As the country is in hot pursuit of reaching the transformation ‘Promised Land’, some home truths are being encountered along the long and winding road. One of the main issues is the fixation with counting the number of ‘previously disadvantaged’ that comprise an organisation while overlooking their calibre. Unfortunately, this cuts across all sectors, but it is more prominent in so-called ‘white’ sporting codes and in the education sector, Transformation SA has observed.
In advertently or not, in desperation to break ceilings in various fields, standards are overlooked or compromised to accommodate large numbers. In some instances, the intended beneficiaries are shorn of appropriate tools that could enable them to survive the rigours of the environment in which they have been put in and expect to excel. Sometimes they become akin to mere passengers sailing in a ship clueless of its destination.
On the whole, is the current approach not setting the previously disadvantaged on the path to failure, which will render convenient ammunition to fervent critics of transformation?
Unquestionably, a revision is overdue, and, as part of the process, those with vested interest have to seek answers to some questions.
In rugby, will Mahlatse ‘Chilliboy’ Ralepelle graduate to become part of the Spingboks’ folklore as the captain of the 2007 World Cup winning side, John Smit, did? How does he feel to be part of the squad in which his presence is as good as his absence? Does he get satisfaction from being part of a team merely to meet quotas?
How do matriculants feel on the knowledge that they only need to grasp 30% of the subject to be told that they have passed? In other words, failing 70% of a subject?
Beyond doubt, the country has to go all-out in creating an environment where transformation is driven by excellence and not only the large number of beneficiaries. Only then will it become a prominent player in the world, which has become a cutthroat terrain that favours well-equipped nations.
The “previously disadvantaged” have proven that they are more than capable to hold any position. When it comes to a sport like rugby there seems to be no trust of black Africans players at one stage Chilliboy was overlooked for the captaincy of the Blue Bulls.