After years of talking about transformation, nothing’s actually changed for people of colour

THE reactions by pseudo-politicians to the naked racism displayed by officials of Laerskool SchweizerReneke, where four pupils of colour were separated from 18 other pupils, was almost expected.

This is due to the fact that, besides vocal condemnation against racism in South Africa, the ruling party has simply lost its mandate to govern.

This is, of course, after 25 years in government. The question should be posed: Do people want a black government or a fair government?

After the usual obligatory outcry, politicians are continuing with their daily lives, waiting for another racist incident, before they may again offer another rant. They will continue expressing their shock and disgust against the national social construct that refuses to die.

South Africans have embraced the concept of botho-ubuntu premised on the Rainbow Nation. But the reality is that the country is still divided according to race, and little has transformed with respect to economic power relations.

It’s true that people of colour now have political power, but what’s the point of this without land and economic power? Should people of colour invest their resources in the “new dawn” towards transforming racial behaviour?

The reality is that, according to most white people, people of colour are still the downtrodden. They are still the domestic workers and the gardeners. They are still the farm labourers. And the white people are still the economically dominant class. They have money and are therefore the employers. They have access to the best development infrastructure and other facilities.

Unlike our mud schools in the villages, white institutions are better equipped. The government has done us a huge injustice with respect to transformation from the apartheid legacy, and has perpetrated the mindset that people of colour are incapable of governing themselves. Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi is an exception to this statement.

The unfolding of events at Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke continues to remind us that those occupying political office continue to fail South Africans with regard to substantial transformation.

Had they acted swiftly, those who are determined to humiliate people of colour would, by now, have learnt that justice is on the side of those advocating for anti-racism practices. However, like other societal ills, racism continues to be a lived experience for people of colour.

Corporate South Africa unashamedly ignores the government-institutionalised affirmative action policy meant for transformation. How sad that, after decades of “talking shop” on transformation, South Africa remains the only country where the majority seeks affirmation from the minority.

For redress in our national psyche, people of colour must get their land back and retain economic ownership. People of colour must take control of developmental institutions (learning and industry).

Until we do this, the Chinese idiom “Talking does not cook rice” comes to mind.