What exactly is meant by "transformation"

[bekdik]

I'm guessing that the number of people ineligible to be transformed is significantly less now than was the case in 1994. Natural depletion will serve to correct the balance.

I agree with all posters who emphasise education as the way to solve the problem. Social engineering has never worked.

 

[grayston]

Improving the education system will not achieve much unless the work place is transformed into an equal opportunities society.

Actually, improving the education system won't achieve anything if the ANC continues with its litany of racist and anti-intellectual hogwash.

And I can gaurantee you that all the workplace transformation in the world won't make the slightest bit of difference until schools start churning out the right raw material.

 

[Balstrome]

Improving the education system will not achieve much unless the work place is transformed into an equal opportunities society.
Inequalities in the work place mean that dumb people are hogging jobs that could be had by clever people.
Don't ever think that cronyism is only happening in gvt, cause it happens in the private sector as well...

Cronyism in the private sector, is there, sure, but at least if your friend preforms poorly, you usually get rid of him, as he is affecting your profit margin, negatively. And of course, the private sector usually only employees those who are actually able to do the job required of them.

While in the goverment sectors, generally cronyism is used to build one's personal empire and to keep one in place. Education will smooth out the inequalities of the work place, because the private sector will have a new stock of profit making staff to draw on.

Business is colour blind, ask any hooker, money has no colour. So if Jimbo, or Joe can make a profit, business does not give a stuff what colour he/she/it is

 

[JungleBoy]

Cronyism in the private sector, is there, sure, but at least if your friend preforms poorly, you usually get rid of him, as he is affecting your profit margin, negatively. And of course, the private sector usually only employees those who are actually able to do the job required of them.

While in the goverment sectors, generally cronyism is used to build one's personal empire and to keep one in place. Education will smooth out the inequalities of the work place, because the private sector will have a new stock of profit making staff to draw on.

Business is colour blind, ask any hooker, money has no colour. So if Jimbo, or Joe can make a profit, business does not give a stuff what colour he/she/it is

You missed my point completely. This is what I was trying to state :
Education is only the beginning. Education gives you knowledge, but the workplace is probably the only place where knowledge alone is not power.
You need skills. How do you acquire skills? Through coaching, training, mentoring. In the work place, what you know is not so much more important than what you can do. The next crucial element is experience, which comes from practice, exposure, etc.
The problem is that we tend to see transformation as only meeting the BEE targets.
I think that true transformation can not happen without the help from the skilled and the experienced. Now here is a problem, a situation of 'us and them' has been created, whereby the skilled and experienced are reluctant to train and mentor...because of fears of being made redundant. So you end up with token appointments...

BEE is also responsible for holding back the process of transformation as it can only empower a select few. I was filling a tender form the other day and was shocked to realise that BBBEE puts more emphasis on company ownership and procurement over workforce empowerment through training and development.
But there are very few black companies at the moment. The white companies stand to benefit more by co-opting minority black shareholders without paying much attention to staff development.

 

[stoke]

Are you suggesting that we formalize an apprenticeship model again, across all sectors of business?
i.e. A company is judged on the number of "appy's" in employment?

Obviously appy abuse has to be taken care of and handled fairly.

I struggle to see my average work-day including me spending some time with an apprentice, though ... now that I really really think about it, it's not too far fetched, actually quite do-able.

I am also not scared of the appy taking my job. It does not bother me in the least, but ... only if the apprentice betters his master, none of this AA rubbish.

I think that's where the major resistance level is ... with things as they stand now, training an AA candidate will mean that you will loose your job. Hardly inspiring.