Decolonize The Workplace

 

The fact that the South AFrican corporate environment is bias against African people is one that cannot be disputed by a mentally fit person. It is well known in South Africa that for one to survive in this vicious corporate environment you will have to lose your identity together with your African morals and values. And we have been prepared to make such sacrifices from primary schooling level where teachers never allowed us to keep our Afro's. We have been taught from school that a Gentleman cuts his hair yet that was only if he is a black child. It then became easy for us to accept these standards by the time we joined the work force. One knew that the chances of passing an interview with a uncombed clean afro were very very slim so you had better shave your hair, preferably go bald, that increased your chances of passing the interview.

Every year, the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic community celebrate/observe certain days that are of significance in their religious communities and many companies have special leafs for such days. The Christians and Jews are given day offs on their Easter Holidays, Christmas and others, the Islamic community are allowed to take a paid day off to observe their Eid Mubarak. Yet Africans are not given paid day offs to celebrate/observe special days/events like Kwanza, Inkosi Yom'hlanga, or a cleansing ceremony at home. Is this not workplace apartheid?

Africans do not heal a sickness the same way westerns heal a sickness and so our doctors are not the same. In the whole colonized African continent, western doctors are more recognized and trusted by companies/institutions more than the African traditional doctors whose practices are also negatively viewed by followers of mainstream Christian churches who are executives in many companies. This makes it hard for a sick African employee who wishes to take a day off so that she can go seek help from a traditional healer to do so because sick notes from traditional healers are not recognized by employers. This forces an African to go to a western doctor and make his sickness worse instead.

When one takes a deeper look at this segregation of Africans in the workplace, it can be concluded that this is a wider colonialism scheme which seeks to get rid of the African Identity and leave behind confused black skins which will go on and aspire to be white so that they can live a better life. Africans can not be better without their identity, values and beliefs. Our hair is as important as our soul/soil, our dress code, and our religious ceremonies. All institutions and companies that operate in the African continent should value and appreciate our being, our culture, our identity instead of oppressing them and in that way we will be of better service to ourselves and to the rest of the world.

Institutions of learning, policy makers and the civil society should make efforts to decolonize every institution, especially the workplace. Because as I pointed out earlier on, we are taught from primary school that our Africanism is not good enough, so we need to start there, start telling the younger ones that their Africanism is good enough and they will go on and stand for themselves and eventually be accepted for who they are. Africans should be allowed to take day offs to do their cultural ceremonies and observe their special days. Spiritually gifted individuals should be designated places where they can burn incense or light candles at school and at work. Decolonize the workplace and you shall see a booming South African economy.