Was shocked to see wazungu destitute 'homeless" looking fellows in Johannesburg like seven years ago, then i remembered how when i was a kid in Nairobi, there used to be wahindi beggars back then, infact it is said they introduced begging, poverty is not a race thing it's out of stupidity.

They are victims of stupidity, just like every other poor person is a victim of stupidity, or "ujinga", it is not a race thing, and am not calling the poor stupid, people are equal, but where there is a lot of stupidity, or ujinga, there is also a lot of poverty.

Was shocked to see wazungu destitute 'homeless" looking fellows in Johannesburg like seven years ago, then i remembered how when i was a kid in Nairobi, there used to be wahindi beggars back then, infact it is said they introduced begging, poverty is not a race thing it's out of stupidity.

They are victims of stupidity, just like every other poor person is a victim of stupidity, or "ujinga", it is not a race thing, and am not calling the poor stupid, people are equal, but where there is a lot of stupidity, or ujinga, there is also a lot of poverty.

Wamefika. lakini now a Rand to the Kshs is 1:7, few years back it was 1:15

I am looking at my boy (who is the same age as those barefoot white kids hapo juu) as he alternates between playing games on his PlayStation and iPad, and wondering if i was in power should i cede power and condemn him to a life of poverty in the slums like those white kids? NB the objective of every parent is to ensure that his offspring have a better life than he did. I think Mandela duped the whites that south Africans were to build a just rainbow nation only for the blacks to throw the whites into the gutter/slums under the guise of black empowerment. De Klerk made a terrible mistake to trust Mandela. And the results are evident - slum dwelling whites. If they knew that this is what would befall them, wangekaa ngumu like whites in australia, New Zealand, canada and US.

After the transition from Apartheid in 1994, it was decided by the government of the African National Congress that direct intervention in the redistribution of assets and opportunities was needed to resolve the economic disparities created by Apartheid policies which had favoured white business owners. Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) intended to transform the economy to be representative of the demographics, specifically race demographics of the country.

Critics argue that BEE's aim was to attempt to create equality of the workforce of South Africa as a whole by enforcing the advantaging of the previously disadvantaged and the disadvantaging the previously advantaged. This results in businesses having to consider the race and social background of any potential applicant instead of making decisions purely based on qualifications and experience, resulting in a system in which one's race is often the determining factor in finding employment.

Instead of using this type of policy, it has been shown by critics that a policy of qualification equality should be used. This would allow businesses to focus on employing the person with the highest qualifications, the most experience and the best recommendations. To allow previously disadvantaged individuals to achieve these qualifications and experience, critics of BEE say that the government should place more emphasis on secondary and tertiary education, as well as subsidising companies wishing to employ entry level applicants, or fund tertiary education for students from previously disadvantaged communities.

BEE has also been criticised for creating a brain drain, where the qualified white expertise is emigrating to countries where they would not be discriminated against. Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi is a strong critic of BEE and supports this view. He has stated that "the government's reckless implementation of the affirmative action policy is forcing many white people to leave the country in search of work, creating a skills shortage crisis". Warning that South Africa is sitting on a "powder keg," Archbishop Desmond Tutu argued that Black Economic Empowerment only serves a few black elite, leaving millions in "dehumanising poverty".

I am looking at my boy (who is the same age as those barefoot white kids hapo juu) as he alternates between playing games on his PlayStation and iPad, and wondering if i was in power should i cede power and condemn him to a life of poverty in the slums like those white kids? NB the objective of every parent is to ensure that his offspring have a better life than he did. I think Mandela duped the whites that south Africans were to build a just rainbow nation only for the blacks to throw the whites into the gutter/slums under the guise of black empowerment. De Klerk made a terrible mistake to trust Mandela. And the results are evident - slum dwelling whites. If they knew that this is what would befall them, wangekaa ngumu like whites in australia, New Zealand, canada and US.