AfriForum, the civil rights initiative established by Solidarity, submitted an application to purchase shares in the Asonge black empowerment scheme on behalf of the Wolmer Residents' Association (WRA) - a community organisation whose members include needy "whites", that is to say "Africans with a pale skin colour".
According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, one of the reasons for this step is that his organisation wants to determine whether the Asonge shares scheme is really directed at the eradication of poverty and inequalities in the country, or whether the eradication of inequalities is a mere ruse used to justify racial discrimination.
If the application for shares by the impoverished "whites" are rejected, it will, according to Kriel, amount to unfair racial discrimination, which could be tested in court. Kriel alleges that poverty-stricken "whites" are an integral part of the people who find themselves in an unequal position in the country and that they therefore should not be excluded from empowerment schemes.
Asonge is a scheme in terms of which MTN shares are sold at a discount of 20% by the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) to "black" people only, with the additional advantage that after two years, "black" investors will get another free share for every ten shares they own. In terms of Asonge's rules, "black people" refers to Africans, Indians and coloureds.
As there is no legislation for racial classification and for objectives for classification, Kriel states that there is no legal framework according to which the NEF can allege that the members of the WRA are not Africans.
Kriel indicated that the members of the WRA with a pale skin colour consider themselves to be Africans, as they feel themselves to be profoundly attached to the continent. In the light of the fact that racial classification legislation had already been scrapped 15 years ago, the members of the WRA refer to President Thabo Mbeki's definition of an African in his "I am an African" speech. On 8 May 1996, President Mbeki namely said in this speech held at the adoption ceremony of the country's constitution in Parliament:
"The constitution whose adoption we celebrate constitutes an unequivocal statement that we refuse to accept that our Africanness shall be defined by our race, colour, gender or historical origins."
Kriel emphasised that AfriForum is in favour of the eradication of inequalities and poverty, but that the Asonge offer contributes very little in this regard as it will rather advance inequalities in the community. He states that the NEF's racial requirements will result in a black millionaire being able to purchase Asonge shares, while poor, unemployed "white" residents of Wolmer and other areas will be excluded and the majority of indigent "blacks" still will not have the means to buy these shares.
According to Kriel, the new "black" elite therefore are the only group which will benefit from Asonge's racial requirements, and they will benefit at the cost of the poor from all communities.
AfriForum proposes that income level, rather than race, would be a much better criterion for the eradication of inequalities and poverty. If the Asonge shares option were to be offered to all who, for example, earn less than R1 500 per month, it would in Kriel's opinion help to eliminate inequalities. The most people who would then benefit from the scheme, would probably still be "black", but they would benefit because of their level of need, and not as a result of their skin colour, while poor "whites" would not be excluded.
