Government, unions and black business associations frequently complain about the lack of transformation in the private sector. White males are regularly made out to be the bogeymen holding black managers back.
Labour minister Mildred Oliphant threatened severe penalties for business' noncompliance with employment equity plans. Analyst and columnist Andile Khumalo, again joining in the white male bashing, writes in the public sector, 73% of senior managers are African, compared with 11% in the white-controlled private sector.
The public sector, including state owned enterprises, are characterised by ANC cadre deployment. And a significant majority of national and local departments and enterprises is incompetently and corruptly managed and failing to deliver.
Labour minister Mildred Oliphant threatened severe penalties for business' noncompliance with employment equity plans. Analyst and columnist Andile Khumalo, again joining in the white male bashing, writes in the public sector, 73% of senior managers are African, compared with 11% in the white-controlled private sector.
The public sector, including state owned enterprises, are characterised by ANC cadre deployment. And a significant majority of national and local departments and enterprises is incompetently and corruptly managed and failing to deliver.
By comparison, most white-run companies have near
international level management expertise. Explain that. Face it, without the private sector, South Africa would be like any failed African state. However, I'm not defending the way business is done in South Africa - that's another argument.
The
fact government, Khumalo et al fail to realise and accept is that expertise and
excellence cannot be achieved overnight and without investing in talent
and skills development. The same applies to sport. Read Fikile Mabula: Hypocrite who hides government's failings.
We
know the failure of so many municipalities in particular and government departments in general was due to too rapid
racial right-sizing and politicisation of appointments and dismissal of
highly experienced whites and their replacement with unqualified party
praise-singers.
The Institute of Race Relations reported less than 20% of black executives in the public sector - the
73% cohort - has university degrees.
Are we beginning to see the
connection now between lack of qualifications and failing departments?
It
takes at least 10 years post-university training - a degree is imperative because it teaches critical skills - to become qualified as
an executive. In other words, 15 years ago prospective executives
entered university and began their long journey to where they are now -
running national and global concerns listed on the JSE and international
bourses.
In this time how many blacks - with poor basic education government has consistently messed up and lack of higher education opportunities - have qualified to become top managers in the private sector - according to IRR's Anthea Jeffrey only 5%? The relatively few there are have already been snapped up at exorbitant salaries to meet companies' quotas.
It's easy to impose penalties on the alleged lack of compliance with racial quotas when government itself is failing in its core mandate of grassroots development. They irritate because they obsess about racial numbers and in so doing fail to offer solutions to the real problem, which is a quality education and opportunities.
Updated with link to RDM and Biz News.
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