Reform, not racism

Time and time again, when hard questions are asked on the state of the ICT sector, the answers will usually turn to entrenched, illogical taunts based on racist ideas.

A recent article on the Black IT Forum and what it plans to do about the stalled ICT charter process received many responses from ITWeb readers. Some were sensible and revealed frustration with the process, while others chose to respond with racist scorn.

The first comment on the story set the tone for the rest of the responses. The reader, who was named “Realistic IT person”, said the BITF comments were racist. The reader went on to say that the forum was calling on companies, which couldn't compete, to be given business and said they should rely on free market principles since we were 15 years into democracy.

The rest of the comments which followed got worse, with some readers saying black IQ and skills were substandard, calling the country a banana republic, saying being poor and disadvantaged was simply an excuse, and that African culture was not compatible with 21^st Century society.

These were all easy responses to hard questions. Anyone can call a person from another race lazy, stupid, materialistic and inferior as you don't have to know how to spell your own name to do that.

Ideas that everything changed in this country after a black man was inaugurated president are as na"ive and as ignorant as thinking that FW de Klerk released Mandela from prison because he had a change of heart.

There are questions which comments like this one fail to address. Instead of asking if the BITF really is asking for special treatment, the readers reveal that IQ has nothing to do with race. Instead of questioning whether black companies in the industry are looking for handouts and whether they should they be entitled to anything, the reaction is based on race.

After five years of stalled discussions and negotiations, I would think it was about time someone started asking why the ICT charter process has stalled for that long. Is the Department of Trade and Industry holding the process back, or are there questions which need to be answered before the charter is signed off on, especially considering its implications?

Instead of asking if the BITF really is asking for special treatment, the readers reveal that IQ has nothing to do with race.

Audra Mahlong, senior journalist, ITWeb

Would the charter, as it currently stands, simply introduce new systems of privilege and not address the previous and flawed system? Or is it simply a fight between those with privilege and power in the industry and those searching for it?

It cannot be argued that black people are not free to set up businesses and use their brains and determination to turn it into a success. But one of the biggest questions is whether or not there are obstructions, what the effects of those barriers are and how the charter helps to address those issues.

Free market principles are not the exemplary models some of the readers noted them to be. Any system powered by privilege, position and access to resources is not to be held up as an example of equality. Just because someone produces something worth rewarding, doesn't mean they will get those rewards.

Some readers commented that there needed to be a focus on skills and hard work, and not on race and historical conditions. Others questioned where the few skilled and educated black people had gone and pointed out the growing disparities within black communities produced by affirmative action policies.

Considering that the world runs on IT, it is disconcerting to see the IT industry's inability to reform. You have thousands of jobs in limbo, declining maths and science pass rates in high schools, low numbers of students in training, IT and engineering skills shortages and a high number of IT companies failing and collapsing.

Simply sitting back and saying that the country has had 15 years of democracy and black people should have more to show for themselves is as disingenuous as saying the effects of decades of legislative oppression were wiped away with one election.

There need to be more critical responses and a realisation that, as the country searches for ways to create more skilled and effective IT professionals, responding with racist diatribes will never help the situation.