The cadet pilot programme has very little to do with, ultimately getting the nod to join the company. I can tell you from first hand experience, that it doesn't matter what colour you are, if you do not meet the recruitment requirements (interview, sim check, psychometric) when the time comes. You do not get in. There are a number of "black" and "white" pilots who did not make it through the selection process.
This shouldn't matter, however, and by the way, the cadet-pilot manager is a retired "white" former SAA captain. So, it is unfair to lambast an entire company for the actions of a single project team.
Nevertheless, I do have a serious problem with such blatant racism, which violates the very principles of employment equity. I still struggle to understand how recruiters/human resource clerks expect applicants to determine their "race", when they design application forms. To me, you would need to be a trained anthropologist to only begin deciphering where and how one would differentiate based on the complexities of genetic make-up. I hope the person/persons responsible for making such an uninformed decision on the e-application get educated, and summarily dismissed.
Last edited by i-Robot; 18th Aug 2012 at 14:12.