Race to the Bottom

Business Day

THE successful application of the government's transformation policies was always going to be a delicate balancing act.

As much as correcting the injustices of the past was, and remains, an imperative, so it is self-defeating to set about changing the racially skewed nature of South African society without taking into account the damage that ignoring merit and experience when making appointments can do to state institutions.

The example of Eskom, which at one stage banned the appointment of white technicians despite there being an acknowledged shortage of suitably qualified and experienced black candidates, illustrates the folly of elevating political ideology over common sense.

The ongoing power shortages may not have been caused primarily by a shortage of technical and management skills, but this was undoubtedly a contributing factor. And there are several other areas of public life where there is anecdotal evidence that the overzealous application of employment equity targets has been detrimental not only to the capacity of the state agencies involved, but to the delivery of essential public services.

There are reports of medical posts at state hospitals remaining open for years, not because there were no suitable applicants but because those who applied were not from the "right" race group.

Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Carole Lewis's frank warning that an overemphasis on race in judicial appointments has deprived the bench of specialised skills and discouraged worthy white applicants from putting their names forward to serve their country, must be taken seriously.

There are areas where form cannot be allowed to trump substance; we have learned to our detriment that the provision of essential services is one, and dispensing justice is clearly another.

The new leadership of the ruling party has shown signs of being more pragmatic than its predecessor. Is it too much to hope that this transformational pitfall can be avoided in future without SA having to keep learning the hard way?