Few white parents reading Marc Lubner’s article headed ‘How we can fix South Africa’s skills development crisis’ (Business Report, November 7) would resonate with his comments.
The reason for that is his obvious acceptance of what has led to the skills crisis: affirmative action and BEE. Lubner needs to visit one of the agencies that do screen tests for those who want to emigrate. There he will be confronted by the reality of the skills crisis. Dozens and dozens of skilled, mostly white, artisans and technicians who are applying for entry into Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US. Skilled human resources have become South Africa’s most significant export As education standards decline further and the schools are engulfed by indiscipline, so the plight of youth will worsen. White children are being affected by those conditions just as severely as black kids. But the plight of white children is far bleaker because the likes of Lubner and his NGO apparently do not recognise whites as being disadvantaged.
Schools became multi-racial in 1991. Apart from the franchise, most other apartheid legislation had lapsed before 1994. So, more than a quarter of a century on, it is fallacious to persist talking about disadvantaged sections of society and linking them only to a particular colour group. There are disadvantaged youngsters in all racial groups and there always will be. If one had to conduct a historical audit of South Africa since 1994, one of the most obvious findings would be that the much-vaunted principle of non-racialism is a farce and a fallacy.
Sent into The Mercury and published, 8 November 2017.
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