The post '94 landscape was not going to flower up a rose filled garden of peace and beauty; change takes time and the various professional and governmental entities have sometimes found it, legitimately, challenging to reflect that change in the make-up of its workforce.
You simply cannot sack the incumbant white post-holders and replace them with a black individual. The legalities are highly questionable. Merit must be the overarching criteria and in this fundamental aspect, if no other, South Africa has often got it hopeless wrong and is now suffering the consequences.
However, having said that there are beacons of hope. I spend several years in SA teaching aspiring black student pilots, many of whom are with SAA. Exams are colour blind though other aspects of pilot assessment may not be.
But, in a country with so many intelligent, motivated and hard working young black people it sometimes perplexes me that a disproportionate amount of the rubbish seems to float to the very upper echelons. In many cases, white professionals have every reason to ask, 'is that the best you have?, of the black population. SA is competing with the world arena and the world really doesn't give a fig what colour you are.
For the whinging whites, get over yourself. I returned to my native Europe back in 2006. I loved my time in SA and tried my best to secure longer term employment there. But it was not to be.
It may take years for the situation in SA to find the true equilibrium it so desparately needs to function with any measure of normality. Perhaps it may never come.
If you're black and reading this, get over yourself too. Get out there, get on and get up. But do it properly and don't play the race card whilst you're doing it. International sport has a habit of weeding out only the best. Are you the best?
