Thoughts on the “Rainbow Nation”…

As I’ve said previously (in a different blog) coming from South Africa (RSA) travelling through South America means that I’m a rare thing. When I say where I’m from people are often really surprised, although this is at least in part because they sometimes assume I’m Brazilian based on my complexion etc (and my not-at-all-that-fluent Spanish). Additionally, based on my time here I’d say that I’m rare amongst the few South Africans traversing this continent in that I’m not white. As a result I’m often asked my opinions on the state of South Africa, its leaders and the future of the nation – I usually get the impression that the majority of (but not all) white South Africans people come across around the world have similar negative feelings about the state the country is in. So I thought I’d offer a few thoughts on “The Rainbow Nation” – although just a few, with some more to come at a later stage…

Two topics that come up in conversation quite often are affirmative action (AA) and the current state president Thabo Mbeki (more on him later). One of the questions that often get asked is if AA isn’t simply the old policy flipped around, so now it’s the white who are being discriminated against? I can understand this thinking, although the reality is that I believe you have to take the demographic and economic realities into account. Firstly, those who suffered under the apartheid policies and now (in theory) benefit from AA are by far the largest population group in the country, yet they are still the poorest in terms of income and wealth per capita. Additionally, those who don’t benefit from AA are on average still better off economically although there are definitely exceptions. So while some have the idea that we should move forward with an equal playing-field, I’d say that there is no equal playing field with some concerted reconstruction. I guess I look at it from my perspective as a coloured person (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloured). While my parents and those before them were discriminated against under apartheid policies they did not suffer as much as black South Africans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_(people)#South_Africa). So what’s my point?

At college I met a Tswana guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tswana) who had the same level of education I had (ie: university qualified) and had a similar number of years work experience. Some would say were their no AA in place we would be entering the work-place on the same footing with the same opportunities, but this is no the case. My family’s better economic status and history (due to a combination of the more favourable treatment received by coloured people during apartheid and my father’s hard-work) resulted in my having a better network of contacts that he has – and sometimes it is who you know that counts. Additionally, I had the advantage of things often taken for granted such as more comfortable living conditions and my own car (potentially also products of the different treatment under apartheid). So these are the things I take into account. I know I have been fortunate and I know there are those who still suffer in different ways because of RSA’s past and the challenges of the present. These are my reflections…