Friday 12 February 2016

'We are all equal"


Jaun-Luc Krylo Cronje
 recently wrote, "...race and gender has no bounds. We are all equal, we are all gamers and lastly ANYONE can join a clan and play competitively as long as the person can do one thing....."

If only...

The problem with many middle-class South Africans is that they do not really understand the problems facing South Africa.

Currently, there are 8,500,000 South Africans unemployed with another 16,000,000 who receive social grants, and that is out of a population of 55,000,000 where half the population is below the age of 18.

Thus, if these figures are correct South Africa has an unemployment rate in excess of 80%.

Just driving from  Cape Town International Airport and passing rows and rows of low-cost housing and squatter camps, only a person blind to the inequities of South African society would think that we all equal.

While many middle-class gamers are moaning that they do not yet have FFTH supplied to their homes, there are many people going to sleep hungry. I also state going 'to sleep' as opposed ti going 'to bed' as many South Africans do not even have a bed, a pillow, or a mattress.

How can a person who begins life in such poverty then compete equally against a person who has never known want, malnutrition, safety, or the lack of all modern technology?

Imagine you are standing at the bottom of a well in a large estate. Your thoughts are not about the mansion on the property or the abundance of food that  the estate produces. Instead your thoughts are almost entirely focused on getting out of the well. However, without an external force, it is impossible to get out of the well.

The owner of the estate can say, "We are all equal", but clearly we are not!

With the high  levels of unemployment, the low levels of education, and the poor services rendered to  so many South Africans, it is going to take herculean efforts to raise the  levels of the majority of  South Africans to ensure that all South Africans are  equal.

When you watch the privately owned tournaments the disparity becomes even more pronounced.

It is quite clear that  only Mind Sports South Africa is the only body in eSports that is really concerned with transformation and development.

The private companies involved in eSports in South Africa seem to  be  quite content with keeping the status quo by saying that  every  gamer  has the same chance. 


However, as seen in the above, we can  see that the vast majority of South Africans will never have a chance unless someone lends a helping hand and goes the extra mile.

It could too be argued that any organisation that does not participate in transformation and development is a dinosaur as their bodies will become less-and-less popular, and will, eventually disappear.

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