During apartheid, they claimed the status of “honorary whites”. Now they want to be black…

By John Kaninda, Johannesburg

The Chinese community of South Africa has found itself in the middle of racial controversy. Following a ruling handed down by the Johannesburg Court of Appeals which granted South Africans of Chinese ancestry the status of blacks, or, more broadly speaking, that of “historically disenfranchised communities”, many voices have cried out against this classification, particularly within the community of black entrepreneurs. In a recent debate broadcast on the radio, a representative of the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce (NAFCOC), a black organisation, declared that the Court of Appeals’ ruling shattered the very foundation of the process of economic inclusion for blacks. “During apartheid, these people (Chinese South Africans) claimed the status of “honorary whites”, argued Kganare Lefoka, spokesperson for NAFCOC. “Now they claim they’re black. This is simply outrageous!” Even more acerbic in his remarks, the South African Minister of Labour, Membathisi Mdladlana stated, “All I can say is that people of colour (blacks) don’t speak Chinese!”

Affirmative Action

At the heart of the debate is the fact that many blacks fear that the advantages that blacks, people of mixed race and Indians currently enjoy will also go to the Chinese. Since the fall of apartheid, the new government passed a series of laws enabling blacks in particular, who had long been denied access to economic and financial resources under the previous regime, to have a priority stake in the integration process.

According to these laws, collectively called Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), major companies are obliged to gradually cede a quarter of their shares to black investors and offer them seats on their board.

Whites have little recourse other than emigrating to greener pastures. Most end up in Great Britain or Australia. The BEE laws also require that all foreign investment must show proof of having a black partner in an effort to follow the proportionate representation guidelines set out in this legislation. As for laws resulting from Affirmative Action, they state that blacks are to be given priority when filling new positions or promoting staff internally, even when applicants are less experienced than their white counterparts. People of Indian or mixed ancestry are second in the order of priority. It is the introduction of BEE and Affirmative Action policies that have led to the emergence of South African millionaires and the birth of a new black middle class.

What about the whites?

Basically excluded from the race for jobs and professional and social advancement, whites have little recourse other than emigrating to greener pastures. Most end up in Great Britain or Australia. These gains, made possible thanks to the birth of a new South Africa under the continuous pressure levied by black political activism, are precisely what the black community is jealously striving to protect. It simply isn’t prepared to share with those whom it considered to be very, very far from having any semblance of African blood. From the black community’s point of view, these people are freeloaders.

But in a context characterised by China’s economic influence on the continent, made tangible in South Africa with the October 2007 purchase of a part of Standard Bank by the Chinese Commercial Bank, the boundary between the fear of losing ground to the Chinese and confusion between Chinese South Africans and their Asian cousins is quite grey in the minds of black South Africans. “I couldn’t say what they’re really after. They stand to drown us with their presence and then cling to the advantages they will have acquired with their new status as black,” added the Minister of Labour before adding, “ On the BEE field, we’ll be playing against tough adversaries.”

South African in their own right

Lefoka finds it odd that Chinese South Africans should consider themselves to be “historically disenfranchised”. The Chinese community of South Africa has successfully become one of the most enterprising business communities and it would be difficult for them to claim that they were disadvantaged similarly to blacks,” he argued. He went on to add, “Ask any Chinese man or woman if he or she is black and I’m sure the answer will be a negative one.”

These accusations have been categorically refuted by the head of the Chinese South African Association, Patrick Chong, according to whom, at no point during apartheid were the Chinese ever considered to be South African in their own right. He also declared that his association never asked the Court of Appeals to “reclassify the Chinese in terms of race.”

“Instead, we asked to be included in the definition of historically disenfranchised communities, which is what we are,” he stated. “The Court came to this decision on its own accord. During apartheid, we were denied access to professional and educational opportunities. We had to establish our own schools and become entrepreneurs.” Chong also makes a distinction between his community and that of newly settled Chinese immigrants who came after the African nation became a democracy in 1994. “South Africans of Chinese ancestry have been living in this country for over a century and are not owners of large companies like many of the new post-apartheid arrivals,” added Chong. “Neither have we ever been “honorary whites” as was the case with the Japanese, for example, whose country had signed a trade agreement with South Africa.”