Rabelani Dagada writes: The role of the Afrikaners to empower African blacks has not been sufficiently acknowledged. The narrative that has been propagated extensively is that Afrikaners naturally dislike black people and that they are against transformation. Genuine criticism about poor standards of education, high level of crime, deteriorating infrastructure, rigid labour laws, and poor service delivery by Afrikaners is perceived as their yearning for apartheid to come back. This is disingenuous because we are all concerned about these matters. Are Afrikaners not supposed to enjoy freedom of speech and other rights enshrined in our progressive constitution? Even the role of President of FW de Klerk is downplayed when the freedom of this country is articulated. The notion that South Africa was solely liberated by the ANC is not true. South Africa was liberated by all her people and these include Afrikaners in particular. Had Afrikaners chosen to stick to their guns, we would possibly still be in the trenches fighting an endless civil war and there would be no winner. But instead, our white population chose to give De Klerk a mandate to negotiate the democratisation of South Africa through the whites-only referendum in 1992. There has been sufficient recognition by most Afrikaners that apartheid was not in the best interests of all the South Africans. Afrikaners have in many ways played their roles to reverse the legacy of apartheid. Interestingly, even prior to 1994, there were several instances where Afrikaners genuinely empowered black Africans. Many years ago, the Bafokeng (of Rustenburg) leader, King Augustine Mokgatle was assisted by the then Transvaal President, Paul Kruger and his Voortrekkers (Afrikaners; also known as Boers) to drive the invaders, King Mzilikazi and his Amandebele away. King Mokgatle and President Kruger were personal friends and very close. This relationship began when they were youngsters staying on neighbouring farms. Their friendship was quite exceptional. Mokgatle negotiated with Kruger, affectionately called Oom Paul, to sell him back parts of the Bafokeng land which had been conquered by the Voortrekkers. Mokgatle sent the Bafokeng men to work in diamond mines in Kimberly and he charged them some tax. This tax would be used to buy the land from Oom Paul. It is interesting to note that, back then, Bafokeng men were prepared to make sacrifices to advance the interests of the community as a whole. Mokgatle employed the services of the Christian missionaries who negotiated and handled transactions to buy back the land. It is said Mokgatle and Kruger would sometimes sit and drink mampoer (distilled spirits) together as friends. What Mokgatle, his people, Christian missionaries and Afrikaners did not know was that the land they were buying had the largest deposits of platinum group metals. These minerals were only found in the 1920s. The land transaction between Mokgatle and Kruger resulted in Bafokeng being one of the richest traditional tribes in SA. They are the biggest shareholders in Implats and Royal Bafokeng Platinum. Bafokeng are also the second biggest shareholder of the First Rand, and their total portfolio is worth around R40b. The dividends generated from these commercial assets are used to provide social and infrastructural services to the community. Prior to 1994, when Herman Mashaba wanted to start his first entrepreneurial venture, he knocked at the doors of Afrikaner entrepreneurs and they helped him. Today he is a successful businessman who creates thousands of jobs and invests in several companies. After the ushering of the democratic dispensation, Patrice Motsepe teamed up with Afrikaners to build his mining and financial services empires. Motsepe proudly stated that he chose to work with Afrikaners due to their impressive empowerment track record (Financial Mail, 21 March 2014). After passing matric, I was admitted to pursue my studies at the then Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit. Afrikaners gave me bursaries and exposed me to the use of computers for the first time. I graduated with three degrees and a diploma. Due to the quality education I received there, I am well empowered and I have seven people who work for me. I have also established an education trust to provide bursaries to needy students. I have always argued that for the South African economy to grow and create jobs, we need to create new wealth instead of embarking on redistribution. There is no group of people that has created new wealth and empowered black Africans more than Afrikaner entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs include Johan Rupert, Jannie Mouton, Koos Bekker, Markus Jooste, GT Ferreira, Laurie Dippenaar, Christo Wessie, Michael Le Roux (Finweek, 3 October 2013). Moreover, Afrikaner entrepreneurs have empowered black Africans through training and enterprise development opportunities. History will record them as the unsung BEE heroes. It is true that there are some lunatics amongst the Afrikaners and all other tribes in South Africa, but they are in the minority. South Africa needs a public policy that will empower the previously disadvantaged without disempowering those that are already empowered. It is in the best interests of all our people to allow white business people and professionals to thrive. The biggest losers of the blatant application of the affirmative action and BEE polices are actually black people. This is very sad.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 09:34:11 +0000
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