'White poverty up 95%'

[darkevil]

The fast-growing numbers of poor white South Africans came under the spotlight in the National Assembly on Thursday.

"The increase in white poverty has, according to the [SA] Institute for Race Relations, has been... more than 95 percent, and you've got more than 430 000 poor whites at this stage," Freedom Front Plus Chief Whip Corne Mulder told the House.

Around Pretoria alone, there were more than 70 informal settlements where whites were residing.

The Bureau for Market Research had indicated there were more than 650 000 whites, 16 years and older, who had no income whatsoever.

Mulder said it was government's contention that there was no distinction made between poor white or black people when it came to getting help, but this did not appear to be what was happening in practice.

"Is the government prepared to investigate this issue because it's becoming more and more serious?" he asked Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.

Responding, Motlanthe said government strove to attend to the needs of all poor South Africans, regardless of race.

"There is no barrier based on skin colour. What needs to happen is, where these communities are squatting... and they have no access to an income stream... they need to apply for RDP houses...," he said.

http://news.iafrica.com/sa/2512259.htm

One wonders if AA EE has not pepetuated the plight of whites and to a certain degree blacks as well?
This countries poor be it black or white are growing in huge numbers and i hope a solution can be found to start creating employment oppertunities to elieviate the problem.
Not easy done but we can hope and pray.

 

[sox63]

I know I will be flamed for this, however, it has to be said perhaps we can now be regarded as closing the gap between whites and blacks on either side of the income spectrum? Unless there is a feeling amongst forumites that white people should NOT be poor?

 

[Nod]

I know I will be flamed for this, however, it has to be said perhaps we can now be regarded as closing the gap between whites and blacks on either side of the income spectrum? Unless there is a feeling amongst forumites that white people should NOT be poor?

I don't think that is a problem in general, as there will always be poor people.

The biggest problem is, how many of these poor whites got there because of AA/BEE?
How many of them have good qualifications, but can't find work because of their age?

If government wanted to help, they should look into using the people with skills, but too old to employable, to be used in another way (teaching, mentor'ing, etc)

 

[alchamy]

I know I will be flamed for this, however, it has to be said perhaps we can now be regarded as closing the gap between whites and blacks on either side of the income spectrum? Unless there is a feeling amongst forumites that white people should NOT be poor?

I wonder if this article is not a bit one sided, given the economic pressure on the world and in SA I imagine that there has been an increase in poverty across all races.

 

[Nick333]

I know I will be flamed for this, however, it has to be said perhaps we can now be regarded as closing the gap between whites and blacks on either side of the income spectrum? Unless there is a feeling amongst forumites that white people should NOT be poor?

I had the same thought when I read the title of the thread but it does seem like a step backwards regardless of race. We should be creating a bigger middle class not creating more poor.

 

[JungleBoy]

I wonder if this article is not a bit one sided, given the economic pressure on the world and in SA I imagine that there has been an increase in poverty across all races.

Of course Freedom Front Plus has a single dimensional view of things...that is the reason for their existence, i.e. to look after the white interests and to hell with anybody else.

 

[sox63]

I don't think that is a problem in general, as there will always be poor people.

The biggest problem is, how many of these poor whites got there because of AA/BEE?
How many of them have good qualifications, but can't find work because of their age?

If government wanted to help, they should look into using the people with skills, but too old to employable, to be used in another way (teaching, mentor'ing, etc)

Those are questions that the like of the FF+ SHOULD be asking. However it seems they would have us believe that everyone of those 430k-odd white folk are educated and skilled people who are disenfrachised by AA/BEE...

 

[JungleBoy]

I had the same thought when I read the title of the thread but it does seem like a step backwards regardless of race. We should be creating a bigger middle class not creating more poor.

That is to be expected as some of the white middle class (especially Afrikaans) developed due to support and protectionism from the apartheid gvt.

 

[blaaislaai]

BEE is one of the reasons why.

 

[Jola]

OTOH the ANC seems to be quite successful at eliminating the income gap by making everybody poor !

Even the gravy train has to reach the end of the track sometime !

 

[Gozzy]

The way I see it, if you have qualifications and you can do the job, whether you black, white, pink, brown, then you deserve it.

But if you are an experienced White person with high qualifications, and you lose your job because of BEE, and the Black person can't do the JOB then that's unfair.

For instance, my friend's dad worked for the Goverment about 2-3yrs ago, he lost his job due to they wanted to replace him with a black person, which I would less of a problem with if the guy could actually do the work.

But the guy that replaced him, didnt know nothing about the job, and we reacon he bought his qualifications or something, at the end of the day, the guy kept on harassing my friend's dad for advice and how to's on how to do his job.

My friend's dad showed them the finger.

So ja.... now that is wrong.

 

[Jola]

So ja.... now that is wrong.

But it seems to happen quite often.

Sometimes the retrenched whites are hired back as consultants, at least they have an income, but it is an incredible waste of taxpayers' money.

At the end of it, it costs more than three times as much to get the same job done !

The municipalities are quite good at doing this - and all the new managers need fancy cars as well !

So guess what ? No money for services, which is why they are there in the first place !

 

[trendzsa]

The issue is not a racial one but a wealth one. 1 % of the worlds population own 90% of the wealth and will continue to horde it until the less well off make a stand. Don't be deceived folks, there are plenty of black and white folks who would rather have you squabble over other issues than deal with the fact that they are robbing us all blind and causing all sorts of other atrocities like destroying the planet..

 

[Nick333]

That is to be expected as some of the white middle class (especially Afrikaans) developed due to support and protectionism from the apartheid gvt.

I'm inclined to agree with you except for growing unemployment across the board. I don't believe many of these people are particularly qualified for anything.

 

[Jola]

The issues is not a racial one ...

AA / BEE makes it a racial issue ...

 

[Jola]

I'm inclined to agree with you except for growing unemployment across the board. I don't believe many of these people are particularly qualified for anything.

In most cases you are probably right, but you hear of many cases of highly skilled older whites getting retrenched.

Like the maintenance guy retrenched from Koeberg, now employed servicing British Nuclear Power stations while ours keep getting nuts in the generators because of people not knowing what they are doing.

 

[zulgin]

That is to be expected as some of the white middle class (especially Afrikaans) developed due to support and protectionism from the apartheid gvt.

The old government founded companies such as Iscor to employ poor middle-class whites in South Africa, cares for their own people if you will. I don't see the ANC doing any of the sort instead of replacing black poverty with white poverty.

 

[satanboy]

Like the maintenance guy retrenched from Koeberg, now employed servicing British Nuclear Power stations while ours keep getting nuts in the generators because of people not knowing what they are doing.

Wasn't that the same frenchy that also dropped his frog sandwich in the turbine?

 

[JungleBoy]

In most cases you are probably right, but you hear of many cases of highly skilled older whites getting retrenched.

Like the maintenance guy retrenched from Koeberg, now employed servicing British Nuclear Power stations while ours keep getting nuts in the generators because of people not knowing what they are doing.

Keep getting ????
I thought that occured once....but i could be worng.

By the way there are retrenchments occuring even in coutries where there is no BEE. So many experienced folks in the Western world have been laid off... even some of the South African expats have not escaped the crunch.

 

[Nick333]

In most cases you are probably right, but you hear of many cases of highly skilled older whites getting retrenched.

Like the maintenance guy retrenched from Koeberg, now employed servicing British Nuclear Power stations while ours keep getting nuts in the generators because of people not knowing what they are doing.

Well this is just a theory, but I think to fall to the level we're talking about here you'd have to be pretty close to it to start with. A maintenance guy working for Koeberg would have a house of some value, cars, policies, pension etc. You'd have to lose/spend all that before you ended up in a squatter camp.