We are still divided in our diversity – A Response to the DA’s Lindiwe Mazibuko leaving to study

Published in City Press, 18 May 2014, Voices section, Page 1

As South Africans, we say we value diversity, but in reality, we do not. We are vicious towards individuals who don’t fulfill the stereotypes we hold. Lindiwe Mazibuko has certainly received the most malicious butts of our bigotry. Calling her a ‘tea lady’ certainly exposes our own self-hate and lack of respect for the millions of women who have this role to support their families. It was certainly a shock to me when she came onto the political scene as a member of the DA six years ago. Most times, when an African person has been educated in ‘white’ schools, you are assumed to have been indoctrinated and assimilated, which frankly is insulting. As minorities in these institutions, we don’t come out untouched by the culture we are immersed in, but we are not immune to prejudice and unfair discriminatory realities of black people as we experience the same in these schools which are microcosms of society. This is why Mazibuko’s choice bewildered me as I grappled to reconcile how any African person could support a party that is unintelligible on Employment Equity (EE). But again, many of us in the private sector join companies who may not share all our values or practice what they preach, and we idealistically believe we will change things from the inside. You soon discover that though you have the title, you do not have the authority and you fail to change the course of the titanic.

Having attended a white private school during apartheid and studied to Masters’ level, it is not lost on me that the opportunities I get largely emanate because of a South Africa wherein EE is the law of the land. The irony is that even with this educational background, I usually get opportunities only when an African female is specifically required. That I have merit is usually a wonderful surprise. EE may be bastardised and sabotaged in its implementation, but more doors are now open to many of us than would have been without it. The mantra of ‘merit’ harped on by the DA is a gatekeeping tactic that may seem innocent, but is loaded. In a society that was constructed on inequalities that were grounded in race, merit will ensure that black people never catch up including the born-frees because disadvantage-ness is not merely an economic metric as DA is at pains to advance.  Merit means superior quality or worth and excellence. How do people acquire those qualities without gaining exposure and a track record? Everyone reading this article has either experienced or knows someone who has qualifications and the pre-requisite experience, but never seems to break through that elusive glass ceiling. Many people end up being career ‘job-hoppers’. Sadly, the grass is not always greener on the other side.

I have begrudged Ms Mazibuko, unbeknown to her, because she was not vocal about the legitimacy of rewarding ‘potential’ and not just over-emphasising ‘merit’ in debates on EE. The nuances seem inconsequential, but are very significant. Even her party did not appoint women and black people – Coloured and African – to the Western Cape Legislature because they did not qualify on merit. The reports on Mazibuko’s decision to study abroad instead of returning to parliament intimated that differences between herself and Zille came to a head during the EE Amendment Bill debates. If that is true, it could be a symptom that diversity hasn’t taken root within the DA and that Mazibuko has not been assimilated. At 34 years, she is young and joining the DA was her first job. We all can benefit from occasionally leaving our shores, learning from other countries and teaching other nations about our country as well. Exposure can only enrich her thinking and be positive to her contributions to our democracy on her return.