This man claims they can create one million jobs simply by removing a foreigner and replacing them with a South African. He does not think about skills or work ethic.
We think the same way in this country. We give people jobs in government institutions on the basis of quota and Federal Character. The result is that both productivity and quality have suffered. Quality has become a strange word to us.
We passed the Indigenization Decree in 1972, forcing foreigners to sell their businesses to us. That was the beginning of the destruction of our economy. All the companies that were taken over, or whose management and ownership were diluted, are now dead. They were the backbone of the economy.
We thought anyone could run a company — just as this man thinks everything will remain the same no matter who does the job.
Why weren’t South Africans employed in the first place? Was there a discriminatory practice against them? No. They were not employed because they were not good enough for the job. That is not to put them down; it is simply the reality of things. Companies want to make a profit, and ordinarily will not care where a worker is from, provided they deliver.
Companies may soon start folding in South Africa. That is when March and March will learn the difference between labor and productivity.
Published by Chuks Nwachuku
