Inequality Before the Law

Inequality Before the Law

Chapter two of the South African Bill of Rights states, “Everyone is equal before the law.” No matter what race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnicity, social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language, or birth, you are to be treated as an equal before the law, the state, the community, and no one may compromise this right. Yet the unemployment rate for Africans is fifty percent while that of whites is ten percent. In each ethnicity unemployment in women is approximately twelve percent higher than men, and younger applicants are less likely to be accepted for a job position than those older. (Bhorat). So what is keeping South Africa from truly achieving equal opportunity for all? The answer, it turns out, is far more complicated than unemployment rates.

It began the moment the whites colonized South Africa and took advantage of the natives. With the apartheid laws, discrimination inflated drastically and any trace of hope for equality was dashed for decades. Then Nelson Mandela came and stole the hearts of the South Africans and the government enforced racism was eventually abolished. However, despite the anti-apartheid movement and the destruction of those entirely unfair regulations, the remnants of inequity are still plaguing South Africa with tampered unemployment rates and leftover discrimination. The apartheid passed but as the intolerance of race fell away into rigid social rank, it was replaced with prejudice against the lower classes (Heintz). According to the African News Service, affirmative action laws are not permitted by the South African constitution. However, multiple corporations use it in order to combat the educational and unemployment problems in the country. Organizations are forced to contest inequality in the country with unconstitutional solutions. With these policies, the people can battle unwitting discrimination and give minorities equal opportunities to those of the majority (Service).

In spite of these apparent actions, majority of people are reluctant to even attempt to fix the problems because one, it does not directly affect them, two, the law has supposedly already addressed it, and three, for those who do realize it they cannot do anything to resolve it. The white majority are not affected by discrimination, and therefore they cannot empathize with the struggles of those whose rights are being infringed upon, so they do not feel compelled to act. Others cite the equality clause that condemns racism and verifies the government’s support of equal opportunity (Service). Furthermore, inequality is such an amplified problem that those who feel the compassion toward the victims of it are afraid that they can do little to solve the fact and are unwilling to put effort into such a bottomless problem. Inequality begets inequality.

South Africa is plagued by discrimination despite the law that prohibits it and the apparent lack of tangible segregation. The residual effects of the apartheid laws in South Africa are causing extensive discrimination between social communities. Because some are apathetic, and the problem is so enormous, few are willing to even attempt to tackle the problem, thus inequality continues to grow and deepen, until there is nothing but the high and privileged, and the low and poor.

Works Cited

Bhorat, Haroon. "Unemployment in South Africa Descriptors and Determinants." South Africa. 4 Mar. 2016.

Heintz, James. "GIC | Article." Jeremy Seekings and Nicoli Nattrass (2006) Class, Race, and Inequality in South Africa. Transformation 64 (2007). Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

Service, Africa News. "Can the Constitution Respond to the Challenge of Addressing South Africa's Inequality? [interview] - Student Resources in Context." Gale Student Resources in Context. Gale Group, 4 Sept. 2014. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.