From Destitute to Plenitude: Breaking Through Barriers of Poverty
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About this ebook
In this book, author, Louiesa, writes about her triumphant entrepreneurial victory from an impoverished background. As a self-made entrepreneur, she identified and successfully pursued a business opportunity with her employer who granted her a rare chance to be placed on their panel as an external vendor (debt collector) before BEE became law. Although Louiesa treated her business partners as equal she did not receive the same reciprocation from them. Find out how laws are altered and manipulated to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. The possible reason why South Africa is unable to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor is scrutinized. Read about how the change in government policy on dividend taxation saved the day.
Journey with the author, as she faced numerous business challenges on her own, ranging from fraud to sexual harassment, cultural barriers, and external auditors investigating fraudulent payments. Follow her story of how she witnessed firsthand racism towards fellow panel members. Without legal qualifications or any help, she became the legal representative in court cases representing their business. Her carefully planned strategies resulted in arrests and imprisonment. Numerous other interesting stories are included to analyse and explain the overall life challenges and constraints that ordinary, poor and struggling South Africans face.
The reason why the South African white race could not be “pure” is also explored with ample examples. Find out how fair-skinned parents abandoned darker-skinned children and how a coloured child was born to white parents. South African legislation was intended to serve everybody. However, manipulation and alteration from its original meaning and intention resulted in benefiting the rich at the expense of the poor. Find out possible reasons why the author alleges poor people in South Africa became poorer due to the debt trap they found themselves in. The government is constantly changing the laws but finding it difficult to keep up with ongoing manipulation. The author identifies exploitation of the poor and the vulnerable by big businesses.
This is truly a remarkable journey in the life of Louiesa who did not allow poverty barriers to curb her success. Her dogged determination made it possible for her to succeed despite many obstacles that she sees as prohibitive poverty barriers to many ordinary South Africans. She believes that South Africa is the world’s most unequal society and it is difficult to manage constant manipulation. The author further shares interesting information about how one thousand South Africans were reclassified under what is today known as the chameleon dance.
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From Destitute to Plenitude - Helene Louiesa Mynhardt
From Destitute to Plenitude
Breaking through barriers of poverty
From Destitute to Plenitude
Breaking through barriers of poverty
Helene Louiesa Mynhardt
Trilogy part 2
Copyright © 2018 Helene Louiesa Mynhardt
Published by Helene Louiesa Mynhardt Publishing at Smashwords
First edition 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.
The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.
Published by Helene Louiesa Mynhardt using Reach Publishers’ services,
Edited by Lorna King for Reach Publishers
Cover designed by Reach Publishers
P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631
Website: www.reachpublishers.co.za
E-mail: reach@webstorm.co.za
Disclaimer
All surnames of characters have been omitted intentionally. The purpose and intention of writing this book is to highlight the difficult environment and plight of South African consumers. All incidents are factual and the author is of the opinion that these challenges are widespread and not limited to her experiences and interactions.
Dedication
To my husband, Harold, it is a pleasure to share my business, children, life and love with you.
When we first met, I promised to write my biography and it sounded like a pipe-dream. Well, here it is!
I wish to express my deepest love and appreciation for your unending support and encouragement when I embarked on my business venture. Your willingness to accept the possible loss of my income was a huge sacrifice that I highly appreciate. The long hours you spent working in the interest of the business without any compensation will be eternally memorialised. Thank you for being a good parent to our two beautiful daughters and stepping in to run the business when I was pre-occupied with my authorship and or business.
CONTENTS
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1. Racial Reclassification
Reclassification procedures:
Chapter 2. Sport
World Cup Rugby
2010 Soccer World Cup
Local and international Sporting victories:
Chapter 3. Blissful Marriage
Chapter 4. Launching Sterling Debt Recoveries
Chapter 5. Challenges
Chapter 6. Legislation
Citations
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to Standard Bank for granting me the opportunity of a lifetime: becoming a vendor on their vendor panel long before BEE became law. I could not have worked for a more ethical and caring employer during my lifetime. My life has been enriched by this kind gesture and rewarding career. I remain eternally appreciative.
To my business partners, Stanley and Michael: thanks for allowing me the freedom to develop and make important business decisions on my own. The freedom to make operational decisions the business required, assisted in my development of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Thank you for granting me this opportunity.
My gratitude goes out to all past and present employees of Sterling Debt Recoveries: without your dedication and commitment the business would never have succeeded and prospered. Thank you for your valuable contribution. Marilyn Van Der Merwe: thank you for ensuring that the financial earnings of Sterling Debt Recoveries are never compromised and that the business remains compliant with all current and new laws.
To the employees at Reach Publishers: Sally: thank you for your patience when dealing with my indecisiveness and constant changes. Your proposals and recommendations made publication possible. Catherine: your professional layout and creativity is appreciated. Lorna, thank you for your professional editing and strategies. You identified inconsistencies in my writing and made my book more reader-friendly and free of common errors. You paid attention to accuracy and detail when editing my work. Your advisement is cherished and appreciated. Warren: A big thank you for making my dream of becoming an author a reality in the most affordable way and not becoming frustrated with my endless enquiries. Your professionalism proves that you have every author’s best interest at heart. Your profitability takes backstage. Your main aim is to get affordable books published. This gesture is appreciated and welcomed.
Chapter 1
Racial Reclassification
In Nature's Gifts, author Wilmot James tells the story of the disregard of racial classification during the apartheid regime. Under the leadership of apartheid's first Minister of Home Affairs, Minister Eben Dönges, the Director of Census, Jan Raats, used racial description to prohibit as many South African citizens as possible, on the grounds of skin colour, from the state's benevolence which was intended for the white superior race only.
In order to assemble racial groups into categories, Dönges needed Raats to define the races
of South Africans in the Population Registration Act of 1950. He forged ahead to do so along the lines of physical outward appearances and societal acknowledgement – Europeans (meaning whites), Asians, coloureds, and Natives (meaning blacks). Dönges was challenged to deal with individuals who contested their racial classification and wanted to modify their classification after it was determined. There were thousands of non-whites with fair complexions and white friends. Thousands of light-skinned, coloured individuals swiftly moved into white neighbourhoods and befriended whites before the law was passed. Raats was left to execute this humongous task without any clear direction or specific guidance. He was commanded to prepare a comprehensive structure of racial classification in time for the 1951 census. This was urgently required for government departments to have exact figures of the population count. It was also required for government budgeting. State pensions (social grants) had to be paid and they needed to ensure the races were culturally cleaned and only the white population benefited from state resources. Any future reclassifications had to be delayed. While the delay was in progress, for periods of up to 14 months, individuals had to live their lives according to previous classifications. The outcome of the investigation would conclude that a person who attended school, was employed and used restroom facilities according to his previous race classification, after reclassification was denied on the basis of keeping the movement of coloureds to a minimum. Raats came up with the following definitions:
Asiatic means a person whose parents are, or were members of a race or tribe whose national or ethnical home is Asia, and shall include a person partly of Asiatic origin living as an Asiatic family, but shall not include any Jew, Syrian or Cape Malay.
Bantu means a person, both of whose parents are or were members of an aboriginal tribe of Africa, and shall include a person of mixed race living as a member of the Bantu
community, tribe, kraal or location, but shall not include any Bushmen, Griqua, Hottentot or Koranna.
Coloured means any person who is not a white person, Asiatic, Bantu or Cape Malay as defined, and shall include Bushmen, Griqua, Hottentot or Koranna.
A white person means a person both of whose parents are or were members of a race whose national to ethnical home is Europe (The NP were of the opinion that South African whites originated from Europe and even called them Europeans or Blankes) and shall include any Jew, Syrian or another person who is in appearance obviously a white person unless and until the contrary is proven. Raats was burdened with the formidable task of cleansing the already impure
white race. He had to restrict fair-skinned coloureds from mixing their blood with the pure
whites. According to Raats, the coloured population had a high fertility rate and should their population increase exponentially, the white race may become even more tainted
if they were allowed to be erroneously classified as white. Their high fertility (generative capacity) rate may mean that future white children may be contaminated with mixed-blood and their pureness may be questionable. He concluded that the process must progress instantaneously and only allow marginal cases where the individuals looked white to be classified as whites. According to Raats the problem already existed where some of the coloureds were classified as whites by the stroke of Dönges pen as far back as 1950. His prediction estimated that at least 10% of the white population consisted of coloureds who were inaccurately registered as white. Raats cited the case of Anthony Jooste who was a coloured teacher from Krugersdorp on the West Rand. Jooste presented his mother’s death certificate that recorded that she was a coloured. Her father’s (his grandfather) race was unknown. His marriage certificate indicated that both him and his wife were coloured but her death certificate stated her race as white. Her three children were classified as white and they attended white schools. Dönges accepted that all marginal white classifications should be accepted as such.
During apartheid, all South African citizens were classified under one of four main different classifications which were largely due to race and appearance of the individual, with further sub-classifications within these races. The legislators’ realised that trying to classify people scientifically or by some set biological standards would never work. So instead they defined race in terms of two measures – outward characteristic appearance and public perception (judgement).
Initially, the National Party Government had difficulty in deciding how to determine an individual’s racial classification. When census takers were doubtful of classifications, they resorted to the following criteria: The language(s) they spoke, their occupation, whether they had paid native taxes
in the past, their friends and relatives. They even went as far as questioning what type of food the person ate. These factors would give the census takers an indication of what race group the person belonged to. Race was based on economic and lifestyle differences, and public perception played an important role. Blacks living in Bophuthatswana were fluent in Afrikaans and many of them applied for reclassification as coloureds with much success.
In 1965 there was a case of a girl who had coloured looks
. Her name was Sandra Laing and she was allegedly born to two white Afrikaner parents, Sannie and Abraham Laing. The Laings ran a small business which was supported by black shoppers, but that did not make them liberal, as Abraham used to shout at Sannie when she conversed with black people in the store. Sandra was born in 1955, and although her parents noticed her appearance resembled that of a coloured person – with coarse hair and darker skin than the typical white person – her parents refused to accept they had a black child and raised her as a white. At the age of 10, Sandra was enrolled at a boarding school. There was an uproar from fellow students and parents who demanded her removal. They refused to have their children educated with a coloured child in their midst. The school reported her attendance and lack of white features to the authorities and upon further inspection, she failed the pencil test. She was reclassified as a coloured and expelled from the school. Her father – who was adamant she was his child – refused to accept this finding and offered to do a blood test to prove he was her father. He was outraged by any suggestion of African blood in his pure
family. Sandra looked coloured
to the people who saw her – but not to her parents.