BooHoooooo!
A maudlin comment upon the suppurating pustule on the backside of Africa that goes hand in hand with BP and yet has nothing to do with petroleum!

Pilotchute,

I'm glad they are still teaching you boys how to read.

I think (minority position on this thread since not much thought has gone into here before) that this thread adds no value.
Guys, if you apply for a job and don't get it, move on. Do not come here and call racism or reverse racism. The decision makers do not reside on pprune.
Secondly, it does not make it easier for all the rest of us here, we just switch off and wonder why pilots hate so much on other pilots.
Find a HRRUNE or some political forum to air your bias and views on black, white or colored pilots but not here please.
Third and finally, who is the moderator on this African forum. Does he/she exist or is dearly departed on a crash somewhere in DRC?

There's the race card and then there's the job card. That's the one that's often played as a reverse logic excuse for the dealing of the first card.
As for how this thread plays out? It's been relatively straight forward so far, all sixes, sevens, jacks and spades with not a heart nor a queen in sight. How it goes from here depends upon the dealer and the pit boss whom, one sincerely hopes, is not banged up in the Congo, democratic or otherwise.

123,

I don't usually resort to those tactics but your comment didn't contribute anything to the thread at all. A five year old could have come up with better stuff than you. If you don't have anything remotely relevant to say, don't say anything. It makes you look like less of an idiot.

Pil,
My comment did contribute. However, your reply to me is subjective. And by the way a five year old would be unable to post (according to the TOS), so I guess we would need to find other 'stuff' to gauge the level of perceived idiocy.

This five year old has no trouble posting on these sacred pages whatsoever. My perambulator is, however, getting a little large for me. Not being inclined to touch an Airbus with a witch doctor's rattle, I'm thinking of buying myself a private spec B777. It's a super aircraft, easy to fly and there's a company in New Mexico that'll fit and kit bomb bay doors.

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? ;)

There are those who openly support the ANC, and those who don't. That is the differentiating factor.

Nicely encapsulated! Sadly, it is not something that is ever likely to change. The clever, articulate folk look at the disproportionate 'rubbish' and say "I'm not staying here and putting up with this", and leave for somewhere where skills and expertise on merit are appreciated. This leaves the 'rubbish' to preside over a spiralling descent into corruption, misery and poverty. Where in Africa is it any different?

Maybe Botswana?

Many of the intelligent, motivated and hard working black people were/are also quite poor even by local standards. Going somewhere else presents very real cost issues. They simply cannot afford to.