Graphic: John McCann
Ms Pillay seems like a very presentable lady. Does she know that the ancestors of most in the Indian community came to South Africa as labourers on the sugar plantations? Does she realise that they were the poorest of the poor?
Looking at their current successful lives, how many would she say are still living in terrible conditions on sugar plantations? How did they evolve? By holding out begging bowls? No! They diligently saved a little from their meagre earnings. They learned to read and write in – for them – a foreign language. They planned ahead.
Did they come by their successes easily? Of course not. They worked their backsides off. They saved, provided for their own future and that of their children. In short, they used everything in their arsenal to get ahead, just like many whites.
Some of their children inherited successful businesses, which put them ahead in the game. Some benefited from life insurance. Most of all, they profited from their own work ethic, which had little tolerance for slackers.
What an absolutely silly, stereotyping article. Does Ms Pillay really believe that the children of white labourers, toiling away at low-paying jobs, were privileged? My dad was an operator at Iscor. Only one of us five children finished high school. Each one of us today are success stories. Nobody ever helped us. We did it all ourselves, with the grace of God.