Comments on: The race issue in South Africa’s Media/Marketing industry

By: nomad-one

nomad-one — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:43:04 +0000

@Gerry

Wow what a “comment” or rather should I say Essay. LOL

Firstly, lets look at a few of the issues you seem to think are reasons why the web industry should not be worked on to be more representative.

Web is not a high paying industry. Mmm, I don’t think this was ever paret of the conversation. We’re not necessary looking to get more people driving BMW 4X4’s but getting as many people employed in various fields as well as creating more representative industries which are more open to all people. The web industry, by camparison to what young job seekers are getting into would be a great place to be.

How many Lawyers & Doctors or Accountants do you think would be viable?

Web companies do not only hire designers & programmers, they hire all types of people from writers to project managers to sales people etc.

Access to information, or rather technology, is a huge factor. I know some young kids who could go out and earn a living straight out of school because they were exposed to computers. They were not just trained in design or web but in technology in general.

Our argument is never that it makes a difference to the end user who designed or programmed the site, though I have had some incidents myself where a client found out a non-white person designed his site and did an about turn and revoked his previous approvals.

The argument is about creating fair opportunities in all industries so that we can level the playing fields as the economic power in South Africa still belongs to a minority of White people who have historically controlled access to positions and decision making.

If we did an analysis of who owns what and who is in what position in South Africa, you will see what the aprtheid legacy has left behind it. This is our issue, it has nothing to do with the specifics of web design, or specific individuals.

The process of integration needs to take place and I find, most times those who complain about it are those who had and still do benefit from the unfair segregation of our society.

By: Gerry

Gerry — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:39:48 +0000

Khathutshelo makes a few VERY valid points that I’d like to sum up if I may:
1 – No one cares if a site was developed by a white or a black, a pink or a yellow, a male or a female, or a bloody androgynous transgender – does the site work? At the end of the day – thats what it is all about.
2 – Telkom is bleeding us dry. And not just Telkom – ANY bandwidth provider (Let me not get onto my soap-box about MTN 3G – I’ll get arrested for slander). But this is a self-fulfilling prophecy: Telkom (and others) will NEVER make bandwidth available cheaply. Because its not good business sense to do so. I’d love to know the figures of how much of any telecom provider’s bottom line is made up of bandwidth.
However, as a reborn capitalist and staunch libertarian, I cannot hold it against the providers, even though I have a monthly fight with MTN regarding their creative way of billing.
That does not kill the fact that we need access to information. And then we need people who can use that access to information.
Hypothesis: Assuming (always a dangerous thing) that all young white people have access to information – IE, the opportunity to access the internet either from school or home, how many of those people end up in the web industry? Heck, go back a step – how many of them can actually RUN a computer with any level of competence? (Having worked helpdesks in my life, I can tell you its a scary number!). so out of a shallow pool of people who can use a computer, how many of them will then go into web? And to do web design/development you need a very unique skillset of left- and right-brain capabilities. Show me another industry where you need to be both creative AND logical?
Point being is that even with the “elite” having access to all the resources, there is a pitiful amount of people who really CAN do web – and I’m not talking about the masses of “web designers” who can import clip-art into Dreamweaver, or *gasp* FrontPage, I’m talking about people who knows what the heck is going on.
Should we then by some minor miracle get access to the masses, we first need to then educate them into USING a computer, never mind using the web – and developing the web – esp. the enigmatic myth of web 2.0. Secondly, how many of the newly-liberated black people will choose web? It’s not a high-paying career, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar. As with any industry, there are a few fat cats who really made it, but let’s face it, unless you pull a Google or a YouTube, and remain a normal “designer”, you will never drive the BMW 4×4. Design is at the best of times a low-paying job, web may pay slightly better than pure design, but no one looking to pull themselves up out of poverty will aspire to web – that’s what accounting and law degrees are for. Invariably the fat cat at the top of name-your-web-company is not a designer or a developer, but rather a dinkum businessman who happens to be in the web industry (Same as every other industry).
Point being – if we want a “normalised” web building community, we first need a normalised society. And that, as we know, will take a generation or two. But my clients want websites now, not in a generation or two. And as such, we need to dip into our shallow resource pool and use what we got, and not get too hung up on BEE in this industry, and just get the job done.

Ka-ching, two cents.

By: nomad-one

nomad-one — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:02:25 +0000

@khathutshelo - thanks for your feedback, I agree passion needs to be part of the equation, and access to information is integral.

Changing of mindsets on all sides of the racial divide needs to take place as well though. People who are given opportunities need to appreciate them and use them as best they possibly can.

I do however feel that affirmative action has it’s place, but that it needs to be a supervised and closely managed process to ensure that it is practiced in a beneficial way.

By: khathutshelo

khathutshelo — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:58:08 +0000

Great post. This is a hard one..I am what the government classifies as “black” and I am a self taught designer/coder.

I was afforded the opportunity to learn what I do now through education. I was at UCT from 2000 and moved to Wits in 2004.

These institutions made the internet available at all times. Some chose to concentrate on MSN IM whilst a few of us used the opportunity to learn stuff.

I still remember the day I discovered HTML, I literally kissed Geocities website wizards goodbye and went about writing my own.

The truth is, we need access to information. With current internet costs, the situation is hopeless. For this reason the government should not impose any empowerment demands on our fragile industry.

I dig all great SA websites, I do not think about who coded it or who owns it. If the site looks good and works well then thumbs up.

We do not need BEE in our Web industry, we just need access to the internet. If the gov is serious about stuff, let them tackle our high internet charges.

I believe its that simple, please forgive my rant, I just feel strongly about the issue at hand

By: Ramon Thomas

Ramon Thomas — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:27:54 +0000

Hey Nur excellent post. I do not think we need another online social network. We are all on the major ones any ways. What we need is more face to face time. And maybe an open dialogue facilitated by someone we all respect. There is no crises only opportunities. I’m in Cape Town till Friday morning. In fact I have discussed the importance of a mastermind group with a few people although nothing has been formalised yet. This would allow us to move forward quickly in co-opetition or a collaborative environment.