Too coloured for black economic empowerment

(Editors comments – This article appeared in the Sunday Times 13 May 2007. It highlights a very sensitive issue which many Coloured people lament in private, but unfortunately, take no real-life action on in order to either make themselves heard or to properly voice their dissatisfaction. The comment by Franklin Sonn is most apt when he states that coloured groupings unwittingly contribute to their marginalisation by being ambivalent to race. He says, “We are so taken by non-racialism that we are not prepared to exert race,”. He wants coloured entrepreneurs and others to challenge the community’s exclusion from empowerment and make the system work for them. Well said Mr Sonn!! )

It is a common complaint in the coloured community that they were not white enough to benefit from apartheid, and now are not black enough to benefit from the South Africa’s empowerment initiatives.
However, the truth in the present round of the debate is probably closer to the observation by the late journalist and actor, Bloke Modisane: coloureds pick a race that suits their circumstances. By continuing to play the part of an oppressed minority, some coloureds are hoping to secure some kind of special status in empowerment programmes.

There is also the irony that while some coloureds complain that they are not recognised by government or companies as being deserving enough of empowerment, others – for what can only be described as racist reasons – refuse to be recognised as black. Comedian Marc Lottering has a coloured character that constantly claims: “Ons is mos German”. This character represents a popular perception that some coloureds, however few, are willing to forfeit fruits of democracy, rather than be explicitly classified as black.

But, while these views endure among many black South Africans — coloureds, Indians and Africans — Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka recently acknowledged in Business Times that the issue of coloured empowerment may need to be looked at more closely. She noted that economic transformation must not unwittingly improve the fortunes of one group at the expense of another.

This is especially a concern in the Western Cape, where coloureds account for a significant portion of the population. Among professional and working-class ranks in the coloured community there is a growing feeling that they get overlooked for top jobs in favour of African candidates in employment equity programmes. There is no doubt that in some companies, Africans are considered to be more valuable empowerment candidates. In terms of the relevant legislation, this is not the case.

Lionel October, deputy director general at the Department of Trade and Industry, points out that the issue of minorities within the previously disadvantaged community first surfaced during the early drafting of the black economic empowerment codes of good practice in 2005. A submission from a KwaZulu-Natal- based empowerment group argued that definitions for previously disadvantaged were “too general”. They claimed that in their part of the world, Indians would simply tap into their existing, successful, business networks and grab empowerment opportunities ahead of Africans.

October said that at the time the issue could not be debated in sufficient detail as the concern “was to get the process of BEE moving”. Now that the codes have been finalised, October believes that it is time to “tackle the issue head-on”.
His view is that in reality “coloureds are getting opportunities”, but he conceded that there may be fault lines.
“The problem with employment equity is that there is limited opportunity, in the sense that there is one post to award at a time.”

Over a short series of appointments, you may find that African candidates are appointed more often than coloureds, but overall positions in a company may well be filled in line with the country’s — or province’s — demographics.
As far as preferential procurement programmes are concerned, October said that coloured and African candidates “are not a trade-off, but an add-on”. It is possible to grow a base of suppliers in a manner that benefits both groups, and there is no need for one to displace the other, he explained.

Director at African Bank, Thami Sokutu, who led the process of drafting the tourism empowerment charter, wants the empowerment programme to continue as is. He recalled that during the drafting of the charter there were complaints from both sides when it came to dealing with empowerment of the black minorities.
African players from the Western Cape argued that coloureds were getting all the opportunities, while coloureds insisted the opposite was true. Sokutu said this argument can be settled only with a proper survey to quantify the extent of benefits and where they go. His personal view is that coloureds “have benefited and continue to benefit from transformation”. He believes that tampering with definitions will “introduce complexities” that will hinder the empowerment programme.

Sokutu argued that business leadership must be sensitive to the concerns of black minorities when dealing with empowerment. He added that in a province like the Western Cape, coloureds should benefit proportionally more than in other areas.
Leslie Maasdorp, vice-chairman of Absa Capital, also believes that the issue of black minority groups needs to be tackled more directly. He said the starting point is the collective identity of previously disadvantaged individuals, but he also acknowledged that Africans suffered to a greater degree than coloureds. This would suggest that the accrual of benefits would need to be disproportionately skewed first towards Africans, then others. Maasdorp agreed that there is a sense of marginalisation in coloured communities, but argued that this should be dealt with by structuring empowerment transactions that are demographically and geographically inclusive. However, he was not in favour of creating quotas for black minority groups.

Rather, Maasdorp argued, the government should encourage communities to participate in deals by ensuring they are represented in local empowerment inititatives. In the Northern Cape, for example, this ensured coloured representation in the De Beers empowerment deal.

Maasdorp said coloureds and Indians may not be as well-organised as African communities and as a result are less able to collectively take advantage of empowerment initiatives.
But there is also a reluctance in the coloured community to take advantage of empowerment programmes. Former ambassador and director of companies Franklin Sonn noted that coloured groupings unwittingly contribute to their marginalisation by being ambivalent to race.
“We are so taken by non-racialism that we are not prepared to exert race,” he said. He wants coloured entrepreneurs and others to challenge the community’s exclusion from empowerment and make the system work for them.
Sonn spoke of “sullen anger” among coloured communities that intensified as one moved from business circles to professionals then to the working class. He believes this is the result of a false sense of estrangement that originates from the notion that coloureds are not black enough.
“They are black and they are entitled,” he said.
Sonn shared the view that the estrangement stemmed from white and African businessmen who believed that “if you empower with coloureds, it is not real empowerment”.

“This is the debate we have avoided having for 13 years,” said empowerment and economic commentator Duma Gqubule. He subscribes to the liberation struggle notion that black was a political definition that represented all the oppressed groups. As a result, Gqubule has a gripe about empowerment literature that refers to “priority population groups” .
Gqubule argued that income discrepancies between Africans and coloured are so small that quibbling about distinction will not help since they all desperately need opportunities to advance. As for Indians, he pointed out that, at 2.5% of the population according to the 2001 mid-year estimates, their number is too small to warrant significant distinction.
Another black businessman took a harder line and dismissed the issue.
He said that evidence from the upper echelons of empowerment suggested that coloureds are represented more than “whatever proportion of the population they account for”— and that enough is being done for them.
While there is a sense that the empowerment of black minority communities must be debated, it is likely to be little more than a clash of perceptions.
The reality is that black economic empowerment is a flawed process that — for now — continues to benefit those that have access to skills, resources and business and political connections, and sidelines those who do not, no matter if they are coloured, Indian or African.

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