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Racism illustrates warped power dynamics
by Patrick Craven

 
South Africa has once again received international media attention for all the wrong reasons. In the current spate, incidents of racism have been highlighted, reminding us of the grim past from which we all hoped we had escaped, but which clearly continues to haunt us.

The worst example has been the racist video made by students of the University of the Free State. While the video displaying the abuse and exploitation of elderly women workers was appalling enough, even worse, was the justification given for making the video, i.e. to argue the case for racially segregated halls of residence.

Why would any South African sport the desire to live in a racial ghetto, fourteen years after the defeat of apartheid? This issue should have been resolved years ago, but since this is not the case, the legacy of racism still lurks just beneath the surface of our 'rainbow republic'.

Almost every day, reports come in from COSATU affiliates and provinces of employers who abuse their workers in a blatantly racist fashion. Even as I sat down to write this article, I received a report from the municipal workers' union, SAMWU, that "all 150 workers at the Lenasia Depot of City Power have downed tools and are holding a very big picket against the Electrical Team Leader, who regularly uses racist abuse against the workers.
Apart from abusing workers with racist language, he treats the workers like children and continually shouts things like "f*** you" at the workers in front of customers''.

Two days earlier the same union reported that in Tzaneen, in the Mpumulanga Province, members (black workers) are frequently told that they "stink", and are constantly insulted by white workers According to SAMWU's Local Chairperson Andries Sebeela, "recently in the transport division, SAMWU members were harassed by their white head of department who used abusive language against them, and apart from humiliating them, also threatened them with dismissal, if they complained. Black workers are continually being told that they are corrupt. The municipality should stop talking about eradicating these elements, but should take action against the perpetrators of these heinous acts."

So racism is not just an isolated occurrence, perpetrated by a few disgruntled relics from the apartheid era. It is still very much alive in our workplaces and communities. But why has it not disappeared as most South Africans hoped it would, after 1994?

The explanation lies not only in the attitudes and prejudices through which racism expresses itself, but in the  socio-economic balance of power, which has changed little since 1994 and still mirrors the racial divide which existed in the past and persists today.

Apartheid was always the product of the prevailing economic system of capitalism and imperialism: colonialism of a special type as the ANC categorised it. The racial segregation of society was enforced to facilitate the bosses' greed for profits through the super-exploitation of the workers in their mines, farms and factories. The white South African capitalists refined all the tools of exploitation into an organised and legitimised
system: apartheid.

Today that is supposed to be a thing of the past. However, revoking apartheid laws has not necessarily changed power relations for the better. Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and affirmative action, vital though they are, have made only a marginal difference to the distribution of wealth and power on the basis of both race and gender.

A 2005 survey of the top 200 South African companies showed only five had black ownership of 50% or more, and that all the black-owned companies put together only own 1.2% of the total market capitalisation of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. This meant that 98.8% of the JSE's ownership is still in white hands. Despite the Employment Equity Act, the number of white men at the level of senior managers and company directors
has actually increased.

Inequalities in South Africa are widening.

Unemployment still hovers just under 40%, far higher than in any comparable country and around 20 million people are still mired in poverty. Workers' wages have stagnated at extremely low levels. For many, income has fallen in real terms, with the rapidly rising prices of food, transportation and other basic essentials. Most workers have to contend with poor quality jobs, below-the-breadline wages and the constant threat of unemployment.

Meanwhile, according to the 4th Annual Mabili report on Directors and CEO Salaries for 2007, Steve Booysen of ABSA received an all-inclusive package of R17.5m, while Sean Summers of Pick n Pay got R10.19m per annum. In contrast to these repulsively high salaries, the minimum wage in ABSA remains at R4167 per month. At Pick n Pay it is a mere R2500. Booysen's package is 350 times more than what an ordinary worker would earn in one year, and Summer's is 790 times that of the minimum earned by a worker employed in a Pick n Pay store.

Our country is getting richer but more unequal, with many of the working poor, unemployed and poverty stricken communities not reaping any benefit of economic growth. Transformation of the economy has stalled in that the gap between haves and have-nots continues to widen.

This is the setting for the continuation of racism and sexism.

While we are theoretically equal, in reality, equality depends where one might be placed in the hierarchy. At the top can be found the minority of super-rich and powerful white males, and at the bottom of the pile, thousands of poor blacks. The arrogant feeling of superiority among the former, contrasts with the legitimate sense of anger among the latter.

If we are to finally eradicate racism from our society, the starting point must surely be to drastically alter the economic system which has revealed itself to be unequal and racially skewed by perpetuating the very power relations which spawned apartheid and racism in the first place.

Patrick Craven is the national spokesperson for the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

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