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Is transformation actually happening in South Africa?

At the conference of the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals on Thursday, deputy president - Cyril Ramaphosa – stated that government and social partners need to work together to ensure that transformation continues. "We need the agreement and active involvement of all social partners if we are to build a stronger, more equitable and more vibrant economy," he is quoted as saying in an article on News24. However, has true transformation actually happened in South Africa?

Ramaphosa went on to outline the various measures that have been employed thus far to ensure transformation takes place, e.g. black economic empowerment (BEE). However, we still have a way to go as we need to improve infrastructure, youth development and our ability to harness technology.

In the September and October (2014) editions of People Dynamics (the official journal of the Institute of People Management) two articles on transformation were published. The objective of the articles is to find out – from both an employee's and employer's point of view – what they think that the barriers to transformation are.

What was interesting to note is that these two groups of people do not agree on the barriers to transformation: the employees (aged between 25 and 35) cited barriers such as gender and skills development while the employers tended to concentrate on racial issues.

So to answer the question of whether or not transformation is happening in South Africa, I think that it is happening on a superficial level. However, for it to be meaningful and long-lasting, both employers and employees need to work together – and work towards a common goal.

Lia Marus is the editor of HR Pulse. She has a BA in French, Italian and Linguistics from UCT, an MA in translation from Wits and a Postgraduate Diploma in Management from the Wits Business School. She is currently studying towards her LLB through Unisa. Lia started her career off in corporate communications, where she worked as a sub-editor, researcher and marketing coordinator. She then heeded the call of the publishing world and went into the business-to-business publishing field. She worked as a sub-editor as well as a chief sub-editor. Before joining ITWeb, she managed an HR guidebook at a leading international publishing company.