It was very interesting to read through this whole thread it portrays very well, what is happening in this country and explains different mentalities, maybe not for certain individuals but on a general level.
AA is wrong as it is undemocratic and does not provide equal opportunity for all populations - period. Not once was the presence of our large coloured, malay and indian community in our country mentioned - these are even more affected by AA as the white population.
It is also not correct for people to assume that black=poor.
I myself and many others I know, have gone and are still going through a lot of sacrifice to achieve a basic CPL - working like a dog in a nine to five job for years to realize the goal of flying professionally - flying 2-3 hours a month because the cost of living did not allow for more. But we do this because this is our passion and we live this dream. I accept this because I have started my aviation carreer relativly late (because it took time to jump into a salary group, where I could afford flying - it took studying a different field and aquiring a university degree...). I think things would have been different if there would have been other possibilities directly after school. The point is I am not moaning about this ! - but I do not understand why a black man should not have to go through the same thing? He will achieve his goal if he is serious and is passionate about what he is doing. The same opportunity of finacial aid programmes should apply for a young white kid, coloured kid or whatever his or her race may be, irrelative of percentages, as the individual is not then not merited for his/her personal abilities.
From another perspective I think AA is also not really fair for those it is meant for, as one might think it subjects them to a subtle but intense pressure to prove that they are really fit for those positions. In fact more than one of those that I have come across in training institutions (who over time have actually proven unfit
and suddenly dissappeared out of the scene and not paying up their outstanding accounts) have presented a dangerous flair of bold arrogance in their personalities to cover insecurities, namely of fear of being judged or making the wrong impression, instead of retaining a natural humble and modest attitude towards instructors and collegues and being human. We are not flying because we have to prove our egos. But SAA has CRM to sort that kind of stuff out...
I have been around the GA scene in Cape Town - here I have personally not come across ANY black pilots - even in small business jets or turbo-props that belong to black businessmen - they have employed white pilots too. The only exeption I know of is Anglo American Corp. Mentioning the idea to forcefully employ black pilots especially for single pilot ops for charter companys creates a nightmare scenario for the latter - to risk their "multimillion transport investment vehicle" and only source of income to someone pushed through by AA is not an option - it will not happen, they would rather close down the business and do something else.
As closing note I firmly believe there is a way for all of us, maybe not as SAA pilots - aviation makes this big planet smaller... the demand for pilots will increase substancially across the globe - if they don't mess up the whole OIL-Issue in the Middle-East - this is a far more threatening and really worries me, because if hell breaks loose in Iran - we will all be affected - you can consider becoming Captain of a solar-sailingship but that is a topic for another thread...
