MAKING SENSE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

302 Pages·2013·3.9 MB·English

MAKING SENSE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION:
REFLECTIONS ON THE POLITICS OF RACE
AND IDENTITY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Lisa Marcelle Klein
Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics in the Faculty
of Social Studies at the University of Oxford
- 5 DEC 2000
St. Antony's College
University of Oxford
Trinity Term 1999

Contents
Acknowledgements .................................................................................. .......................... vi
List of Abbreviations. .......................................................................................................... vii
Abstract....... .................................................................................................................. ..........ix
1. Introduction........................................................................................................................!
2. Methodology..................................................................................................................... 28
2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................28
2.2 Process ................................................................................................................31
2.3 Case Studies .......................................................................................................33
2.4 Interviews ...........................................................................................................34
2.5 Focus Groups .....................................................................................................40
2.6 Participant Observation ................................................................................... 42
2.7 Document Analysis ........................................................................................... 45
2.8 Conclusions......................................................................................................... 46
3. Case Studies............................................... ....................................................................... 48
3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................48
3.2 Individual Case Studies .................................................................................... 51
3.3 Conclusions....................................................... ............................................... ...82
4. The Context of Affirmative Action............................................................................... 86
4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................86
4.2 The Legacy of Apartheid ................................................................................. 89
4.3 Legislative Measures to Redress the Legacy of Apartheid ......................... 96
4.4 Employment Equity Act .................................................................................. 97
4.5 Labour Relations Act ...................................................................................... 103
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4.6 Condusions....................... . . ....... .......................... 107
5. The Politics of Affirmative Action ............................................................................. 109
5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 109
5.2 Defining the Terms of the Transition............................................................ Ill
5.3 Beyond Race? Class-based Affirmative Action ........................................... 116
5.4 Equal Opportunities: Undermining Equality? ............................................ 121
5.5 The Business of Affirmative Action .............................................................. 123
5.6 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 128
6. Affirmative Action: Who Benefits?............................................................................ 132
6.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 132
6.2 Not Black Enough? The "Coloured Question"............................................ 133
6.3 Overlooking the Truly Disadvantaged?....................................................... 135
6.4 Is Gender on the Agenda? .............................................................................. 136
6.5 Conclusions.......................................................................................................141
7. The Workings of Affirmative Action......................................................................... 143
7.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 143
7.2 Understanding Support for Targets ............................................................. 145
7.3 Targets in Practice: A Brief Appraisal...........................................................148
7.4 Understanding Resistance to Targets ........................................................... 150
7.5 Two Sides of the Coin: Skills Shortages and Quick Fixes .......................... 154
7.6 Redefining Human Resources Policies and Practices................................. 161
7.7 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 167
8. Responsibility and Resistance: Negotiating the Obstacles ................................... 170
8.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 170
8.2 Who Drives Affirmative Action Strategies? ................................................ 171
8.3 Accountability and Performance Evaluations............................................. 174
iv
8.4 Black Management Caucuses......................................................................... 177
8.5 White Fears: The Tokolosh Revisited?.......................................................... 181
8.6 Reconciling Conflicting Organizational Objectives ................................... 184
8.7 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 191
9. Managing Diversity....................................................................................................... 193
9.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 193
9.2 The Move from Segregation to Assimilation .............................................. 195
9.3 Defining Diversity ........................................................................................... 202
9.4 A Review of Culture Audits and Diversity Workshops............................. 207
9.5 Can We Measure Diversity?........................................................................... 213
9.6 The Limits of Diversity.................................................................................... 216
9.7 Conclusions....................................................................................................... 225
10. African Management................................................................................................... 229
10.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................229
10.2 Making Sense of African Management....................................................... 231
10.3 Rhythm is the Architecture of Being: Rituals Operationalized............... 237
10.4Ubuntu Reconsidered.................................................................................... 241
10.5 Questioning African Management and its' Antinomies .......................... 248
10.6 Conclusions..................................................................................................... 251
11. Conclusions................................................................................................................... 255
Appendix............................................................................................................................. 269
A. Sample Interview Schedules ...........................................................................269
Selected Bibliography.......................................................................................................274
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The writing and research of this thesis was made possible by the assistance of many
people. My time at Oxford was made possible by the generous support of the Rhodes
Trust, to whom I am most grateful. I owe many thanks to all my interviewees for their
time and help. I would particularly like to thank the human resources and training
managers who were exceptionally helpful in providing me with access to the case study
companies. Louis Blair, Peter Christie, Avril Jofee, Dona Wolf, and Rene Redwood all
provided me with much help in establishing contacts. For sharing their insights and
critiques at different stages of my thesis, I am grateful to Sue Dopson, Daryl Lee, David
Storey, and all my Oxford seminar colleagues. Finally, I express debts of gratitude to
Gavin Williams, my supervisor, for his support, enthusiasm, and unfailingly insightful
comments.
VI
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AA Affirmative Action
AAPDF Affirmative Action Policy Development Forum
ABET Adult Basic Education Training
AHI Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut
ANC African National Congress
AWB Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement)
BMC Black Management Caucus
BMP Black Management Forum
BPR Business Process Re-engineering
BSA Business South Africa
CEO Chief Executive Officer
CCMA Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration
Codesa Convention for a Democratic South Africa
Cosatu Congress of South African Trade Unions
CST Colonialism of a Special Type
DP Democratic Party
EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Fedsal Federation of SA Labour Unions
FF Freedom Front
GM General Manager
HR Human Resources
Idasa Institute for Democracy in South Africa
IFP Inkatha Freedom Party
ILO International Labour Organization
Jodac Johannesburg Democratic Action Committee
JSE Johannesburg Stock Exchange
LRA Labour Relations Act
MD Managing Director
MDM Mass Democratic Movement
MK Umkhonto we Sizwe
MWU Mine Workers Union
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NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Nactu National Council of Trade Unions
Nafcoc National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Nedlac National Economic Development and Labour Council
Netu National Employees Trade Union
NP National Party
Numsa National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa
Nusas National Union of South African Students
PAC Pan African Congress
Pawu Paper and Allied Workers Union
PF Plant Forum
Ppwawu Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Workers Union
PFP Progressive Federal Party
RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme
Sacob South African Chamber of Business
SACP South African Communist Party
Sansco South African National Students Congress
SHC Stakeholders Committee
TPM Total Productive Maintenance
TQM Total Quality Management
UCT University of Cape Town
UDF United Democratic Front
Uwusa United Workers Union of South Africa
WCM&S World Class Manufacturing and Services
WPF Workplace Forum
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ABSTRACT
Making Sense of Affirmative Action: Reflections on the Politics of Race and Identity in South Africa
Lisa Marcelle Klein D.Phil.
St. Antony's College Trinity 1999
This thesis examines organizational programmes designed to manage racial identities in the
South African workplace. It focuses on race-based affirmative action (AA) programmes.
The AA debate has become a proxy for a more fundamental contest over the political boundaries
of legitimate action and discourse. Notwithstanding pockets of resistance, there is consensus
(amongst business leaders) on the need for AA policies. This is explained, in part, by post-1994
shifts in the boundaries of legitimacy. Rejection of AA is no longer a legitimate course of action.
The AA controversy seems to be serving as a litmus test for the state of race relations in SA. The
political transition has been accompanied by attempts to reconstitute political identities. It is
suggested that the language of Africanism is providing the conceptual grammar with which to
understand these processes. Race has become the primary axis through which an African identity,
apposite to the 1990s, is being theorized. In the face of economic uncertainty and inequality the
temptation is to naturalize identities. Hence the appeal of strictly defined race-based AA
programmes.
Despite the moral lexicon which has sprung up around AA, many companies are arguing that
AA makes good business sense. It is needed to meet changes in the demographic profile of the
consumer and supplier markets. The political and legislative imperative to implement AA means
that companies need to make sense of it economically. This is not to suggest that managers are
simply having to make a leap of faith with regards to AA. The issue is more complex: whilst
many are making a virtue out of necessity, this necessity may prove to have its virtues.
AA programmes cannot be understood in isolation from the economic 'realities' that enable,
shape and constrain them. Given these adverse economic conditions, AA will, in all likelihood,
have limited individual impact. At most, its gains will be modest. It will not eliminate the
apartheid legacy of racial and gender inequalities, nor can it alone overcome the effects of other
economic forces. AA needs to be located within a broader policy agenda aimed at promoting
economic equity. It is in this respect that it has the potential to be an effective policy tool.
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
The end of apartheid did not entail a concomitant reconfiguration of political identities
and relationships. Unlike constitutions and sunset clauses, these are not ipso facto
generated by the politics of transition. Indeed, the political practices of apartheid and the
myriad mythologies they produced will in all likelihood live on well beyond a second
ANC term in government. This thesis examines the ways in which this struggle to
redefine individual and collective identities plays out in the workplace. It examines the
organizational programmes introduced to foster employment equity, and the strategies
initiated to manage race and gender identities. This takes the form of a multi-pronged
inquiry. It focuses particularly on race-based affirmative action (AA) programmes in the
workplace. In the last few years, a legislative framework designed to secure employment
and occupational equity has begun to take shape. The employment arena is the focus of
this study because it, more than other areas, is giving definition to A A. Public and
private discourse is primarily concerned with the implications of A A for job creation
and performance and its likely impact on the career trajectories of existing staff. It is in
this area that the conflicts and contradictions of A A are most clearly illuminated.
The concept of 'AA' is 'essentially contested'. Gallic notes that there are 'concepts which
are essentially contested, concepts the proper use of which inevitably involves endless
disputes about their proper uses on the part of their users/1 He suggests that for a
concept to count as essentially contested (something different from a concept that is
simply confused) it needs to possess seven characteristics. Of import here are the
following two criteria: (1) the concept is a derivation from an original exemplar whose
1 W.B. Gallic, 'Essentially Contested Concepts/ in Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, New Series, Vol.
LVI, 1956,169.