Editing Affirmative action (section)

====South Africa====
{{See also|Black Economic Empowerment}}
Between 1948 and 1974, the [[apartheid]] government introduced statutes which enshrined racial discrimination in all areas of life. Individuals were classified in a racial hierarchy which placed whites at the top, followed by "[[Coloureds]]", 
then Asians or Indians, with black Africans at the bottom. Benefits were afforded based on this hierarchy, and favoured white-owned, especially [[Afrikaner]]-owned companies, which marginalised and excluded black people and limited their employment opportunities. Legislation meant that skilled and highly paid jobs were reserved for [[white people]], and black people were largely used as cheap, unskilled labour, creating and extending the "colour bar" in South African labour.<ref name="Thaver 2017">Thaver, Beverly. "Affirmative action in South Africa: The limits of history." In ''Race and Inequality'', pp. 167-186. Routledge, 2017.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/luli-35 |title=White Workers and the Colour Bar |publisher=Sahistory.org.za |access-date=31 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319002102/http://www.sahistory.org.za/luli-35 |archive-date=19 March 2014 |date=3 April 2011 }}</ref><ref name="africa">[http://www.economist.com/node/244570 Race, law and poverty in the new South Africa], The Economist, 30 September 1999</ref> The variation in skills and productivity between groups of people ultimately caused disparities in employment, occupation, and income within labour markets. Following the end of apartheid, affirmative action legislation aimed to address these disparities.<ref name=prob>{{cite web |last=Stokes|first= G. |date=15 March 2010 |title=The problem with affirmative action |url=http://www.fanews.co.za/article.asp?Front_Page_Features~25,Stokes_Stage~1145,The_problem_with_affirmative_action~7618 |publisher=Fanews.co.za}}</ref>

The [[African National Congress]]-led government chose to implement affirmative action legislation to correct previous imbalances (a policy known as employment equity), and fulfil the obligations of the Republic as a member of the International Labour Organisation.<ref name=prob/><ref name=aff>{{cite journal |last=Bergmann |first=B. |year=1999 |title=The continuing need for affirmative action |journal=The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance |volume=39 |issue=5 |pages=757–768 |doi=10.1016/S1062-9769(99)00027-7  |issn = 1062-9769 }}</ref> As a result of the [[Employment Equity Act]] and the [[Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment]] Act, companies were required to employ previously disenfranchised groups (blacks, [[Indian South Africans|Indians]], and Coloureds), as well as women and disabled people.<ref>[http://www.ecsecc.org/files/publications/120307130010.pdf Archived copy] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318215653/http://www.ecsecc.org/files/publications/120307130010.pdf|date=18 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southafrica.info/services/rights/employmentequity.htm |title=Employment Equity FAQ |publisher=Southafrica.info |access-date=11 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401103321/http://www.southafrica.info/services/rights/employmentequity.htm |archive-date=1 April 2012 }}</ref> 

Many have embraced these acts; others have criticised them.{{efn|<ref name=prob/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-02-03-bees-glass-slipper |title=BEE's Glass Slipper |date=3 February 2010 |publisher=Mg.co.za |access-date=11 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page292679?oid=346519&sn=2009+Detail+no+image&pid=295799 |title=BEE: A man made disaster |publisher=Moneyweb.co.za |access-date=11 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="fin24.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?ArticleId=1518-24_2564628 |title='SAB deal to enrich black elite': Fin24: Companies |publisher=Fin24 |access-date=29 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003093857/http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?ArticleId=1518-24_2564628 |archive-date=3 October 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5340048 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160516113211/http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5340048 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 May 2016 |title=Business Report – Home – Motlanthe warns BEE council has failed |publisher=Busrep.co.za |date=9 February 2010 |access-date=29 July 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-11-20-manyi-vows-to-get-tough-over-bee |title=Manyi vows to get tough over BEE – Mail & Guardian Online: The smart news source |date=20 November 2009 |publisher=Mg.co.za |access-date=29 July 2010}}</ref>}} Proponents have said that South African affirmative action legislation aims to promote economic growth rather than to redistribute wealth,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Franchi|first= V. |year=2003 |title=The racialization of affirmative action in organizational discourses: A case study of symbolic racism in post-apartheid South Africa |volume= 27 |issue= 2 |pages= 157–187 |journal= International Journal of Intercultural Relations |doi= 10.1016/S0147-1767(02)00091-3 }}</ref><ref name=info>{{cite web |title=Black economic empowerment. (n.d.) |url=http://www.southafrica.info/business/trends/empowerment/bee.htm |publisher=Southafrica.info |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101222356/http://southafrica.info/business/trends/empowerment/bee.htm |archive-date=1 November 2012 }}</ref> address [[Wealth inequality in South Africa|vast racial inequalities]] in wealth and income,<ref name="Shai 2019">{{Cite journal|last1=Shai|first1=Lerato|last2=Molefinyana|first2=Comfort|last3=Quinot|first3=Geo|date=2019-12-13|title=Public Procurement in the Context of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) in South Africa—Lessons Learned for Sustainable Public Procurement|journal=Sustainability|volume=11|issue=24|pages=7164|doi=10.3390/su11247164|issn=2071-1050|doi-access=free}}</ref>  and to restore equal access to the benefits of society.<ref name=prob/> Critics suggest these laws limit the free market, raise costs, reduce economic growth, and advantage the black middle class over poorer blacks and other groups.<ref name=aff/><ref name=dem>{{cite web|last=Edigheji |first=O. |year=2006 |title=Affirmative action and state capacity in a democratic South Africa. Policy: issues & actors, 20(4) |url=http://cps.org.za/cps%20pdf/pia20_4.pdf |website=cps.org.za |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519150723/http://cps.org.za/cps%20pdf/pia20_4.pdf |archive-date=19 May 2014 }}</ref><ref name=culture>Goga, F. (n.d.). ''A critique of affirmative action: The concept''. Retrieved from {{cite web|url=http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/index.php |title=Culture, Communication and Media Studies - Home |access-date=5 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622114513/http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/index.php |archive-date=22 June 2012 }}</ref> The [[Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa]] ruled that while blacks may be favoured in principle, in practice this should not lead to unfair discrimination against others.<ref name="africa" />