Introduction
Although the term ‘apartheid’ was coined from an Afrikaans word meaning ‘apartness’ in the 1930s, and only became the National Party’s mainstream political slogan in the early 1940’s, the policy attached to it was in place from as early as 1652 during the dawn of white settlement in South Africa (Alonford). But in 1948, marking the rise of Afrikaner Nationalists to power, the policy of apartheid became law; the apartheid system created and enforced a racial hierarchy in which the white had control over all social and economic privileges (Alonford). Only the whites for instance had the right to vote, this was made even more possible through the policy of ‘separate development’ enshrined in the Population Registration Act of 1950 (CSStudents). This Act classified South Africans into three main racial groups: Whites, Colored (those of mixed races) and Bantu (black Africans), and only years later was the fourth group, Asian (Pakistanis and Indians) added (Alonford).
This, along with a series of other laws restricted non-white races to specific areas, gave the whites control over 80 percent of South African land, enforced separation of standards of education, enforced segregation of public facilities, created and enforced job categories for specific races, restricted the roles of nonwhite unions, and did away with the participation of nonwhites in government (Alonford). It is such discriminatory policies that eventually led to the rise of apartheid regime and thereby triggered revolution of black’s political groups against this discrimination. The opposition as far as mainstream cause for anti-apartheid went was largely against racism which also included class distinction.
Because class segregation was an element of racism and in this case the flagship of apartheid system in South Africa, thus the rise against apartheid by Blacks was also a revolt against the social segregation as well. The objective of the revolution was therefore intended to attain socio-economic equity, although that was only implicit within the anti-racism opposition.
This paper intends to explore the question of racial and class segregations using Apartheid as our case study in order to investigate the link between these two forms of discriminations, the challenges involved in overcoming them and how the Black Economic Empowerment policies compare to the concept of Emiritization in the UAE.
Discussion
Racial and Class Segregation in South Africa’s apartheid
No doubt, the anti-apartheid movement was found and directed mainly to oppose the racial segregation in South Africa, but racial segregation in the country defined everything else notably; the economic and social status of the whites against those of other races (more conspicuous among blacks who were the majority) (South Africa Tours and Travel). And so in the explicit fighting against this racial discrimination and segregation, there was an implicit inescapable fight against the class segregation. There was belief that in defeating racial segregation, the living standards of the people would rise, in other words, the other races would have the chance to acquire a better social class.
Historians have always wondered if the Blacks revolution in South Africa against whites racial discrimination would have occurred had the class and social segregation not been there, or so obvious for that matter. But the very fact that the apartheid deprived them of vital social and economic facilities was definitely the impetus that triggered and fueled the apartheid revolution. And because racial discrimination is inherently mixed up with social and class segregation, which was even made starker in South Africa, then it is clear that this revolution was started by blacks to protest for all aspects of racial discrimination taking place in the country. Indeed, where there’s racial segregation their always is class and social segregation (South Africa Tours and Travel).
But class segregation is not usually as a result of racial segregation, as such it is easy to address racial segregation, and in the process implicitly address class segregation than it is to address class segregation independently in a racial segregation setting.
The aftermath of the apartheid demonstrates this inherent entanglement between class segregation and racial segregation; for instance, while apartheid is believed to have been eliminated, white domination in many sectors of the economy is still there, albeit at a much lower degree despite the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy being in place for years now (Economist). In fact current statistics indicate that the richest people in South Africa make up 4 percent of the total population, and only a quarter of these are blacks (Alistair). The whites take up three-quarters of senior private business jobs compared to blacks who only hold 12 percent (Economist); this is replicated everywhere such as in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) where out of 295 listed companies, black CEO’s only comprise 4 percent of the total (Economist).
These statistics reflect the white people’s relative dominance of South Africa’s economy at this present age despite the many years in trying to address the same; so it will appear that the apartheid apprising only addressed the racial discrimination while social segregation which is an element of apartheid continues to take place. This is clear evidence of how easy it is to address racial segregation than it is to address class segregation especially in countries that embrace capitalism system.
Is it easy to address racial segregation than class segregation?
As already mentioned above, the current status quo is evidence enough that it is easier to address racial segregation than it is to address class segregation, perhaps this is because race is more conspicuous and has become less tolerated in modern day. Besides, color makes it possible to notice segregation and as such easy to address and overcome as well; in the case of apartheid in South Africa racial discrimination is more pronounced than class segregation which unfortunately is also a function of capitalism system that makes it more tricky to isolate and therefore address. This is because social segregation can and is known to be caused by the capitalism system that exists in many countries including SA.
The capitalist concept of personal effort shows that by one’s hard work one can rise beyond the present social status; while it is not real or practical that all people have access to the same resources which they can use to rise beyond their poor social status, it is true that there are those who have managed to do so even with limited resources. In a sense, therefore, addressing class segregation is probably seen as fighting hard work and personal effort in modern societies. This is further complicated by the fact that class segregation is less clear even within particular societies because social segregation tends to exist in different forms that is at times just a perception; and when it becomes obvious capitalism is usually used to explain and justify it.
Finally, the results obtained from addressing racial segregation are clear-cut and obvious whereby the end results can be measured and discrimination eliminated. But addressing class segregation is not that simplistic since it is most likely that this will only end up substituting the drivers of the class segregation instead of accomplishing equality. So the question then is what can be done to the existing classes in order to achieve a class harmony and the answer is probably nothing. This is because people can’t just be moved between social classes since the concept of social class is a psychologically defined phenomenon which everyone is a victim. The people in the ‘higher’ classes are as much victims of their superiority complex as the people in the ‘lower’ classes are victims of their inferiority complex.
Black Economic Empowerment (BEE)
After the fall of apartheid, the ruling government under the African National Congress implemented the BEE, this was not meant to be an effort at redressing the wrongs of apartheid against black people but was described as an effort to “realize the full economic potential of the country” (South Africa Info) through integration of the Blacks in nation building. The main objectives of the policy included empowering black people to not only own, but also manage enterprises; an enterprise was to be considered black-owned if “51 percent of it was owned by the blacks” (South Africa Info). Other objectives of the BEE were meant to facilitate black women’s access to skills training, economic activities and infrastructure, promote black people’s access to finance, ensure fair racial composition of management structures and ownership, and promote access to economic activities, infrastructure and land (South Africa Info).
More importantly this policy was aimed at promoting the native South African nationals who until the end of apartheid had been economically and socially sidelined, not to mention it has been criticized for no achieving the same (South Africa Info). But that notwithstanding, it was a step towards addressing the need for the inclusion of the South African black nationals in the running of their country.
In this sense this policy is similar to the Emiritization of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since in UAE too Emiritization is meant to encourage the employment of its native citizens in the private and public enterprises and therefore reduce its dependence on foreign workers (Elance). For instance, Abu Dhabi national Oil Company (ADNOC) has gradually been raising the percentage of the UAE nationals on its workforce; it has done this through training programs for its internal employees and those who aspire and wish to be part of the ADNOC staff (Elance).
This is meant to improve economic and technical knowledge among UAE nationals by training them to acquire equal opportunities at skilled employment; the intention is to put the UAE back to the hands of its own native nationals. Indeed, these objectives are in their own ways the same as the ones in South Africa’s BEE; although BEE does not explicitly make it obvious that it hopes to give South Africa to its native blacks. Unfortunately for South Africa, racial diversity remains a decisive element in the achievement of that goal especially given that the various tribes in South Africa can all claim nativity.
Works Cited
Alonford, Robinson. Apartheid, Social and Political Policy of Racial Segregation and Discrimination Enforced by White Minority Governments in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. 2009. Web.
Alistair, Boddy. Apartheid 101: an overview of Apartheid in South Africa, introduced in 1948. 2011. Web.
CSStudents. The History of Apartheid in South Africa. 2009. Web.
Elance. Emiritization of the United Arab Emirates. 2009. Web.
Economist. To give more economic clout to the black majority has proved hard. 2010. Web.
South Africa Tours and Travel. Brief history of Apartheid in South Africa. 2008. Web.
South Africa Info. Black Economic Empowerment. 2011. Web.