If I had Wings

ETV-News last night featured an item showing a parade where a new commanding officer of a South African Air Force helicopter squadron assumed command. I noticed that the camera showed the new CO – an ex schoolteacher – in head-and-shoulder shots only - and carefully so. I suspect that he does not have his ‘wings’ and is not a qualified air-force pilot.

The new norm! I think we also have some commodores in the navy who have never been to sea and man armour-plated desks aboard a stone-frigate in Pretoria.

Leading from the Back?

No Ball!

Western Province spin bowler Claude Henderson has decided to quit the South African cricket scene and move to England. This he claims will secure his professional cricket career.

Henderson is rated by the experts as the best spin bowler in SA and yet he cannot secure a berth in the national team. This is, no doubt, because affirmative action decrees that Paul Adams and Robin Peterson be selected ahead of him. Yet Adams can’t get a game for his province’s first team and Peterson is described by New Zealand commentators as a ‘an average club player’ (The best rejoinder national selector Omar Henry could muster was ‘He’s a damn good club player!!’)

South Africa is a sport-mad country and the loss of another sportsman is noticeable and the subject of much mournful debate whilst quaffing beer at the local. More importantly but less noticeable and less discussed is that hundreds of thousands of well-qualified young and not-so-young South Africans have also found themselves in the same position as Henderson but in the world of the professions and business. They have already left – or are in the process of leaving - taking with them the skills acquired at local expense and are now making their contributions elsewhere.

The flight continues unabated.

Returning to sport our President endorsed the quota system by saying that ‘winning isn’t everything’. So then what of the world of business, trade, professions, academia and research? Is excellence and therefore ‘winning’ also of no importance? The answer must be that striving for excellence has to be our on-going ambition. This can only be achieved by nurturing and retaining the only true sustainable resource – our most talented and skilful people.

Affirmative action is also unusual in SA as the majority deems it necessary to advance itself. After 10 years of the new democracy has this not become demeaning and self-denigrating? Apart from this aside the policy was undoubtedly desirable and necessary at the new dawn. Affirmative action, however, must now be reviewed and accorded a set life span before it’s too late.