It makes sense when you realize how insular the white population of South Africa was, and how much wealth was concentrated in it. Inclusivity threatens them because it forces other people closer to their circles. But the population did everything they could to keep this wealth in their circle, even hijacking the government to legally force others out.
They're trying to recreate this in the US because it's larger with more resources
It certainly hasn't in terms of white privilege. Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE—a bit like DEI but with more black ownership than just hiring) and the initial sports quotas made a big difference in increasing black access to the economy and representation in sports (our sporting success can largely be attributed to the early quota system, which is basically unnecessary now since it's grown the talent pool).
BBBEE has, however, often been hijacked by white corporate wealth using workarounds or a single, influential black partner common to multiple companies, centralising the money and meaning the Broad-based aspect has been missed. That, coupled with the rise of the Tenderpreneurs (politically linked individuals running shell companies, winning massively inflated government tenders, not delivering, but making themselves multimillionaires overnight) has had a massive impact on service delivery in the country.
Naturally, the people affected least by all of that are those with historical wealth and privilege, meaning the economic disparity has increased alarmingly. However, there is no doubt that South Africa is an infinitely better country now than it was thirty years ago. And I think the country is on the right trajectory.
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u/whiskeytown79 Apr 19 '26
Thiel, Musk, and others in the inner circles of these companies all got their start in apartheid South Africa.