Imports

In preparation for moving into our new flat, we have been buying things.  Some fun things, like food, kitchen supplies and curtains, but also a lot of mundane necessities like trash bins and cleaning supplies – the kind of stuff that adds up in cost at a rather frightening pace, but doesn't give you much satisfaction in return.

 

We did have an interesting experience in the process of finding all of these things.  Tucked into a commercial block just a few doors down from the place with sketchy used refrigerators (we looked...) is a little store called “The Happy 5 Rand.”  The name is entertaining, but it closely resembles any dollar store in the States – lots of cheaply made and cheaply priced goods ranging from toys to toiletries* to tupperware. 

 *I believe this is where you find things like the “Crest” toothpaste not actually made by Crest that was recalled for having anti-freeze in it...

 

There is one significant difference between this store and its counterparts back home.  Take a look at the store's sign:

 

This store freely admits, and even advertises, that its goods are made in China, where a similar U.S. store would probably sell dish towels with American flags stitched on them.  There is no deception here, and for good reason – the proprietors and employees are of Chinese descent.  There is even a small television in the store that plays Chinese horror movies.

 

We have been in South Africa for less than three weeks, so we don't want to pretend to be experts on the country's economic complexities, but this store was an interesting piece of the picture we've been getting from talking to people here and reading the news.  As in the States, Chinese imports have decimated South African manufacturing, especially the textile industry.  Working conditions are much better here than in China, but labor is still quite inexpensive.  The factor that tips the balance in favor of China seems to be productivity.  Some people point to the recent history of apartheid and say that under that system of forced labor, employees were unproductive as a form of resistance, and that “work-ethic” has been passed down.  Whatever the reason, South African industries have a hard time competing.

 

Here's the irony: about a month ago, South Africans of Chinese descent petitioned and were granted their request to be legally considered “Black”.  This decision has nothing to do with race persay – it has strictly economic implications.  South Africa has recently implemented an affirmative action system called Black Economic Empowerment, or BEE.  The codes that govern BEE mandate percentages of black ownership, and participation in upper levels of management, and other measures of economic advancement and equality.  Chinese South Africans succeeded in arguing that they had been the victims of similar oppression under apartheid and that they deserved similar economic reparations.

 

We are still trying to figure out how this works.  Would a Chinese person (or for that matter a black person) have to prove that they or their parents were actually affected by apartheid (i.e. were in the country at the time) in order to benefit, or could someone from China or an African-American from New York move to South Africa and receive the same treatment?  It seems a little scary that the South African government might be mandating special benefits on the inside to those from a country that is destroying their economy from the outside.