This article was first published by Business Brief in the February/March 2025 issue
South Africa’s fixation on race is destroying its potential. History has repeatedly shown that systems designed to dominate one group inevitably ensnare those who impose them. Oppressors, in seeking control, create mechanisms that eventually restrict their own freedom and progress. This truth, powerfully articulated by Friedrich Hayek, explained not only apartheid’s failures but also the flaws in today’s race-based policies.
Apartheid was built on the illusion that white South Africans could secure their future by subjugating the majority. Instead, it eroded the moral fabric of society, suppressed economic growth, and trapped white South Africans in a state of dependency on state protections. Modern policies such as Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and racial quotas, though intended to right the wrongs of apartheid, perpetuate the same logic, undermining prosperity, and liberty for everyone.
Apartheid’s trap of self-oppression
Apartheid inflicted immense suffering on black South Africans, depriving them of opportunities and dignity. Yet it also undermined the very people it claimed to protect. By shielding white workers and businesses from competition, apartheid foisted complacency, inefficiency, and economic stagnation upon them.
Thomas Sowell explained this dynamic clearly: “When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination.” Apartheid created a false sense of entitlement among white South Africans, leaving many of them unprepared for the realities of a competitive economy when the system collapsed.
Today, we see a similar pattern emerging. Race-based policies aimed at empowerment have, instead, entrenched inefficiency and mediocrity. Businesses are burdened by compliance costs, rather than focusing on innovation and growth. Talented individuals—both black and white—find their achievements overshadowed by questions of quotas rather than merit.
Modern policies: New forms of oppression
Policies like BEE have enriched a politically connected elite, while doing little to uplift the majority. Quotas in hiring, education and sport have lowered standards, driven skilled professionals out of the country and fostered resentment. The oppressed are denied genuine empowerment, while those who benefit from the system inherit a society that is increasingly divided, stagnant and poor.
Walter Williams described these interventions as a “soft tyranny,” whereby the very policies intended to uplift the disadvantaged instead strip them of agency and the ability to thrive independently. In South Africa this tyranny manifests in a system that fosters dependency and resentment, rewarding compliance with bureaucratic dictates over genuine achievement. By prioritising racial outcomes, these policies undermine initiative, stifle ambition, and trap society in a cycle of mediocrity rather than progress.
Hayek’s warning on collectivism
Hayek warned that collectivist systems, built on categories like race or class, inevitably undermine the freedom and progress of everyone involved. His insight was that true prosperity emerges from individual initiative, competition, and the freedom to succeed or fail based on merit.
South Africa today stands as a cautionary tale of what happens when policies are driven by resentment rather than by a vision for progress. Race-based policies, instead of fostering excellence, have entrenched mistrust and mediocrity, driving talent away and weakening the economy.
Nelson Mandela’s words resonate here: “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” Policies shaped by resentment do not empower; they divide and destroy. The result is a fractured society where mistrust replaces cooperation and opportunity is squandered.
Breaking the cycle
South Africa must abandon race-based policies and embrace reforms that empower individuals, not groups. The focus must shift to removing barriers to opportunity for all, fostering a society where individuals are judged by their abilities and contributions rather than their race.
Examples from economically free nations like Singapore and Switzerland show that prosperity comes from fostering individual freedom and competition, not from dividing people into racial categories. These countries have created environments where talent thrives, regardless of background, by focusing on opportunity and innovation rather than racial engineering.
Lessons from the past
Having lived through apartheid, I have seen how systems based on race destroy societies. Apartheid denied black South Africans their freedom and dignity while fostering inefficiency and entitlement among whites. When apartheid ended, I hoped we had learned to move beyond racial thinking. Instead, we have embraced it under new names, repeating the mistakes of the past.
Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of a world where people are judged “not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.” This vision remains unrealised in South Africa, where race continues to dominate policy.
To break free from this cycle, South Africa must reject racial categories entirely. A society that values individuals for their contributions rather than their identity is one that fosters unity and prosperity.
It is time to let go of the failed ideologies of the past. Only by embracing freedom, competition, and merit can South Africa build a future where every citizen can thrive.
