PHAPANO PHASHA
The DA has proven itself over and over again that it is an ultra right wing, racist organisation that hides behind the “liberal party” cover, while employing huge public relations machinery to spin and put a gloss over their racism.
An employment circular of the DA-led City of Joburg municipality says: “This is an employment equity targeted position and preference will be given to Indian/white males and Indian/white females including people with disabilities.”
In that circular, the DA has demonstrated its disdain and disregard for black Africans by openly excluding them from applying for certain jobs in the City.
The qualifier or requirement on the circular reads like it came out of 1948 to the early 1990s, but alas, it was advertised recently this year.
The DA’s record and disdain for Employment Equity (EE) is a public record. Last year in November, the DA vehemently opposed the implementation of the EE Amendment Bill, calling it a “legislative wrecking ball” that would “cause further damage to the country’s ailing economy”.
The party’s racist exclusion of black people from job opportunities in the City of Joburg comes at the backdrop of a depressing StatsSA report, which revealed that “black African women are the most vulnerable with an unemployment rate of 41% in Q2:2021”.
The whites and Indians prioritised by the DA are least affected by the scourge of unemployment.
Further to the unemployment report, the Department of Labour’s Commission for Employment Equity’s (CEE’s) annual report revealed that transformation of the employment sector remains a challenge, with white males enjoying managerial positions and appointments.
The 2020 CEE report states that, “at the top management level, the report found that 64.7% of the positions were occupied by whites; followed by 15.8% Africans; 10.6% Indians; 5.7% coloureds and 3.1% foreign nationals.”
Judging by the seniority of the positions “reserved” for “Indian/whites” in the DA circular, it is clear that the DA is continuing to perpetuate the ideology of baaskap, which means the “domination” of white bosses over black Africans.
The DA’s own leadership and management structure reflects that philosophy.
And what about the coloured community?
Sadly, the DA did not lead the City of Joburg through an outright victory and majority vote.
But it won through the support of black votes of the parties who are its coalition partners such as the EFF.
What is more insulting about the City of Joburg advert are the false claims that the act by the municipality is related to “employment equity”, stating that “this is an employment equity targeted position… ”
Through their discriminatory advert excluding black Africans, the DA’s action is a clear implementation of the abolished apartheid-era ’job reservation act’, which was called the Industrial Conciliation Act of 1956.
Job reservation entailed the reservation of work for persons of a specified race or for persons belonging to a specified class.
The racist advert by the DA therefore reveals that apartheid is still alive and here, this time with upgraded hardware and software, and a newer version.
Apartheid 2.0 is here! In fact, I posit to say that apartheid did not completely die, but it trans-morphed into subtler and more sophisticated versions of itself.
South Africans need to condemn the dastard racist act by the DA, and call on the audit of the employment practices of the DA in other municipalities where it governs.
If found to have acted in a racist manner by implementing job reservations of whites, we must make a call for the IEC to deregister the DA as a political party.
The demolition of the symbols of apartheid, especially the “geen blankes” (slegs blankes) “whites only” signs was seen as a victory and the death of apartheid, but the DA has proven that it was not.
The “geen blankes” and “slegs blankes” were the signs that were prohibiting blacks to enter where only white people are allowed to enter.
How the DA came to the conclusion that the managerial positions they advertised in the City be reserved for whites and Indians escapes logic.
The only conclusion one can draw is that the positions were reserved to dish out patronage to the targeted individuals who would ordinarily be the DA’s constituency, or members.
It is a sad day for democracy to see the DA bring back the memories of yesteryear when blacks were racially and systematically excluded from various opportunities.
The ANC in the City of Joburg needs to call the DA to account for its racist advert.
Furthermore, the advertisement of the positions must be cancelled, and re-advertised, with proper prioritisation of blacks, especially women.
We come from a painful past, which was unfortunately legitimised by painful “laws” such as the job reservation law.
South Africans must not allow anyone to justify why an employment advertisement specifically calls for employment preference of the historically “advantaged” minorities who benefited from apartheid laws that protected their interests.
It is an insult and spitting on the face of those voters for the DA to use their votes to racially exclude the same black people whose votes were used to get into power.
If the coalition partners of the DA have any political consciousness, they will review, and revisit their “partnership” with this racist party and dump it – especially for its dastardly racist “geen blanket” employment policies.
The DA has brought back apartheid 2.0 in the City of Joburg, and this is just the beginning.
Phapano Phasha, is a political investigator.
Daily News