Apartheid’s Legacy

25 June 2008



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South African Chinese Reclassified “Black”

The South African High Court has ruled that ethnic Chinese citizens of that republic are to be reclassified as black people. One would have thought that 14 years after apartheid’s collapse such classifications would be unnecessary. However, in trying to equalize access to the country’s wealth and resources, the Broad-Based Economic Empowerment and the Employment Equity Acts have established a system of benefits based on race. The ethnic Chinese now have a leg up, since before they were considered “coloured” under apartheid and “white” today.

The Acts give people classed as blacks, Indians and “coloureds” (mixed-race and/or of Asian descent) employment and other economic benefits over other white South Africans. This is an attempt to right past wrongs and create a more equitable allocation of wealth (white South Africans still earn 450% more than black South Africans on average). Americans will be familiar with this as affirmative action and positive discrimination. It is an imperfect way to deal with past discrimination – essentially making the sons pay for the sins of the fathers. And if any reader knows a better approach, kindly speak up.

An estimated 200,000 ethnic Chinese live in South Africa according to the BBC, and the Chinese Association of South Africa took the government to court over the classification of its members. Under apartheid, these people were never considered white, and therefore, were denied access to jobs, schools, housing and entertainment facilities. There was an attempt at “separate but equal,” but truly, there was no “equal.” Had they more economic power, they might have been counted as white; when Japan had its 1980s boom, the racist regime made sure that the Japanese were legally white, but not the Chinese.

The BBC further reported, “An example cited in court papers includes an oil company that disqualified Chinese citizens from getting a slice of its biggest empowerment transaction to date. The company says the group is not catered for in the Black Economic Empowerment codes. Another example includes a Chinese national who was refused an opportunity to buy shares from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange two years ago. None of the three government departments cited as respondents in the court case opposed the application.”

So, now the ethic Chinese of South Africa (the Rainbow Nation) are to be considered legally black and will enjoy similar benefits as the Zulu and Xhosa. It’s quite complicated when governments don’t treat citizens equally to begin with, isn’t it?

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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