Freddie Nyathela fights on
The South African Roadies Association (SARA) is working to address ongoing racial discrimination in the live production industry. Despite the end of apartheid, black technicians still face significant barriers to training and employment.
Why it matters
It highlights the lingering socio-economic impacts of apartheid and the challenges of achieving true equality in the South African labor market.
Black crew in South Africa STILL face discrimination
In Johannesburg’s Newtown Cultural Precinct, the South African Roadies Association (SARA) occupies a two-storey building dedicated to something that should no longer be remarkable: training young black South Africans to work as skilled technicians in their country’s live production industry.
Yet more than three decades after the end of apartheid, SARA says black technical crew still face barriers to training and employment that should have disappeared with the old regime.
The history matters. The white minority government of F. W. de Klerk began dismantling apartheid from 1990, and Nelson Mandela won the 1994 election to form South Africa’s first democratic government amid international celebration.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in