Black business rejects ruling that considers Chinese 'black South Africans'
http://www.dnaindia.com/dnaprint.asp?newsid =117220
South African Chinese now considered 'black'
19/06/08
PRETORIA: South Africans of Chinese origin are now officially recognised as part of the previously disadvantaged "black group", which by definition includes South African citizens of African, Indian or "coloured" mixed race origin. The Pretoria High Court ruled Wednesday that the over 10,000 South Africans of Chinese origin be included in the definition of "black people" for the purposes of black economic empowerment status.
Fighting back tears of joy, Patrick Chong, chairman of the Chinese Association of South Africa (CASA), welcomed the decision by Judge Cynthia Pretorius, calling it "a relief".Chong said the local Chinese community would use "this newfound freedom" to help create more job opportunities for all South Africans. "The uncertainty until now has caused a great deal of confusion. Finally we also now belong to South Africa as Chinese South Africans. In the apartheid years we were second class citizens. Since democracy in 1994 we never knew where we belonged," he said.
"Today I am more proud than ever before to be a South African. I am proud of my heritage, but I was born in South Africa, got my education here, and work here. South Africa is our country, where we also now have a future. "Despite the fact that our children can go and work anywhere in the world, they prefer to remain in South Africa and contribute to the country's economic development," Chong added.
The Chinese community has been waging a battle for more than a decade now to be recognised as part of the communities that did not have the privileges of the white community in apartheid-era South Africa, with the battle eventually ending up at the high court here.In recent years, various legislations have been introduced to level the playing field by forcing businesses to give black communities a bigger stake through such schemes as special public offerings of shares that were only available to these communities. State enterprises that were privatised also did the same. But the Chinese community was excluded from this exercise, even though it was classified as "coloured" in the apartheid era and was subject to the same restrictions as Indians, Africans, and others who were not of European descent.
CASA took legal recourse in 2007. Initially opposed by government, the state withdrew its intention to fight the case in April this year.The main thrust of the action by CASA was the discrimination against the Chinese community by legislation such as the Employment Equity Act and the broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act, both of which introduced affirmative action measures to address historical imbalances for the disadvantaged groups. South African Chinese are mainly descended from migrants who first came here at the turn of the last century to work in mines.Since the advent of democracy, there has also been a considerable influx of new Chinese immigrants who have set up businesses across the country.
Black business criticises ruling on Chinese South Africans
Johannesburg, South Africa
Jul 02 2008
Black business and professional organisations on Wednesday rejected the Pretoria High Court's recent ruling defining Chinese South Africans as black people.
"This judgement, in our view, revises a long-held historical view of the democratic struggle in South Africa," National African Federated Chambers of Commerce president Buhle Mthethwa told reporters in Johannesburg.
The ruling defined Chinese South Africans as "coloured", qualifying them as beneficiaries under the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act and the Employment Equity Act.
Economic empowerment did not address all forms of discrimination, but sought to identify those who had suffered the most under the apartheid regime, Mthethwa said.
The identification of African, coloured and Indian people as major beneficiaries of BBBEE and employment equity was based on a sophisticated socio-economic analysis that took into consideration issues such as poor access to quality education, lack of economic access and poor living conditions.
"The economic transformation efforts sought to deal with the primary defining force of apartheid discrimination, which expressed itself through the socio-economic oppression of Africans, Indians and coloureds, hence their over-representation and visibility in the anti-apartheid struggle," Mthethwa said.
"We are also disappointed in our government's failure to consult major stakeholders on this history-defining court case.
"It is our considered view that the responsibility of clarifying legislative and policy ambiguities rests with the legislative or executive arms of government," he said.
"We call on the South African government to appeal this irrational decision. We furthermore call on political parties, principally majority black parties, to reject this inexplicable decision.
"As black business and professionals, we see the Pretoria judgement as a disappointing revision of the struggle for economic emancipation in South Africa," Mthethwa said.