South Africa was able to achieve economic growth targets of 6% for the next 15 years, thus reducing poverty, removing the need for BEE, afirmative action etc and everyone had equal rights to employment and education, would race still be a major factor in South Africa? Or would race relations normalise in your opinion?
2007-03-07 19:46:51 · 8 answers · asked by Raging Bull II 2 in Travel ➔ Africa & Middle East ➔ South Africa
You're describing a fantasy world. The need for AA and BEE will never go away. It's too effective a tool for a racist government to use to keep a nation off balance and at each other's throats.
2007-03-07 23:23:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The trouble with economic growth is that on its own it might only help rich people. South Africa's main post-apartheid economic policy has been GEAR, which was a smart way of saying low-wage, low-tax economy in an effort to increase employment. It helped with economic growth (though not really employment), but made for even sharper class (rather than race) divides. But if the profits are truly shared and used to improve the country's infrastructure for all, we'd be there:) The trick seems to be education - educating our children together so they don't see each other as strange, and making good education accessible to all, so they truly have equal opportunities.
2007-03-08 07:44:17 · answer #2 · answered by Marie Antoinette 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think most of the hatred / racism in South Africa boils down to fear. Being afraid to get killed/ raped/ burgled, scared of not providing for yourself and your family. If the people of SA had a reasonable chance to success/ safety etc. racism would be no worse than any other country, probably less because we are so divert. As it is, everybody needs to blame someone, and with the s*** government as it is, blowing this hatred on, it is no surprise things are the way they are.
That's just my opinion.
2007-03-08 04:13:05 · answer #3 · answered by sins 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think that if all you have mentioned is in place and everyone has a means to an income and are living dry and warm and eating enough so as not to feel hungry and anxious the whole time and their children were all being well cared for and being educated then things would be much, much better.
However, ignorance of other cultural backgrounds always stirs dislike which leads to hatred. so as well as enough money if you want no bigotry in SA we all have to learn about each others cultural backgrounds and each should have space to be!
2007-03-08 06:02:54 · answer #4 · answered by london.oval 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If in theory all those things did happen the only problem would be the current ruling party. Without racism they cannot survive. If their main voter pool does not have an 'enemy' they would stop voting for them. And therefore they have to keep racial tensions alive through AA and BEE on the one side and having their cronnies blame everything on white people on the other side.
2007-03-08 05:52:47 · answer #5 · answered by Rabble Rouser 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
home is where it starts...
If people were able to forgive and forget...and stop passing unto new generations what they went through, we'd be okay. My colleague is pretty old, was under the apartheid regime and seems to always tell me how to answer these questions (hatefully)... And i realise, had i been born his grandaughter...? What kind of influences would he have set me under? I know he went through things meant to make one shudder...but they fought for something that they should be allowing us to enjoy. Race will sadly be an issue... no matter what. As long as you have people like Pi calling black South African women monkeys...whats stopping him from passing that mentality to his kids? As long as a colleague like mine can say, "they did this to me, dont fall under their pretence they will never accept us"... you know what, we can turn into a success over the years economically, infrastructure etc etc... race has and will always find a way to seep through the slithers available for it to. What you talk of Raging Bull is a South African Utopia and only a few of us believe in it... (though i so, so, so wish)
2007-03-08 04:24:17 · answer #6 · answered by Reb Da Rebel 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
i think that maybe, just maybe, if we stop worrying about race, and start worrying about our country, yes.
government will always get the peoples backs up, white or black, so i think that if we leave the politicians to politics, and start working on the country ourselves, that their might be some change.
this is weird, im sounding like a bleeding mouth liberal here. perhaps i'm coming down with something.....
2007-03-08 03:54:00 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
If we can get rid of the racial anc with their discriminatory policies and uncompromising attitude, then we don't have to wait 20 years.
2007-03-08 12:03:07 · answer #8 · answered by Vango 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋