Affirmative Action Policy in South Africa
Historical Context of affirmative action in South Africa
Historically, in societies all over the globe, various groups of people, usually minorities (classified according to traits like gender, cast, ethnicity, and religion) are discriminated against, resulting in lack of access to resources, education etc. Every now and again the tables are turned and these unfortunate groups find themselves in a position of power where they can reverse the flow of resources and redress the evils of the past. The resulting policies are termed Affirmative Action (AA) policies. AA policies are practiced all over the world including Malaysia, United Kingdom, United States, Brazil and India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action, last accessed 20 June 2007)
In South Africa there have been various periods of AA, for example between 1890 and 1948 there was AA in favor of the English; from 1948 to 1974, under Nationalist rule, there was AA in favor of the Afrikaners (Terblance, 2005). Terblanche, 2005 termed these periods of embourgeiosment. During both these periods it was the black people (African, Coloureds and Indians) that were most deprived in terms of access to resources and skills and most wealth became entrenched in the hands of the whites (Dean, 2005).
Actually, throughout, South Africa 's colonial history an impressive array of legislation was implemented to supply the colonialist masters with labour (Chalera, 2007). However, the measures implemented in this country appear to have been similar to measures in other colonial countries (Dean, 2005). It was the Nationalist Government who, through more than 350, laws set out to systematize and entrench the discriminatory measures implemented under colonial rule. (Dean, 2005)
This unequal situation led to an enormous accumulation of wealth in the hands of a privileged few by the time of the 1994 elections. Chalera (2007) has summarized some of these inequalities:
20% of the bottom earners in the economy
Historically, in societies all over the globe, various groups of people, usually minorities (classified according to traits like gender, cast, ethnicity, and religion) are discriminated against, resulting in lack of access to resources, education etc. Every now and again the tables are turned and these unfortunate groups find themselves in a position of power where they can reverse the flow of resources and redress the evils of the past. The resulting policies are termed Affirmative Action (AA) policies. AA policies are practiced all over the world including Malaysia, United Kingdom, United States, Brazil and India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action, last accessed 20 June 2007)
In South Africa there have been various periods of AA, for example between 1890 and 1948 there was AA in favor of the English; from 1948 to 1974, under Nationalist rule, there was AA in favor of the Afrikaners (Terblance, 2005). Terblanche, 2005 termed these periods of embourgeiosment. During both these periods it was the black people (African, Coloureds and Indians) that were most deprived in terms of access to resources and skills and most wealth became entrenched in the hands of the whites (Dean, 2005).
Actually, throughout, South Africa 's colonial history an impressive array of legislation was implemented to supply the colonialist masters with labour (Chalera, 2007). However, the measures implemented in this country appear to have been similar to measures in other colonial countries (Dean, 2005). It was the Nationalist Government who, through more than 350, laws set out to systematize and entrench the discriminatory measures implemented under colonial rule. (Dean, 2005)
This unequal situation led to an enormous accumulation of wealth in the hands of a privileged few by the time of the 1994 elections. Chalera (2007) has summarized some of these inequalities:
20% of the bottom earners in the economy
References: Chalera, C.S. 2007. An impact assessment of South Africa 's national strategy for the development of SMME 's. Thesis submitted to the University of Pretoria. Deane, T. 2005. Affirmative Action: A comparative study. Thesis submitted to the University of South Africa. Ministry of Education, 2001. A National Plan for Higher Education in South Africa Terblanche, S. 2005. A review of the rise of the Afrikaner middle class in South Africa. Black Management Forum Conference, Sandton Convention Centre 13-14 October. University of the Witwatersrand. 2006. Employment Equity Policy.