are you packing?” “So that I do not waste time when you have to take me back to the orphanage…”

If we learn like adults then we also have to think and behave like leaders.  This is possibly the only way that we can break the cycle of negative habits informing our norms.

Sustainable jobs are created by people with passion, commitment, talent skill and entrepreneurial flair. None of these qualities include skin-tones because skin-tones are irrelevant. The future is built as determined by the effort of the present...