Where did it go wrong? The Racist New South Africa!!!!

The story of the first decade of the South African democracy was filled with hope for a better future for all. The second decade is filled with stories of broken promises and violence as the South African fairy tale starts to unravel.

Today Life in South Africa for myself and for the people is more divided by race than we were in 1994 and it seems to be getting worse every year. 2016 seems to be the year for racism as the year began with several racial incidents and it seems to be getting worse as we approach an election as racism is used as a political tool to win votes and fuel tensions between party supporters.

Where will the third decade of the New Republic of South Africa take us?

Racism wins elections...

Our current ruling party ( ANC ) has become extremely quick to blame Apartheid when they are criticized. The current ruling party has learnt that by dividing the nation they are able to stay in power, by pitting races against each other we overlook the shortcomings of the current leadership and focus on our differences rather than the real problems affecting the people of this country.

This is a common pattern that you see with weak and poor performing governments in general. Every time our great African dictator, Bob, the long running leader of Zimbabwe is given a microphone he blames colonialism, but by blaming some foreign power or historical past he is able to justify and misdirect his own failings as a government and president.

Our current political leadership has become extremely good at this "misdirection" with our president becoming an expert at dodging criticism using Apartheid as a constant "get out of jail free" card.

This constant pointing of fingers away from their own actions divides this country in the middle. The ANC voters are made to look at the political opposition and told that the problems we have today is their fault and we (the ANC) can't be blamed. The opposition get frustrated as issues are never resolved and nobody is held accountable, and so many people start to get resentful for getting blamed for something that came to an end more than twenty years ago and is meant to be in the past.

A divided race based South Africa wins elections and prevents us the proud people of South Africa from holding our politicians accountable.

Race based laws = A race based society, BEE (Black Economic Empowerment)

The wrongs of our past need to be fixed and addressed and to achieve this our current ANC based government decided that the best way forward was to create something called BEE. Black Economic Empowerment where incentives were created for business to hire people of colour and were given benefits when this was done as government favoured companies that did better at this thing called BEE.

To formalise and control BEE we created a score card so we can measure just how much a company is complying with BEE.

Slowly these incentive programs became forced laws of transformation and slowly we slipped and lost focus and so today it is no longer about correcting the wrongs of the past and uplifting the poor that was created by Apartheid but rather it has become a corrupt black vs white system were companies are measured by how 'black' they are. What a company does and the service they offer or how good they are has nothing to do with who gets the money and who gets the contracts.

BEE certificates are really just Apartheid style passbooks but for companies. Instead of measuring the colour of a single persons skin it is a measurement of an entire company's skin colour.

The BEE system helps fuel the divided country that we find ourselves in, helping keep South Africans from living together as one society, were all are equal. BEE, doomed to Fail

In the end a race based system and race based laws cannot be fixed by another race based system and more race based Laws. BEE has not and will ever fix what happened in apartheid as the system is by its very definition about race and creates more division in an already divided country.

In the end BEE is a system that favours the corrupt and elite few as the people in power are able to direct money to friends and family regardless of the quality of the service offered and cost of tenders.

This has led to government spending increasing grossly over the past few decades but the poor people that need the money most don't see it as BEE comes at a premium, as costs are marked up by enterprising middle men that don't add any value. This process and practice got the nickname Tenderpreneurship and today is the norm for any government spending.

Hard working South Africans are ripped off every day by BEE as anything government has to pay for comes from taxes and cost several times its true value making a select few enormously rich.

Slowly this system of BEE becomes more and more corrupt and colour and race becomes more and more important as Coloured and Indian people are declared 'not black enough' to qualify for BEE.
BEE Breeds Racism

Born free White South Africans that had nothing to do with Apartheid are made to feel guilty and told that when they apply for jobs they are not equal and if they get given a job it is only because no black candidate could be found.

BEE creates new race based inequalities the same way Apartheid created inequalities, and people are still not born equal in South Africa, all that has changed is the tables are now turned and situation reversed.

Racists are not born they are made, and BEE is creating a culture for racism to grow and thrive as people are still compared based on the colour of their skin and the way they were born.

Should we be surprised when racism gets worse with every year of our so called democracy as we progresses to another election?
There is no South African Pride with Racism and BEE

We need to start holding all forms of racism accountable, but we also need start asking where is it coming from, and maybe we are creating an environment where racism can thrive and grow? Maybe BEE is the problem and not the cure.

Can BEE be something to be proud of? Does BEE help the poor and unemployed?

You could argue that a system like BEE was needed to break up and disrupt the systems and cultures that were inherited from Apartheid. But we have moved beyond that now, is it not time to look for something better?

You can find the Original Article here.

It has recently come to my attention that the world has no idea about BEE in South Africa and most people are under the impression that South Africa is free! Well let me be the first to tell you that South Africa is currently worse off than it has ever been! I have not been able to find employment for over 3 years ,my wife is unemployed and my father was forced into retirement early and lost everything! Fortunately I spent the last 2 years learning web design and development so I can freelance internationally and survive. Basically the South African Government has made it illegal for South African companies to employ white people. I have literally seen company's shred white South African's employment CV's under advisement of lawyers to avoid possible legal implications.

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I have created this post to hopefully create awareness about the reality of BEE and racism in South Africa and will update if it gains some transaction.

Thanks for reading I am looking forward to comments and questions

Cheerz