THE BLACK MANAGEMENT FORUM SUBMISSION ON WORKPLACE
DISCRIMINATION
CASE 1
Hi,
Racism is
still very rife in the work place. I have personally experience racism
from my first job in 1999. I have been sidelined in terms of
promotions, increases and bonuses, although i
was more competent, the only one educated and hard working than
my white counterparts.
I would
have preferred to stay with the company longer, but had to move as i was not allowed to prosper. I have also left
my second job for the same reasons and will be continously
be doing the same.
In my
previous job i was given a "dead" portfolio
which was in no way going to turn around. My white colleagues were given
the big corporates which are JSE listed and did huge
volumes of imports and/or exports. Despite my efforts i
was not allowed the opportunity to prove that i can
also look after the same clients and grow their business.
As it is, i'm the only black woman in Global Trade Sales. I
have two degrees, one diploma and studying towards another one currently.
I know my job very well and have passion thereof. My cv speaks for itself but i
have to work ten times as hard to get some kind of recognition.
My
suggestion is that all black affluent, educated, hard working, middle class
march to the union building, particularly private sector, to hand over our
grieviances to the government, and also to show the
elite minority that they cannot function without us. Perhaps that will
show them that we do add value in their organisations.
CASE 2
Good morning,
I would like to share my experience as regard to
racism in the workplace. I was employed in February 2004 as an HR
Generalist for XXX in
I have a telephonic interview in December 2003 by my
predecessor who was an HR Manager by then, but because the company was
restructuring she was retrenched. The company's head office was in
In December I did got an
offer, and I accepted the offer, and have to serve notice with my previous
employer. I started in February 2004, I worked
on my own in the HR Dept. without an assistant. My functions covered all
HR functions, and I would say 60% of my job was administration, because of the
nature of the business we did not have much to do with IR issues. Our
staff was dominated by white people who were IT Specialist e.g. Business
Analyst, Software Developers etc. My last HR report I have prepared shows
that 70% of staff white, 26% coloureds, 3% africans and 1% indians.
I was reporting to the Managing Director of the company who
was very happy with my performance, and the staff was happy with the
services I have provided to the company. If you are interested
I can forward you emails that I received when I left the company.
The problem started when we employ the Financial Manager of the company who was
a Chinese male. He was working for Altech
before but on another division in
He used to complain about my work, he will complain about
the government, government policies, politicians, and his complains will be
endless and sometimes they will be directed to myself as a black female who
heads the HR dept. I was not reporting to him, but he will ensure that he
wants to know my tasks that I perform, he will dictate
me on how to do my job.
In 2006 I lodged a grievance to the MD, we have a grievance
enquiry, he said he was not aware that what he was doing is not right, he apologised, he said this will
never happen again. He suggested that I can approach him if I feel that I
have complain with him we can talk about it. It
was so sad because he never stopped, he will shout at me at the passage, and
the staff will hear him shouting at me. I tried several times to approach
him and told him how I feel, and he will say no this is his nature.
I couldn't lodged my grievance to a higher level, because my
MD was on the same boat as myself, he will communicate with him, as if he even
don't know his job. I resigned last year in October and relocated to
I would like to thank BMF for this opportunity, whereby
I can be able to opened up and express how I was
treated.
Thank you.
CASE 3
Hi MK
I think racism still prevails at the work
place. How ? When affirmative post are advertised in
my Company they are advertised as follows:
(The appointment will be
made from the designated group in line with the Employment Equity Plan of XXX
and the specific business unit.)
I applied for the position of Manager Regional Sales
Administration, people that were interviewed were 3 gentlemen including myself i was told that i was the best
candidate for the job by my White Senior. To my surprise when the results were
announced a White woman who was initially not
mentioned in the people that applied for the Job was given the position. My
White senior phoned to inform me that I was the best but they had to
consider the White Woman as she was better than me.
I feel that our BMF President is right
when he suggested that a sunset clause need to be considered when white Women
applied for this designated position.
Regards
CASE 4
Hello MK
It has been my brief experience last year (2006)
with an employer in the Office automation industry (xxx )
and an employer previously in the early 90’s (xxx) in the retail industry that
People of colour are paid paid
slightly more than people who are black and white people with less
qualifications and experience, of similar age or otherwise, are paid
significantly more than people of colour or black
people in general.
This practice is not justifiable.
Coloured and black people are
also in this instance victimized by the comraderie of
white individuals. It has been my experience that affirmative action promotions
had to be done internally and if a suitable person was not found that an
external process would be followed. However, it has been my experience that in
this instance the successful AA appointee has in all cases always been a white
female, fresh out of college or University and the qualification weighed more
than the experience and dedication of the black or coloured
individual who due to their disadvantaged background cannot afford to either
pay for or take the time out to study as this would certainly mean a decline in
livelihood for the family dependent on their salary.
In the second instance the external suitable
candidate would most certainly be a white male, who has many years of
experience.
I am of the opinion that a white individuals
lifestyle though significantly higher than the average coloured
or black individuals lifestyle is not enough cause for them to be paid at a
higher rate at the detriment of and the continued oppression of a black or coloured person. This practice is straight out of the
Apartheid text book.
With my employer (XXX) during the period 1997 –
2002, despite a clear lack of staff in a new department, was made aware on a
regular basis that my positioning was strategic due to the colour
of my skin within the context of a lily white organization of priviledged few and that I came a dime a dozen and should
appreciate the job I have as it is not a right but a priviledge.
I had a number of white males appointed above me, despite their inability to do
the work.
After much victimization and reference to
personal issues on the first occasion in 1999, I resigned to only later find
out that the Manager had an affair with His secretary and promised her my job
in return for sexual favours. The manager was later
fired due to my input and replaced by the same white female he had the affair
with. The second time in 2002 after I was asked to come back to the company and
relocate to Johannesburg with a new born baby and wife at the time in 2000, The
Company opted to settle after I actioned my rights
with the CCMA, but not before I was asked to leave the premises and severely
threatened with unpaid wages and how this would effect my family.
In contrast a white male colleague
who moved to
My experiences were not easy, but at the same
time completely unnecessary. If not for all this I would have been much farther
in life and a lot more secure than I am at this time. I am absolutely certain
that apart from these same atrocities playing out in the lives of people close
to me, there are many more that I do not know that are going through exactly
the same experience and for fear of not being able to support their families
they accept the victimization.
I also guarantee that these employers would never
acknowledge that any of this ever happened.
There is something about some white people that
we may never understand,
- they
still see black people as a threat and therefore do unto us before we do
unto them
- They
always make you feel unwelcome at their gatherings
- They
always think that they are superior to black people
- They
always make our white friends feel as if they are betraying the white race
Yet we share our space, our resources, our lives with them without once considering them the enemy
among us.
Perhaps as black people we had our lives invaded,
because we are too accommodating.
Kind Regards
CASE 5
Dear BMF
Leadership
re:
Kindly
be advsed that I, XXX XXX
(KZN-BMF member) duly submit
the above as his personal life experience for BMF Parliamentary Submission
on Racism in the Workplace.
Further,
take note that the said submissions were set down for the
High Court 'Special Review'.
NB!
The matter
is to be adjudicated before a Full Bench on a "Special Review"
after the Presiding Officer at the court a qou had
found that the matter
carried ernomous constitutional
implications and challenges.
I hereby
canvass your legal opinion regarding having "this real life
experiences" submitted, though, I'm persoally
of the view that it merits a
mass consumption throughout
Further,
be advised that the matter was already in the public domain as it
was reported extensively by The Natal Mercury, Daily News and The Natal
Witness.
COPY OF
THE HIGH COURT REPRESENTATIONS AND CLOSING ARGUMENTS ALREADY HEARD
BEFORE
THE
FOUND
FROM YOUR IT & Marketing Kelebogile.
Sincerely
CASE 6
racism is a real issue in our working environment.
And it
is so subtle - an ugly thing that time and again rears its ugly head even in
the Parastatal environment, where I am.
From a
lily white XXX about a decade ago, we seem to be gradually going back to the
same old XXX that was.
Why, due
to the fact that, the company is going through transition, and in this
transition, I think carelessness from the side of those are
politically deployed to be agents of change at a strategic level sips in.
How,
without mentioning names, some of these key black figures 'deliberately' leave
the transformation agenda to the vices of the 'trusted' white managers - who by
inclination would tend to bend more towards their own either by intention or
implication. You'll then find that new positions are being filled by other
white people and other appointments are made without their positions being
advertised. A case in point, here at work, a lot of black people, - high
technical people - have left the company due to being not given enough
authority to do their jobs. In that space, you'll find some white consultants
being asked to consult for some work that was left by a black person and all of
a sudden, that same white person gets appointed to do the same job - without
his/her position following due processes for advertisement.
The so
called black - agents sits very comfy at the top, without raising a voice on
these and other issues. When you the little guy in the so called middle
management think of raising them, you simply get afraid of being victimized,
first by your own and secondly by whites in power. So what you do, you keep
quite.
When its
comes to procurement issues, it's even very suspicious, as you'd find that one
and the same companies seem to get jobs. Even though these companies are BEE
compliant - mostly with 26% BEE - But you'll find jobs that should have been
exposed to the overall public, especially small telecoms BEE Companies seeking
first entry to the space, can not get an opportunity.
Instead they make these close tenders though the specification qualifies it to
be an open tender.
I have a
classic example of what recently happened, i.e. last year 2006. A colleague of
mine during the work related heated debate was called KAFFIR (Name withheld) I
was boiling as I sought to advice that he takes up the matter legally almost
immediately if need be. He was calmed down and the white guy
who had called him by a 'K' word, was summoned by his own to immediately apologise_but this with a sole intention of not getting him
to trouble, rather than true apology.
Besides
socialization cultures that are different - between blacks and whites - you'd
find they still hang around together and discuss subjects that are theirs with
a strong undertone of racism, as soon as you join in - they disperse. And you
can see them in their faces, that they hate that you are a manager may be like
them. And its not even an issue of low self esteem and humbleness like one
white guy wrote on the Sunday Times of 26 Aug 07 (In response to bro Jimmys - BMF President - article of the 19 Aug 07
"racism in the work place)
The sad
part is, a lot of white people know very well the
tactic to use, that of divide and rule.
they
simply employ more Indians instead of Africans (Or Blacks as I don't know which
is a politically correct term) who themselves (Indians) get into a trap of
ensuring they employ their own without necessarily being considerate of
demographic issues in the country. This just make matters worse - as the
architects of trouble looks down with such pity on all of us. It further flares
up the flame among us blacks.
May be
we need an open dialogue for at least a season on this - without actually being
told we are nay sayers, people to be pitied and all
sorts of names. Its clear in my mind that we still need to wage this subtle war
on racism but I believe we can and we owe it to ourselves to be positive about
our country, embrace one another with no fear of racism, and all that (in the
work place).
But as a
proud BMF Member, I am making a difference in a small way - where I am, with
the little authority I have, without necessary being racist (though I'd admit,
time and again, when one has to deal with these issues, one tends to be forced
into a corner of becoming like a racism himself)
I thank
you!!!
CASE 7
Thanks for giving me this
opportunity, to express my real life racial inclination experiences at XXX
where
i am currently working.
First and foremost it
is really heart Breaking to witness 15 black Professionals
leaving one division within a year
Exactly 11 years after the
dawning of democracy in
within one year i have witnessed the promotion of only white people some
who are so ill qualified compared to their fellow
African counterparts, when i
questioned HR as a member of the Employment equity forum I was told that the next round of
promotions would definately include Black people but to no avail.
When it is time for bonuses
95% of all the Black people get peanuts and some do not even get anything
at all while the white folk are even able to buyBrand
new 4x4 cars for cash and take their family on holidays.
It is so sickening that most
Black professionals in this division do not see afuture
and are forced to resign from their positions and look elsewhere.
When a black person is employed ,
whether he is experience or not he /she is put on a
training programme that is prolonged for no
sensible reason.
In my case i was Educated
and trained in the united kingdom of great britain
and had just completed an assignment with one institution and so i approached my employment agent to place me appropriately
, the interviews where good and i commenced my
Job.
My immediate reporting line manager was this
arrogant chap who decided that i should
be on training for at least six months because thats
the way it works.He was so pompas
because he had spent 18months in london with a
firm of accountants and always referred to that , so one day i was so fed up with his silly behavour
and told him that i
had been studying in the
his nosensical
trainig was preposterous and unacceptable and went
straight to see the MD of corporate bank to clarify my position and was
immediately moved because i gave him no option but to
resign and go public in the press with the story.
Not so many are that brave as
the fear to be marginalised and victimised.
I worked For XXX as
well before the aquisition by barclays
and the Racialism was very rampant.
Let me end hear as i could go on and on
Regards
CASE 8
Good
afternoon,
I
wish to remain anonymous. Part of my retrenchment, was that I had to sign
that I would not take this matter further.
I
am a coloured female having worked in Corporate for the last 19 years. I
have recently been retrenched.
I
always considered myself to be one of the lucky ones, having reached Executive
Management or so I have always been told when questioning why I was not the
same Grade Level or salary as my peers. I worked my way from clerical
level to Executive. I completed an MBA full time, taking a very tough
salary sacrifice for the year of studies. So here I am, educated,
experienced, a female, a person of colour, yet when the Executive team was
restructured I was not offered a position – I apparently did not have the right
skills set and no development programme was offered to equip me. All I
was offered was a demotion with the opportunity of working my way back up
again.
Regards,
CASE 9
Hi Ray
Let me put it this way, your facts are wrong. I
also enquired with some of my colleagues for example Piet
Retief Area. The Area Manager approves everything not
as you indicated. If you don’t believe me, check with the Area Manager for
factual facts on the ground. So it’s not SQF operating in this way
Go to XXX District to check for yourself, an area manager has also confirmed to me that
things are the same as here at SQF. Also check at XXX, Greytown
Area Manager as he also confirms with me that the he authorise
everything. The SAP system doesn’t note stipulate that an employee on which
band must sign to what level. Not all D band employees in XXX are signing on
the XXX. You can check this one with XXX consultants to verify facts. Not, it’s
clear that your facts are not right. I urge you to phone Area Managers and
check for yourself before making a conclusive argument can be made that SQF is
operating totally different from the rest of the areas.
Just to take you back as a desk exercise, phone
some of the senior managers who have been around for some time to enquire about
their signing levels now compared to 10 years ago. The picture is that, most of
them signing levels are less that before as business operating systems changes.
There is nothing in life that is staking. An employee can’t sign for R1 million
for ever, tomorrow he/she might sign for R100 000 or more than R1 million.
There are corporate case studies to prove this, not just feeling. It’s well
document on academic journals like Harvard Business Review, South African
Journal of Economic and Management Sciences and other renowned publication.
I did not forget to state that trust is a two way
street. In future, don’t assume or think on my behalf. Read the message as I
have stated it, otherwise the interpretation might not be understood on the
other side once received by the recipient. It’s like communication which is a
skill and not all people are good communicators. That was not the point I was
making.
The issue of environment is not clear to me;
which kind of environment as there are many types of environment in business.
In business, people will always have different view points otherwise there is
no constructive criticism and learning environment. No one will be growing as a
total person.
Who is putting who under duress!!!
I don’t see any link to the way SQF operates to
the academic definition of duress I have learned during my undergraduate
commercial course. Maybe I didn’t understood the meaning of duress or my
academic qualified professors and practicing advocates who were offering the
course were confusing me on the definition and the way is interpreted in
corporate by practicing individuals. If that’s the case, I’ll need a refresher
course on commercial law courses on definitions like paru
delectum rule, estopel, voetstood, etc.
Who is actually a dictator!!!
I also work for a company and not a dictator.
As you indicated that “you don’t have a problem
with change as it’s a fact of life”. SQF of 2001 won’t be the same as SQF
today, SQF in 2010 and beyond. Business changes rapidly.
Trust is not given and guaranteed. Anyone must
earn trust. How can there be mistrust if trust was not earned initially. The
earning of trust is a process, not a once off event. Trust is also a two way
process like communication. Trust is not only assured and earned by merely
people signing.
According to Prof. Yukl
(2002) who highlighted that trust is not only based on one variable as you
indicated (authorization level), there are other variables which need to be
assessed whether there is any correlation and validity test among independent
and dependent variable. His research case studies are based on corporate
examples; it’s not just an academic book or feelings. He further states “Leader
trust in followers is determined jointly by qualities of the followers (e.g.
values, motives, skills) and qualities of the leader (personality traits,
values, prior experience) page 109*. I can share with you more literature
evidence conducted in many multinational companies about trust issues and those
are corporate examples from the FTSE 100 companies so that people must learn
the road those corporate went through during changing times.
“Trusting behaviour has
a stable individual-specific component. However, this component is at best
weakly measured by typical attitudinal questions about trust, including the
widely studied trust question” – Glaeser, E.L; Laibson D.I and Scheinkman, J.A
(2000).
Just indicate if you need those
research information. I’ll forward to you a list of articles and books as a
base.
At the end of the day, it’s not only SQF unique i.t.o authorisation level
implementations.
Kind Regards
Jim
Hi Jim,
Thank you for your reply ,
at least I sort of know now where the distrust comes from.
I do not have a problem with change as it’s a
fact of life , what I do have a problem with is how it is done – no
consultation / explanation , but in a ditactatorship
manner . You will do as I say or else!!!
As you stated “ The
critical part is how people accept and manage change …….” , which is correct
but you forgot to mention that it is a two way street . A person instigating
the change must create an environment conducive to change and not conflict , as it is now. How do you expect people to
just accept change under duress ?? We are all
working for a company and not a dictatorship.
SQF was measured on sales and profit performance
from day one ( and ALL employees had certain levels of
authority ) , so what’s changed now ??? A lack of trust by
the looks of things.
Lastly, I contacted XXX – District Manager XXX
and Michael XXX – District Manager XXX. They both stated that their Area
Managers and Foresters ALL have levels of signing authority ,
as well as some of the clerical staff. So it is not only XXX Management who trust their subordinates.
It is a real pity that we have to work under these
conditions of mistrust.
Kind Regards,
Hi Ray
As indicated to you earlier on that SQF is
registered company and on top of that, it has to make profit. In that case, all
cost must be monitored and consistently verified. I indicated to you to check your
facts buy not comparing SQF to XXX/District personnel alone as if their
practice is BOP. Check other areas within XXX and then, you’ll have a better
comparison to make a conclusive argument. We are not a cost centre, we are a
profit centre.
I also indicated to you that I am fully
accountable to SQF and I would have to know what’s really happening at all
times. Business changes rapidly in this 21st century. There is
nothing that is static for ever without reviews, changes, cancellation, and
etc. Change is part of business revitalization. All companies go through
changes and all staff must understand that there is pain within a change
process. The critical part is how people accept and manage change for the
betterment of the business and themselves personally.
Lastly, I hope in due course you can come back to
me with evidence from other areas. SQF is a business that is measured on sales
and profit performance. Part of making profit, is how you manage your cost so
as to minimise expenses impact/fluctuations on the
NPBT and attributable reserves. This will ultimately
affect the dividends payment to SQF shareholders.
Kind Regards
Jim
Hi Jim,
As discussed this morning I was extremely perturbed to find
out that my existing authority levels had been COMPLETELY taken away from me
and without consultation or explanation.
To me this shows a total lack of trust in me as a person and
as a D band employee.
In my nearly twenty years of service with XXX
, I have never encounted this level of
distrust and extreme demotivation.
After having authority levels of R100 000
. 00 plus to not even being able to purchase a pencil for .99 c without
you first having to authorize it is beyond me !!
I am still waiting for a satisfactory explanation for this distrust , not only for me ,but ALL the SQF employees as
well.
In the XXX Zululand district the clerks even have a higher
signing authority than any of us .
I would appreciate your reply on this matter.
Regards,
CASE 10
To whom it may concern.
I would gladly support this initiative to address this
epidemic on a higher level. I had been working for 31 years at this company. I
managed to excel in my job due to inherent skills when the results achieved
by working with your hands could not be denied, during the apartheid time.
Promotions were mainly reserved for "whites" and not the achievers.
We were told that our artisan status would stand us in good stead as
apposed to a person with a degree. 30 years later I am experiencing the reverse
of this situation. The company employs any person with or without the necessary
skills above those with the trained skills. I regard this as an insult due
to the fact that my knowledge gets drawn out of me to help my
superiors in their presentations to management. Secondly, the "white"
hierarchy builds a negative profile of us "non-whites" that serves to
barr us from getting the recognition from being
nominated for promotion. We had seen this situation replay itself continuously.
We tried to highlight it to human resources without success. As far as skills
and expertise is concerned, we do not lack anything. When it
comes to being pushed forward, only the "whites" are good enough.
We are fighting a losing battle. We thought that the government would look at
the previously disadvantaged artisans to retain those skills in the workplace.
That is the reason why we voted for a democratic system.
Instead there are numerous excuses being used why we do not qualify
for promotion. They have all sorts of tests that we have to write and it had been
proven that the people with younger minds would ultimately do better. What I am
concerned about is that the companies will continue to abuse our skills while
we can only stand as helpless on-lookers. When we apply for positions we are
just told that our metric and trade skills are not sufficient.
WE NEED HELP!!
If you want more information I could supply you with
achievements and much more information to support my concern.
Yours.
CASE 11
Dear MK
This is
a real coincidence as I had just experienced racial injustice in my workplace.
On the
27th August 2007, I took my lunch break as a usual and normal practice to pick
up my son from school.
I
usually drop him off at home and quickly drive back to the office to carry on
with my normal office duties.
It so
happened that on that day I had a call from my customer, who wanted to see me
in twenty minutes.
That
interfered with my son's routine and therefore had to quickly rush back to the
office and brought him along.
When
reaching the office I got him to seat in the back office and carried on with my
customers.
After finishing
with my customers I received an e-mail from my boss with the following:
"I
think we need to discuss this issue regarding your son. You are spending way to
much time away from work picking your son up from school and then bringing him
back to work. we seriously come up with a solution to
this matter. this is a place of business and not a day
care. I am sorry to sound so harsh but we need to address this issue."
Shortly
thereafter I got a call from him regarding the same matter. Our conversation
did not end up amicably as he got infuriated when I asked him why is such a big
issue when I bring my son to work, but when white colleagues bring their
children to work after picking them up from their respective schools it does
not become an issue. I further asked that is my son so Black that his presence
becomes so easily recogniseable that he picks up an
allergy, and that White children are so white that they are invisible and can not
be seen. Yet they are the ones who loiter around the premises. I honestly feel
that this is racial attack from my superior. I feel that being African in this
country irrespective of affiliation you will be always prejudiced.
Another
issue which I feel justifies prejudice is the fact that the very manager was
put in the position without undergoing proper selection processes. I do not
think he has any post-matric qualification, yet I, on
the other hand possess a BA degree with MAP, experienced in sales and to top
it up - an African women. All these meet the Employment Equity Act, which
qualifies me for the position but was denied the opportunity.
I have
always encountered problems when I have to attend to family obligations,
especially visit to the doctor. I kept on reminding him that I am a single
parent and am unfortunately cannot relinquish my parental duties to any one. We
had so many confrontations and I therefore felt that it was not worth fighting
anymore.
That
prompted me to resign immediately as I felt that I cannot compromise my
maternal rights for anything in the world.
CASE 12
Racist and
discriminatory practices:
On the 26th March 2007 I received notice to terminate the
amended monthly contract of service. Termination was effective on 31st
instant.
I had worked in this company five years from July 2001 with the fixed
five year term ended June 2006. Three months preceding June I had been
promoted to act in
executive position from March to May – a precedent that I qualified and could
have been promoted. Up to end of June and
Dec 2006 the appraisal process had not been completed. Decision to
continuity or termination had not been addressed by Feb 2007.
Senior Management Profile:
- Race
profile: 70% (b) 30% (W)
- Gender:
78% (m) 22% (f)
In the FY 2004-5 the gender profile had changed from 22 – 25%
women through the Equity Plan and Programme that I managed. 101 middle
managers
were trained on a 6x
months programme (2004 & 2005) on leadership, gender and diversity.
The success of this programme was honoured by the
presence of the XXX. In her remarks she charged us to pursue entrepreneurial projects for
women.
In 2006 4 African women 3 African and 1 Indian at senior levels
resigned under suspect conditions. I am one of these. I attended the CCMA
hearing
on 7th
May, 2:30 pm. Decision was taken that I shall be called for the arbitration. To
date I have not been called.
If an analysis were to be conducted, it shall be found that the white managers who have left the company during this period, did
so voluntarily and submitted
resignation notices. On the contrary the African managers – at senior level, left
under unfair conditions and in my case the matter was not fully
addressed. The performance appraisal process had not been completed either. Regrettably
both executives to whom I was reporting are not in full employ
of the company.
I contend that racism and gender imbalance is rife in the
workplace. CEO will not willingly address transformation unless there is
controlled
and systematic monitoring.
Thank you
CASE 13
This is a very difficult one indeed as it comes in various
forms.
Racism in the workplace is perhaps as old as the hills.
For example – I have been working for a corporate organisation for about 30 years during which I advanced
from grassroots level, but never attained a managerial status. However, all my
peers and co-workers who were not people of colour
progressed further than I up to senior management level. In addition, a large
portion of my bosses were first my subordinates (my contribution to the old
A new racism has come to light and probably been evident for
the past five years without being visible. Intellectual capital,
crosspollination and support base structures are the livelihood of specific
race groups. Other race groups are alienated. Visibly
alienated.
I know of people who have been put on a “fast tracking”
program about 15 years ago in preparation for junior management posts. These
have not materialised as a result of restructuring
and changing goalposts.
I also think that white women have become an escape goat.
This has been very evident over the past 5 years.
CASE 14
I do not have a story to tell but I am a medical doctor
qualified in Occupational health. I am a medical assessor for the compensation
fund appointed by the Minister of Labour for the past
six years. I am worried about the long term effects of what is happening now to
our members at their work places. Mental disorders like PTSD ( post traumatic
stress disorder ) and work related depression and anxiety are likely to happen
in the long run because of their experiences at the work place ( Post Vietnam
War veterans and mosts retired police in South Africa
are experiencing it right now ).These are compensable diseases in terms of The
Compensation of Injuries and Disease Act so 1993.I think everything possible
must be done to either minimize or preventing this happening to our members and
all black managers involved.
CASE 15
1 September
2007
Dear
President Mbeki
Racism at the work place – Urban Legend or Reality
I am a
chartered accountant who together with other forward thinking black people
formed a national black auditing and advisory firm to meet the challenges and
take up the opportunities presented by the new
Unfortunately
and unbeknown to many of us , some of our brothers had other plans and agendas
and in 2000 we were seduced by the promise of money and positions into a merger
with a “Big 4 “ audit firm. The nightmare then began.
I was, after
a year, appointed as senior partner of the region by a forward thinking white
gentleman, whose boldness and progressive views on transformation resulted in
his untimely departure. Other reasons were forwarded for his departure as is
always the case.
Under the microscope.
My
appointment as the firm’s first black regional leader resulted in me being
constantly watched and scrutinised like a creature being studied under a
microscope. This is unlike the treatment my white counterparts in other offices
received. My every statement was analysed and interpreted.
Within a
short while of taking the position, I retrenched some employees .Although
approved in principal it was not well received by the powers that be when it
was realised that mostly white people lost their jobs. An anonymous letter to
the CEO (still not shown to me) resulted in the Human Resources Partner and an
executive partner coming down talk to the people about these problems. How
undermined and demeaned, I felt as the leader of this region. I must add that
this never happened to a white leader. A number of similar events happened but
I cannot detail them all.
Find a white brother to keep an eye on the coolie
In order to
make sure I did not get out of line, the whites found one of there own to keep
an eye on me .More than keep and eye on me he was asked to attend meetings with
potential new clients together with the CEO, a duty this should have been
performed by me. Were they ashamed to show big white business that they had a
black leader or were they concerned that in conversation I may actually not
decry ANC policy and may not slate the government or worse still say some thing
positive about the country. Be that as it may they never on one occasion
managed to win these clients over despite the all white team. Never once was I
even consulted or informed.
Allocation of prestigious clients to black partners
Even though
it was my duty to allocated clients to the partners i.e. clients referred from
The Black Partners Club
In 2004 the
black partners got together and formed a pressure group to challenge the system
and to raise issues around transformation. After one positive meeting we raised
issues for the CEO. He met with us and put forward his views on the issues
raised in an unconvincing manner. Its appears that
some apologists were cornered and were read the riot act. That initiative was
killed for good with the blessing of the most senior black person. We never met
again.
Blatant open racism
It was my
intention to fill the vacancy for Human Resources manager with a black African
female as at that point the firm did not have one in a senior HR position. The
argument that posts for CAs are difficult to fill
because of the shortage of black CAs is marginally
acceptable but black HR practitioners have been around for years making a
similar argument irrelevant. I was told at an open meeting of partners by the
white executive partner that black women are very partial and motherly to their
own and therefore not suitable of the job. I was asked not to employ a black
African person.
I was told
that by the same racist above again in an open meeting that we have too many
Indians in my region. We were never told that we had too many whites in
Taking on Black Clients
Although not
written in any manual, taking on a black client followed a different process.
Every detail of this client was analysed and scrutinised in order in make sure
that they were not risky to the firm. The same scrutiny was not applied to
white clients whose dubious activities were always justified.
Resignation
By October
2006, I had enough of being a coolie and resigned. The next most senior person
to replace me was black but was overlooked and the white coolie watcher was
appointed. They were clearly terrified of having another person who was able to
challenge them besides, the white boy had for long done their dirty work. The
black partner has since left. The junior white partner was fast tracked. It’s
acceptable to fast track whites but it is a reviled practice when it is used to
assist transformation. Currently not one office of this firm is led by a black
partner.
I hope my
letter blows away the legend. If I have opportunity to discuss this at a forum
I would be able to add a lot more meat. I would like to commend BMF on this bold
initiative and would like to see a forum set up, where these issues are
discussed and plans made and executed that will help us move forward.
Yours
faithfully
CASE 16
Portfolio Committe
Att: P Jayiya
P.O
8000
Sir/Madam
Workplace
Discrimination – XXX Head-office
I would like to thank you for the opportunity to have our
voices heard, because I was just about to meet the State President regarding
this matter. I would like to inform you about the racial hidden oppression
“Blacks” are experiencing in XXX head office in
In the department I work for, Corporate Sustainability (SHE)
we as blacks are treated unfairly as compared to our white counterparts and
some Indians. Amongst other things I have identified the discrimination in the
following areas:
1. Unfair grading : This normally happens when a
black employee applies for a position at a higher level. The offer is normally
given but without promotion despite it being advertised at a higher level.
There is currently a case against Eskom to that
effect from 2003. It was stated in writing by the Managing Director, XXX that
it’s Eskom’s common practice to do this. This was
repeated this year to another black employee.
- Low salaries: If we get the opportunity to
be given the offer at the promotional level, then the salary is always at
the lowest level while the whites go to the maximum. Two new whites came
to the department and their salaries (package) is more than R120 000 than
the blacks package on the same grading.
- Performance
appraisals (bonus): Our performance ratings are normally between 2,7
and 3,3 while the whites and some Indians are far above that. In this case
1 means poor and 5 means exceed (excellent).
- Poor development: The development of blacks is
so poor that we don’t have blacks at PPU, SSE,SS2
etc. Only whites and some Indians benefit.
- Blacks
participation:
There is a meeting called “management meeting, this is only attended by
people at higher levels, which again is whites and some Indians. Sometimes
one black might be called to “observe”
- Benefits: The department staff is
required to travel nationally and internationally. Blacks only travel
nationally. There is only one black lady who for some reasons was allowed
to travel to African countries such as
- Labour relations
Management:
I’m of the opinion that the labour relations
management of most of the managers needs urgent attention. With my current
labour case with XXX, the case was presented to
different levels but the commitment to resolve the issue is non-existent.
They just rush to take the matter to their internal legal department to
defend the case. My case was declined by CCMA for late referral (not on
content) which is also questionable. I still need some investigation with
the CCMA.
- Outstanding case: I currently still have a case
against XXX as mentioned above in (1) and (7) above. The case is about a
job offer given at a lower level without valid reasons. It has a claim of
30 months attached to it. The original claim is R206 000 and is currently
at R329 321.
- High turnover: The environment is not favourable for blacks that they always leave the
department and nothing was done to date to identify the problem. We are
currently left with one black lady at the officer level out of about 20 employees, all the senior advisors (ladies) are gone.
One finished last month (July 2007) and the last one is serving a notice
till the end of August.
- Implementation
of decisions: About six months ago, I believe the EXCO made a decision
to retain people, that the employees at P level should be moved from 25th
percentile to 50th. Other departments implemented this and our
department, because the whites were at maximum, was never implemented.
- BEE
and BWO consideration: I have the suspicion that big tenders in this
departments are given to and the Blacks are given smaller tenders. We
employees are the only ones that make provision for BEE or BWO but they
just select whoever they want. This needs investigation.
From the above, the following conclusions can be made:
(i)
There
is still a lot of discrimination in this department even after more than 10
years of democracy.
(ii)
The
problem might be organisation wide but I don’t have
details to that effect.
(iii)
The
organisation has made profits at the expense of black
people.
(iv)
I
think XXX stats in terms of Gender equity, AA etc, looks good but if one looks
much deeper, the stats mean nothing.
(v)
In
this specific department, Blacks are considered les than human despite the top Eskom management structure being about 80% Black.
In order to address the problem, the following are
recommended:
a)
The
four managers involved in this racial discrimination activities (in this
department) ie. the previous
and current Corporate Occupational Health and Safety managers, general manager
and Managing Director (Corporate Services) must be dismissed with immediate
effect since they have planted racism in that department.
b)
We
need to get some compensation due to the wage disparity that went on for such a
long time without the company identifying it and for the 50th percentile differences that should
have been implemented.
c)
I
also need to get my claim of R329 321 which has been outstanding for four
years.
d)
We
need an urgent investigation to be done in the whole organisation
to ensure that these issues are identified Eskom wide
and addressed.
If you need my help, please feel free to contact me.
CASE 17
GOOD
MORNING
I AM AN
ABSA EMPLOYEE, AND I FEEL THAT SPECIFICALY HERE IN THE
I ALSO
DEAL WITH A
THANK YOU
FOR THE
REGARDS
CASE 18
Good
day!
With my
own expirience in the banking industry when i was still with XXX was the fact that if white people do things
that contravenes the bank rules and regulation in most cases they find ways to
make the white employee not to go disciplinary but if it is an african who did the act they will get rid of you without
looking at your mitigating circumstances.
this is a problem where black professionals are afraid to make mistakes,
they would rather refer everything to their supervisors. all
i am saying is that recism
in the workplace comes in a manner where africans are
not empowered to make decisions but only preference given to whites.
Regards
Thabang
CASE 19
Hi
It is with pleasure to put it like it is
The below are some of the experiences that one
came across in my workplace:
· A black person who
replaces a white employee in a job is not remunerated the same as the previous
incumbent.
· A black manager for him
to sign an work order ( money) only makes a recommendation and the white senior
sign
· A white manager is
allowed to play his role unlimited, while a Black one must get permission from
the senior.
· A black manager has to
fight for his rights to make decisions while this is different to whites
· One is told to consult
senior white managers first before making a decision
· Plenty of AA
beneficiaries are called managers while they truly feel that they are just
tokens who do not have managerial powers
· White managers are sent
to developmental training courses that lead towards qualifications.
· Blacks are sent to short
courses {2 – 5 days} that leads no where.
· Lastly, a colleague of
mine has been appointed as a production superintendent, after 6 months he was
promoted to production manager, however he does not and has never attended a
production meeting.
· He has been given a 3
months probation period first as superintendent and 12 months probation period
as production manager
· He does not even enjoy
the benefits which white managers are getting
· He is not allowed to run
the function, though his name is used for employment equity statistics purposes
Regards
CASE 20
Thank you for this initiative.
I’ve been in the employ of this organization for about a
1year and 8months.The organization has grown by more than 30% over the past
year that I been here. At the time of my appoint I was promised growth
development and increase, which to date has not materialized. I seen white
women and men been employed in middle and senior management of this
organization and preference given to these white colleagues who are neither
experienced and lack the tertiary qualification which their high profile jobs
require. I am a black female who has the experience and qualification which
should place me in position of management, but I have been marginalized and not
given an opportunity for development within this organization. As a BEE company
they should be empowering black females in order increase their score card
rating, but they are so dependant on the score card rating of their investment
company that this organization appears to be promoting BEE on paper but in
reality they have no interest in the empowering of black females in particular.
CASE 21
As it suits the submission request, my real-life experience
is based on a service-delivery proposal to Management and Fund Trustees for
work to be done on commission basis per output.
The proposal has taken five (5) monthly meetings since it
was made known end-March 2007 and all the answers I get on enquiries as to the
outcome are: 1) decision-making delegated to Management, 2) Trustees had
questioned conflict of interest before I could come out and declare (suggesting
improper behaviour on my part), 3) whether I am not
fronting for any other big company, 4) sharing of the job, i.e. 1000 cases to
be split between two companies (mine being a start-up pitted against an
established 5 year-old entity) and lastly, 5) my new Senior Executive
suggested I should join this big entity instead of competing against them
- how much more insulting can that be to small business development?
Contrary to the above, things are done differently for other
white former employees who took retirement packages and so on. They do not even
get told to strip-down to the core to almost baring their souls
before they get considered or actual appointments, all one hears is
announcements at Exco or Management meetings.
Our black executives' role: silence and MORE giggles in the
corridors.
Disappointed Aspirant Black ENTREPRENEUR
CASE 22
XXX
(Pty) Ltd, based in
Most of
the companies junior and some senior managers are
previously white XXX, XXX or XXX and they have their way of doing things that
do not allow any other ideas from other guys from other companies, which has
further jeopardised the chances of a successful
project.
Many of
these posts were not advertised.
The work
given to historically disadvantaged is mediocre work
and is not visible to the entire organisation.
EE
committee that is existing is not supported by senior
and junior management and they are not even interested in becoming part of
it. The EE chairperson XXX, is easily
manipulated to report hypothesized results to DEPT of Labour,
scrutinise the 2006 report, many of the things listed
in the report never happened and figures were not true. (I wish Manyi could also get this email).
System
engineering level (Grade 13) and above comprised of mostly white people with
only 3 system engineering blacks. Part of these people do
not even have minimum requirements as required by the system engineers job
profile.
Many of
the jobs here are not advertised and when advertised already you find a candidate
long working in the post. This happen mostly with the white candidates or
sometimes we never even see the advertisement for the post you just get
surprised by your new manager who came after you or a new candidate from
outside.
The
issue of nuclear skills shortage is waived all the time, but to my surprise not
many South Africans has it anyway, so we have to all learn on the job.
Unfortunately here this happens to only whites not to blacks.
HR hides
all info you want, they even do not want EE committee members to sit in
interviews to monitor fairness, never mind providing the info to be scrutinized
by the EE committee for imbalances and fairness.
Please
help us, relay our grievances to the relevant people at the Parliament, and I
further call for a surprise HR audit at XXXX to see what I am talking about.
There is
serious war against blacks here and I mean it.
Regards
CASE 23
I have encountered racism in the workplace so much that at times you
feel like it was a wrong move for black people to go to school.
I am a professional in a possession of a law degree, with completed
articles and further qualified attorney. In the past two years I have worked
for a private sector in major banking institutions and in both instances I have
experienced racism.
At first I was an employee at XXXXX at Legal Risk Division where I was
hired with Indians and white people. I was hired on a contract basis that
was going to be made permanent after six months but all white employees were
hired and were made permanent within the first month of starting. I was thrown
in a deep end without a proper training and I was expected to swim or sink when asking
lots of questions in order to understand if what I was doing was correct I was
regarded as a person who is not coping. I was always expected to be at
work 24/7 and not to make mistake and when you did something and there was
a mistake instead of addressing that mistake you will be told that it does not
matter how much volumes you do but if there is one file that comes back and
there is a mistake your volumes and efforts are worthless. When white people
are say things about you, you wont be given a chance to state your case it will
be concluded that whoever said anything about you is right and you were wrong
you are indirectly labelled as a person who is not competent and when you ask
about permanent employment there will always be that excuse that you need to
improve but your contract is not terminated immediately to prove that you are
indeed incompetent. When you advise in terms of the law as an expert, your
opinion will be ignored until the white colleague side with you and it will
then be regarded as a perfect suggestion on both instances I have been a
contract employee and every time I am hired there will be a white person to be
hired at the same time but they will be permanent within the first months and
before the end of the 6th month.
The last straw was at XXXX AT LEGAL & CREDIT SUPPORT
when the first 6th month end my boss had forgotten about my contract and I
was the one who reminded her she then extended the contract to another six
months and when I asked why was it not made permanent I was told that I have
already signed the contract for six months until that expires than it will go
permanent. Towards the end of six months I asked again then to my surprise I
was told of being incompetent and when I asked her to advise
and explain where was that coming from she couldn’t say up until
today I haven't been advised and for my record at no point in time have I been
called and advised that I was incompetent and all the legal agreement
that I have prepared have not at any point come back not signed by the relevant
parties. If there is a white person not coping with their work the boss just
call a meeting and distribute their work to other people if you advise that you
do not have the capacity in your appraisal you will be told that you are not a
team player. At the present moment all black employees being employed are
always starting on a contract basis while our white counterparties are taken in
as permanent employees. No matter how hard you work there is a perception that
black people are in the work place because of the AA or EE. I am the only black
female in the department and the rest are white they rather promote a coloured
person who do not have a degree to do the very same job that a qualified person
deserves than hiring a qualified person and when you are hired you will
victimised and be told that you are not assertive if you are polite and not
speak to people as if they are a piece of nothing.
Hope this helps.
CASE 24
IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS WHICH PROMOTE OR IMPEDE EFFECTIVE
PERFORMANCE IN RACIALLY DIVERSED CONTEXTS
INTRODUCTION
One of the objectives of the study
is to identify factors which promote or impede effective performance on
racially diversed contexts. The methodological considerations presented
in the research proposal took cognizance of the following objective realities:-
Ř People will not readily admit their
racial bias.
Ř Raising the race issue in Organisations may cause hostility because of the inherent
sensitivity.
Ř Employees may fear sanctions and may
not readily share their negative experiences in respect to racial prejudices in
the Organisation.
Ř Workgroups will be diverse in their
racial mix.
Ř The race of the researcher may
influence the willingness and readiness of some employees to provide data, or
respond to the interview or survey instrument.
Ř There is an absence of an
organizational culture which confronts racial issues.
Ř Racial issues are complex and deeply
rooted, the time available will not suffice.
Correlation between workplace
racialism and performance particularly in a changing socio-economic environment
of the South African society is evident in most organizations both in the
private and public sector organizations.
At the outset one would like to present the following demographic
profile of XXX District Municipality at senior, middle management, officers,
Technicians levels and general workers:-
Senior Management Total number Black White
Level 0 1 1 0
Level 1 6 4 2
Level 2 9 7 2
Level 3
34 29 5
Middle Management Total number Black White
Level 4
16 15 1
Level 5
28 23 5
Level 6
28 24 4
Professionals Total number Black White
72 60 12
Technicians Total number Black White
33
26 7
Clerks Total number Black White
85
73 12
General Employees Total number Black White
137 136 1
In terms of the picture which is
presented above there is clearly a reasonable racial representation at senior
and middle management but the lower you get down to junior positions, a
predominance of black employees is noted.
However, this racial pattern is not unique to
As explained in the research
methodology, racial issues are highly contentious and sensitive to deal with,
making it extremely difficult to document and verify for theory building and
empirical analysis.
The testing and sampling of employee
perceptions about factors which promote or impede effective performance can
therefore not be empirically proven in a scientific sense. The issue of black and white racism is by its
nature subtle and extremely difficult to quantify in concrete terms. However, one is able to note and realize the
resultant outcomes in the form of poor audit reports and roll-overs of unspent
funds which tend to expose negative management environments within the
organization. This certainty requires
attention.
Such adverse management posture
certainly does not augur well for a profound high profile municipality such as
In more than three Departments there
are notable pockets of workplace racialism which have a direct bearing on the
overall performance of the institution and quite often on staff turnover. As a testimony of these observations one is
referred to the more than one hundred thousand rand (R100 000.00) in roll-overs
of unspent funds and resignations of key personnel most of whom have refused to
offer exit interviews, presumably for fear of adverse repercussions.
FACTOR WHICH IMPEDE PERFORMANCE IN RACIALLY DIVERSED
CONTEXTS
|
CATEGORY |
ADM
EXPERIENCE |
|
1. Racist
performance appraisals Inconsistent and biased recognition
of performance on the basis of ones
racial classification has an impeding effect on work
performance. 2. Resistance to change The organisation’s
inability to improve its capacity to adapt to the transformation and top
managements’ continued provision of leadership on the basis of past racial
practices which invariably has an effect of impeding performance and employee motivation levels. 3.Inconsistent application of promotion
policy Good performance and loyal service which
often results in promotion of employees should be applied consistently and
objectively on all employees regardless of their racial classification. |
There
are documented reports and complaints from black employees who feel that
their contribution and effort is less recognized in most Departments which
are under the control of white managers. There
are glaring negative attitudes among white employees towards any
transformation policies that are approved by the XXXXXXXXXXX Council such as
Employment Equity Policy, Organisational Rights
Agreements, Skills Development Policy and this often results in blacks
showing similar attitudes and ultimately, performance is detrimentally
affected. An
observation has been by a number of black employees that no matter how good
they perform their chances of promotion are bleak in Departments which are
managed by whites and this hopelessness can potentially affect their
performance. |
|
4. Inconsistent application of the
disciplinary code The disciplinary code is a tool used for
good governance at the workplace. All
employees are required to observe it regardless of their racial
classification. Any inconsistent
application can cause tensions and impact on employee performance |
White
managers are readily prepared to invoke relevant disciplinary code where
black employees are involved but in the event where white employees are the
perpetrators a more soft and lenient approach is adopted. |
|
5. Discriminatory
implementation of the
training and development policy The training and development policy
is intended to address skills gaps which are identified in the employee
performance across all categories of employees regardless of their racial
classification: Discriminatory
practices can lead to poor performance. |
Substantive
and strategic training in some Departments is offered to white employees
while menial and unimportant empowerment training is given to blacks. |
|
6. Inconducive workplace
environment A workplace environment wherein
employees are able to maintain and sustain high levels of motivation and
their own vitality for the general good of |
The
internal environment is characterized by discontent and racial polarization
often with tensions in certain Departments.
In one Department an employee tendered her resignation in protest
against discriminatory practices. She
complained about racial prejudices in the Department concerned. |
|
7. Rollovers
of unspent funds In a non-racial environment all
stakeholders would play their part to ensure coherent service delivery but
the reality at |
Procurement
procedures and mechanisms with racially calculated spin-offs, benefits and
advantages are propagated and failure to accede to these mechanisms would
normally result to roll-overs of unspent funds and such affected Departments
would then blame the rigid procurement procedures of the XXXXXX. |
FACTORS WHICH PROMOTE PERFORMANCE IN RACIALLY DIVERSED
CONTEXTS
CATEGORY ADM
EXPERIENCE
|
1. Organisational resourcefulness Ability to organize and mobilize resources and put adequate systems
and procedures for coherent service delivery. |
Notwithstanding
adoption of IDPs and budgets each year,
mobilization of proper resources to meet service delivery demands remains a
major challenge at XXXXXXXXX and racial inclinations always prevail. |
|
2. Management
capabilities Capability of looking ahead,
planning anticipating obstacles and having them cleared. |
There
is general lack of pro-activeness at XXXXXXXX and the majority of Senior
Managers have clear racial prejudices and agendas. |
|
3. Motivational
abilities Ability to motivate employees,
stretch them to their full capacity for optimal performance. 4. Fairness
and reasonableness |
Employees,
especially at the lower echelons feel marginalized and morale is low at XXXXXXXXXX
and the race question features as an issues of
concern amongst employees. |
|
Ability to respect all employees
and recognize them as important individuals. |
In
some XXXXXXXXXX Departments racial polarization is a glaring phenomenon. |
|
5. Performance
appraisal Consistent desire to appraise
employees for work well done. |
At XXXXXXXX
this is not done consistently across all employees in all Departments and
racial biases are demonstrated. |
|
6. Strong
leadership traits Ability to reprimand employees and
being a firm and consistent disciplinarian. |
At XXXXXXXXX
reprimand is done selectively and some employees are just untouchable
especially those who are of the same race as the Head of Department. |
|
7. Decisiveness Capability of being a forceful and
decisive manager, able to give clear and concise instruction. |
Most
managers lack these traits and do not have the courage to lead with profound
precision and there is a tendency to show racial preferences. |
|
8.Employee motivation and maintenance of
positive morale Creation of an environment where
employees maintain and sustain high levels of motivation and vitality instead
of feeling threatened and living in fear. |
Levels
of motivation are generally low in most Departments and employees appear to
be resentful and discontented. The
black and white issue pre-occupies the minds of employees. |
|
9. Participative
management Creation of an environment where
employees are encouraged to participate actively in the affairs of the
organization for the seamless achievement of its objectives instead of being
dominated and dictated to by top management. |
In
most meetings and forums only top management participate and due to the
dominant personalities of senior managers, junior staff do
not get the opportunity to contribute and ventilate their career aspirations
and there is general negativism by one race against the other. |
|
10. Maintenance
of fair rewards and incentives Creation of an environment where
there is ongoing engagement with employees around promoting and introducing
commensurate rewards for excellent performance instead of putting emphasis on
penalizing bad performers. |
The
general management ethos at XXXXXX is characterized by threatening statements
against poor performance and there has never been any reference to rewarding
excellent performance in the form of some incentives and employees feel that
even if incentives were to be introduced, there would be a tendency to base
them on racial considerations. |
|
11. Support
and Nurturing New employees require support and
guidance from supervisors without which performance could be detrimentally
affected. |
Quite
often the race of one’s group has a bearing on the quality and commitment of
the supervisor’s willingness to provide support. |
|
12. Feedback on new initiatives and creative
ideas Prompt feedback from Senior
Management concerning new initiatives from middle management and ordinary
employees is important and lack of this dampens the morale and motivation in
the workplace. |
Most
employees especially from middle management are complaining about lack of feedback
on written reports and initiatives on performance related matters and service
delivery proposals. Swift feedback is
influenced by one’s racial classification. |
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CASE 25
Workplace Discrimination
The report
is summarised to give a general experience of African personnel at all levels
in the workplace. Although it is general it is derived from different people
and these are the issue that they are facing or have faced. What all these
people have raised as a concern is that their HR departments are often not
prepared to address these issues to an extent that some of the worst practices
are not even reported by the victims. The lack of will and capacity on IR and
HR to address these issue is a hindrance that they all
believe must be urgently dealt with.
When this
information was gathered, the main thing noticed was that the Non-African
personnel were not willing to discuss these issues. This has made this report
to mainly reflect the views of African personnel. These issues apply to all
genders with Females having to experience additional hindrances.
The report
highlight these few points although it is clear there are more that can be put
forward. The issues discussed are as follows:
·
Training
·
Mentoring
·
Resources
·
Appointments/Promotions
·
Subtle Discrimination
·
Employment
Equity
·
Human
Resource
·
Team Work
Training:
inadequate support during training period, irrelevant or inappropriate training
that does not advance the trainee's career. Experienced personnel end up
training their new colleagues who are then promoted at their expense.
The training
standards or requirements are changed or are not equal for all personnel with
most of the capable African personnel feeling that they are being set-up for
failure.
Mentoring:
Managers do not make the time to adequately train or mentor the African
personnel whereas non-African personnel are given assistance. Coaching and
mentoring is provided with less effort to non-Africans as compared to their
African counterparts. In most workplaces coaching/mentorship is non-existent.
Resources: The
African personnel have to struggle within the organisation to gain access to
resources that can enable them to do their jobs more efficiently and
effectively thus affecting their performance in the workplace.
Appointments/Promotions:
For technical positions, experienced and qualified
African personnel are often overlooked and others are appointed without
reasonable basis or merit. Rewards and recognition for the actual work done is
not given to the personnel.
Subtle
Discrimination: This type is often a daily
occurrence in most companies in SA. The most frequent discrimination
experienced by African personnel is from their fellow colleagues
that of being referred to as “the
right colour” in their conversation. Success of African personnel is viewed
in terms of them being the right colour not on merit, thus saying that the
position of management/leadership that they hold is solely based on their race.
Employment
Equity: KZN is problematic since EE can be manipulated
by the employers the ratio of employed personnel in the province does not
reflect the actual demographics of the province, often this goes on without
notice from the Department of Labour. An imbalance of
organisation departments having less than 2 % African personnel or even the
company having a very high percentage of Indian personnel, Coloureds and
Whites.
Were it is found that there is a high
percentage of African personnel in the company it is often at the lowest ranks
in the organization, with some companies not achieving 5% of African personnel
in their overall management team.
Human
Resource/Personnel Management:
HR often take deliberate action to block/hinder the advancement or
recognition/reward of African personnel, when called to account or give reason
for the action they claim it was an oversight on their part.
A classic
example of this happened in
The attitude
of HR departments towards African personnel is often appalling; queries of
non-African are quickly addressed IR issues do not experience the same delay as
with other Africans. Absenteeism of non-African is easily tolerated or even
explained away however this is completely different for African on the Factory
floor of most companies in SA. Requisition from African personnel experienced
personnel has to go through numerous checks before it can be approved.
Team Work:
African personnel within management finds themselves excluded from critical
discussion and decision that affects their respective department directly or
in-directly. Some decisions are made in social settings when the African
personnel are absent.