It seems white women have made great strides in the workplace. To the point that some believe they no longer need priority support.
Call for white women to bow out of employment equity
White women should be struck off a list of groups recognised as previously disadvantaged in terms of the employment equity legislation, the Black Management Forum (BMF) said on Tuesday.

In its written submission to the National Assembly's portfolio committee on labour, the forum requested that the current employment equity legislation be amended to exclude white women as beneficiaries.

"We ... assert that white women bow out of employment equity and that this committee help institute amendments to the Employment Equity Act through a sunset clause [a provision that ends a power or programme] for white women," it read.

This would help re-focus targeting people with disabilities, black people and, in particular, black women, the organisation said.

Two months ago, Employment Equity Commission chairperson Jimmy Manyi suggested that white women, whom he said had surpassed their employment equity targets, should have their status reviewed.
full story from M&G here
The article goes on to list accusations against business, which really reflect the mindset of the parties. But there is a valid point to note in this. White women's lot has improved considerably. Perhaps prioritisation has worked.

But why the big strides among white women and the seeming dissatisfaction among other priority groups?

I'm inclined to disagree with the notion that it is out of racial preference. I'd suggest that business, being somewhat myopic about profits and the need for effectiveness, are far more interested in competence than race (or gender for that matter). There were some gender stereotypes that needed to be broken down. And maybe there's still some work to be done on that.

Clearly there are some racial stereotypes that still need to be broken down, and in my view that particular problem seems more glaring among Manyi and co. than monist business.

But surely the very success of white women under employment equity points to the fact that the real difficulty is elsewhere - competence, grounding, training, experience. In short, it's about being equipped.

So my question is:
Is the real obstacle to effective affirmative action (employment equity in particular) getting people equipped?