The way affirmative action is being implemented in South Africa is to be discussed between President Thabo Mbeki and the main opposition party in Parliament, the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Anchen Dreyer, who speaks for the DA on labour issues, said on Monday that when the president answered a parliamentary question last month, he agreed to meet them for such discussions.
The agreement to meet has been firmed up by Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies, who is also the president’s parliamentary counsellor, although an actual date has not yet been set.
Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin caused a stir last week when he told a meeting of the South African Business Club in London that affirmative action is effectively dead. He explained that it was not dead as far as policy is concerned, but “as a requirement during job interviews”.
Dreyer also drew attention to the fact that other Cabinet ministers have said almost exactly the opposite of what Erwin said, with Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana insisting that affirmative action will be with us for ever.
“It is unquestionable that the crude implementation of affirmative action under the African National Congress [ANC] government has limited opportunity for many, while aggressively determining successful outcomes for only a few by virtue of their race-group status,” Dreyer said.
“The fact that it does not target beneficiaries in terms of their socio-economic need has made the policy entirely ineffectual.”
Saying that the DA agrees with the need for the right kind of affirmative action, she said: “The ANC’s race and quota obsession is evil and must be abolished.” — I-Net Bridge