Abstract
Affirmative action embodies a model of compensatory justice which aims al counteracting Discrimination on account of race, colour, sex or creed. This article focuses on race because it has had a devastating effect on blacks in South Africa. The author tries to evaluate the moral merits of affirmative action. An analysis of the ideas of black American conservatives and a South African academic of a perhaps more liberal mind, is used as a means of questioning the widely prevalent liberal legacy. By highlighting its pretensions and inconsistencies a picture of the implications of affirmative action for South Africa emerges that is both a threat and a challenge. Equal opportunities d o not necessarily entail equal results. Other factors such as culture, world view and labour ethos should also be taken into account. The "legacy of dignity" (King) is incompatible with the victim-status some blacks exploit. Much was done in South Africa before Julv 1991 that could be labelled affirmative action. The scrapping of the Population Registration A ct as the last pillar of apartheid has tremendous implications for the dignity of blacks. But history promises yet a number of traumatic decades of democratization of the South African community. Positively, affirmative action in South Africa will have tofocus on quality education, bridging courses to enable black students to compete on equal footing for admission, on training employees to qualify for special jobs, community upliftment, housing programmes and the improvement of health services. The most urgent need is the cultivation of a common value system.
Highlights
Equal opportunities d o not necessarily entail equal results
Affirmative action in South A frica will have to fo c u s on quality education, bridging courses to enable black students to compete on equal footing fo r admission, on training employees to qualify for special jobs, community upliftment, housing programmes and the improvement o f health services
O nder hulle tel onder andere die pas benoem de hooggeregshofregter Clarence Thom as, die "apostle of black self-reliance", die kongreslid Gary Franks wat glo dat "welfare w orks against self-sufficiency", Stephen C arter van Y ale Law School wat kritiek lew er op rasvoorkeur by indiensnem ing en prom osie en m een dat die doel van affirm ative action is om te w erk vir ’n situ asie w a ar e lk eenbeoo rd e e l w ord aan die hand van dieselfde standaarde, en dan G lenn Loury, Shelby Steele, Thom as Sowell en W alter W illiams wat in hierdie artikel bespreêk word
Summary
In d ie regshe rs te lle n d e fase w at S u id -A frik a b e tre e het, v e ral s e d e rt J u n ie 1991, is affirm ative action brandend aktueel. V rae w at voortdurend gevra w ord, is die volgende: Is affirmative action gelyk aan bevoorregting op grand van ras sonder verrekening van m eriete of kwalifikasie? N a ’n d e fin iërin g van affirm ative action w ord die id ee s van 'n a a n ta l sw art akadem ici uit A m erika en een uit Suid-A frika ontleed. In die slotgedeelte word riglyne vir die etiese hantering van affirmative action-p rogram m e in Suid-A frika aangestip. O m dat affirm ative action gaan o o r regsherstel, is ’n b eo o rd elin g d aarv an o nm oontlik sonder ’n peiling van die onreg w at op die spel is. O m ’n m ens o o r geslag te h e e n te d e g ra d e e r to t ’n d e rd e k la s -b u rg e r, b e te k e n om horn te stroop van menswaardigheid en hom te beroof van ontwikkelingsgeleenthede
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