BOKAMOSO
Let’s unpack unequal opportunity in South Africa
So much of the trouble in South Africa today is that we seem unable to hear each other. Like a disintegrating relationship between two people who used to love each other, our first instinct is to blame, attack, and find fault, rather than listen, empathise and attempt to understand. The difference is that unlike a relationship, we can’t simply “end it”. Our country belongs to all who live in it, and our society works best when we work together. So we had better start finding a way to have a rational, empathic conversation about those things that stand in the way of our common success.
For one, “freedom” and “basic rights” in South Africa do not mean the same thing to everyone, because for most South Africans these are just theoretical concepts, not lived realities. This is the core reason I entered politics, and it remains my core motivation. Unless we can extend meaningful opportunity to all South Africans, we will continue to struggle to be a cohesive, prosperous country. So long as people have literally nothing to lose, they will continue to feel aggrieved and feel that it is ‘okay’ to step over and on others to get ahead.
So when having this conversation, we must avoid the temptation to take immediate offence, and make a special effort to understand, and indeed to be understood.
There are two main categories of unequal opportunity that most white South Africans still enjoy, that most black South Africans do not. Firstly, “never having to contend with assumptions about your integrity, intelligence, competence, achievements, ability to pay…” that are made “simply because you are black”, as Berenice Paulse eloquently describes in this excellent article.