This is what our advertisement looks like this year for our internship intake. At face value this may seem like a bit of a racist thing to do, but when examined in context it becomes clear why every year more white owned SMME's does this.
Firstly, lets look at some background. The DTI has various schemes for grants and investment oppertunities, and allthought the idea is very noble it still has some serious flaws. If you go to their website or any other government organisation that deal with these matters the first thing you will notice is the following words : BBEEE and BLACK.
Now, I do understand that there must be some kind of action to address the imbalances of the past, but in my mind even these actions must be balanced.
Our company has been developing training software solutions for almost 8 years, and when we decided to extend our products to smaller markets (schools and collages) we approached various government departments for help. We did not ask for free money! Instead we offered to do internships by utilizing the avaliable grants so wideley advertised by the ANC.
We wanted human capital!.... the outcome? you guessed it.. Sorry Sir, your company is white owned!
The next thing you do as a business owner is to re-evaluate what you might consider the "right thing to do". Our company pays Taxes, Vat and several levies. If my company is good enough to fill the coffers of the ANC and our corrupt government, surely it should be good enough to participate in these schemes? By excluding a certain part of the business world, they are compounding the so called inequity problem.
All I can say is that I have worked my hands to the bone to build my business, without any help from anyone or even apartheid. I will stand up today and say "I TRIED!" - but our government excluded me from doing my bit, from creating skills and employment. DO NOT come back later and say I don't do my bit.
From here on we will do it the African way...the withe African looking after his own, and only his own!
Please feel free to read my previous article about why the economy is still overwhelmingly white owned
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