LETTER: Dis-Chem race debate highlights mismanagement of SA’s economy

The debate over Dis-Chem’s discriminatory policies has highlighted the fact that some never regarded racial discrimination as wrong in principle. It is a strange state of affairs when those opposed to racially discriminatory hiring practices in SA in 2022 are the ones being framed by some as the reactionaries ("Dis-Chem is on the right path with transformation”, October 18).

A question that needs to be asked is why those who champion racially discriminatory policies cannot bring themselves to straightforwardly call it by its name. Their apologetics are hidden behind rosy words like “transformation”, “redress” and “corrective action”. A constructive, honest debate on this matter will only be possible once the proponents of racial discrimination can bring themselves to drop the euphemisms.

AfriForum and others opposing Dis-Chem’s race-based hiring and promotion practices are standing on solid, principled ground: racial discrimination was wrong in the past and it is wrong in the present. Those rushing to Dis-Chem’s defence, on the other hand, are occupying a precarious position. Systemic racism is defined as a form of racism or racial discrimination that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society, with one of its main manifestations being racially discriminatory hiring practices.

By this metric SA has a huge systemic racism issue. It’s not “reverse racism” either, its just plain racism. If you support systemic racial discrimination in the present, I cannot take your condemnation of systemic racial discrimination in the past seriously. Race obsession has infected almost every facet of the country, from corporate hiring practices to primary school rugby team selection.

A striking example of race obsession cloaked under a thin veneer of “justice” is the government’s 2020 Tourism Relief Fund, which was established to provide support to struggling small businesses in the tourism sector during the Covid-19 pandemic. Race criteria regarding the racial makeup of the businesses’ ownership determined whether they qualified to receive relief funds. The fact that even during a pandemic — when businesses that are owned by and employ people of all races suffered and/or had to close their doors permanently — the government still prioritised its racial agenda, indicates how important being able to discriminate is to the governing party.

Another example is the Tears Foundation, a non-profit organisation that has been at the forefront of the fight against sexual  and gender-based violence (GBV) since 2012. In its application process for funding from the government, Tears was asked to meet BEE racial criteria, which then served as a clear barrier to Tears acquiring funding for its fight against GBV.

How do you explain to a child in primary school that she did not qualify for the netball team because of her skin colour? How do you tell a family-owned business that it will have to close its doors because management is too white to qualify for Covid-19 relief? How can you justify telling an employee they cannot get the promotion they deserve because of the colour of their skin? Are these scenarios really what “justice” has become? Are the organisations and individuals standing up against this discrimination really the ones that deserve scorn?

The time has come for a broader, critical debate on race obsession and racially discriminatory policies and legislation in SA. Government-mandated, racially discriminatory hiring practices are nothing more than a mirage of a solution to a real problem. The real problem is a dysfunctional education system where some children still go to classes under trees and have to use pit toilets in 2022. The real problem is a government that has woefully failed to address a worsening unemployment, education, corruption and the electricity supply crisis.

These have been proven to be the real issues the man on the street cares about. However, government representatives continue to cynically direct everyone’s eyes to the rear-view mirror, while simultaneously championing race laws. The fallacious reasoning that the racially discriminatory hiring practices of corporates like Dis-Chem is based on is the logic of digging a new pothole to fill an old one.

Before us stands a proverbial employment tree, which is not bearing as much fruit as it should. Do we get to the root of the problem and realise it needs more water or sunlight? Or do we hang plastic fruit on its branches and pat ourselves on the back, while we deride those pointing to its roots as “opportunistic” or “regressive”. After more than a 100 years of racially discriminatory policies, which have continued into the 21st century, it is high time for the retirement of this abhorrent practice, and stop grasping at straws to try to justify its continuation in the present.

Ernst Van Zyl
AfriForum campaign officer for strategy & content

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