A white person in SA writing about racism is like a criminal talking to the victim about integrity. As a white South African, born during the apartheid years, I question my right to even discuss the matter. I also struggle with the guilt of not having done more to challenge the status quo during the apartheid years, and worry if I will ever earn credibility in the eyes of black people.

Yet we simply cannot afford not to talk about racism in this country. As much as we continuously try to sweep our past away, the workplace today is still symptomatic of the racial inequalities that existed four decades ago when I launched my first business, K-Mart, two weeks after the Soweto uprisings in 1976. The ongoing effects of racial polarisation on our society, businesses and economy are devastating...

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