louis goosens article on freeracer..

As for the following...and I don't belong to any assosiation..corporate person..

Turfontein..
has been on the cards for a long time..
budget was surely approved last year..
hence the work will happen this year...

Vaal sand..
quotes must be collected to fix the track...
then budget will take place..
then budget will be approved..
then work will be done next year..

Kimberley..
Pieter Miller Park as we call it..
We need the last stop...
were will we send the horses too..
zoo @R5 per kg..

Randjesfontein..
Towncouncil did not agree with afternoon meetings due to trafic..
maybe we should do Sunday 7 race meetings...
The horses are there..
restaurant is there..
Tote facilities are there..can be extended..

umlilo

I understand your fustration..
however... anger does not solve it..
I am an IT consultant, having done WORK in the BOARDROOM and at FLOOR level, at +72 of the JSE listed companies, and many of the parastatals such as Spoornet, Escom...
Your approach did not work...
We threw the white guys out,some deserved to be thrown out..... and the nett result can be seen..
think we need to find a golden midway...
It's like the swimming team...
we can't throw the white guys out, and put black guys in...
They need to learn to swim first...
the white guys are dropping out and the new generation will take over..look in the school swimming teams..

cant just open black bookmakers in every shebeen...the current bookies will stick them out...
need to go thru a process..
become bookmaker's clerks...most bookmaker were clerks before..
many are now bookmaker clerks...they will open their own when their time comes..

Andrewest:

I am not one for the tack of throwing the baby out with the water; I am not the least angry.

My stand is: there were agreements (albeit under duress) on the question of transformation; these were sabotaged. On the other hand, even fellow, progressive whites (many passionate & capable) within the industry have been side-lined & have disembarked.

Collectively, with input from such, together with Govt, we could have evolved an acceptable programme to have involved large numbers of blacks; not those who know zilch about a horse's tail from its head! After all, the sustainabilty of the industry has to incorporate a broader base of participants, of whatever hue.

This Govt keeps shouting transformation and AA, yet, remains deafeningly silent on this issue; that's what irks!

Umlilo I can understand where you coming from absolutely 100% and in my buss I have black employees who are unbelievable and earn the same as their white counterparts at senior levels..however try to be a little empathetic to us white guys feelings as well.

Many of us were not supportive of what went on during the rigorous apartheid regime..in fact many of us got nailed during our forced national service hell we had to go through..in fact my brother was so traumatised in Ladysmith Infantry he had severe trauma which has destroyed his life totally..hes never been able to leave the house we grew up in and has never been able to work..he has for the last 30 years had to sit and live on a grant watching my dad die and tries to help my mom who cant walk anymore survive.

I do however feel that certain corporates do not do enough to train black people and advance them through the management levels at the right pace..some try to force the pace and then have to deal with symptoms which arise through that approach.

Please note I am NOT saying that black people in general are not as clever or do not have the ability of white people..I have a black lady working with me who is a fully qualified degreed tutor matron..she is the best nursing sister and most qualified in the country and she herself tells me to go slow on moving her colleagues into increasingly responsible positions too fast.

Transformation is a fact of life and yes some move too slow and some move too fast..however I personally would rather not put undue pressure on a black guy or lady just because shes black..but rather develop together with him or her a solid foundation which will last them a life time 9and that goes for white people as well although I definitely look for a black person ahead due to my belief that they need to get the first chance.

Umlilo please take this as my personal view which may or may not be held by others..some of us who grew up in durban were able to speak Zulu fluently by the age of 10 and understand different cultures more than you might think.

I must also say a man in racing who I respect personally very highly is Cecil from Tellytrack and you are welcome to ask him as regards the discussions we have had over the past 2 years on this subject.

I apologise if any of my comments upset you up front as this is an emotional subject.

umlilo,

The rest of the global village transformed from FUNCTIONAL DRIVEN businesses to PROJECT DRIVEN businesses during the 1990's, and had completed the process by 2000.

FUNCTIONAL DRIVEN Business = many departments and lots of PERMANENT staff waiting for work...
PROJECT DRIVEN business = Project manager, No Permanent staff + contract staff per phase of the project....normally 1 month...because of billing..

In RSA we started this transformation process during the period 2004 till now..
Recall the ads on each lamp pole from 2004..Project Management..Boston..Intec..

During this transformation most PERMANENT STAFF members are retrenched, Labour Brokers spring up all over, staff are reskilled and become contract labour.

Spoornet during the late 1980's had 160,000 employees, now have less than 37,000 employees, transporting more goods, over longer distances, with more trucks and trains, with less staff....why...PROJECT DRIVEN BUSINESS...

Transnet Head Office until last year..Now ABSA bank..The woman knows what she is doing..transforming the businesses from FUNCTIONAL DRIVEN to PROJECT DRIVEN COMPANIES with little staff..

Unfortunatly in RSA, we employed more staff during the period 1994, till 2004.
We had to get the numbers right, to comply with the skills development, BEE, AA, EE etc....while the rest of the world were retenching the staff, due to the transformation process from FUNCTIONAL DRIVEN to PROJECT DRIVEN businesses..

Hence, in RSA we are feeling the effects of the TRANSFORMATION process now. The effects of the world credit crunch will hit RSA by 2011..

This year in RSA, from jan till March, 180,000 employees have been retrenched..
By dec it will be 1,000,000...employees that needs to be reskilled, the minds reprogrammed as contractors...the bank systems and processes redesigned to make provision for contractors in the credit application processes..

Singularity, Nanotechnology and Biotechnology is making inroads in Africa..
ie.. in 7 years from now, normal households will draw electricity from a solar panel on the roof, at +R10,000 for the entire household, 3 phase X 60 amps..
No electricity will be required from a national power grid such as ESCOM..
Not sure what they want the money for...what do they want to build..for who.....maybe they should look into the word "NANOTECHNOLOGY"..
SASOL...coal....who would want them...why...


So my friend...all promises made by whoever are all null and void..all of the current strongholds will fold in the next year or two...let them carry on...they cannot survive...unless they transform from FUNCTIONAL DRIVEN enterprises to PROJECT DRIVEN enterprises..

It's like war, which ever company makes it thru the war, will go on and become the next generation heroes..

gear yourself and walk away the winner...

Andrewest:

environmental influences certainly do mould people; I am also from Northern natal (Colenso) and schooled at Windosr High. Yes, ability to speak isi-Zulu is our strong-point and also gives us a degree of humanity.

When I think of my days as a kid that grew up amongst Coloureds, Africans, whites (my grand-mother's cousins), and Indians- soccer, cricket, fishing...brings back memories!

'Apartheid' did do us who have humanity within us a lot of harm by warping our thinking. However, many remained untainted by it and gelled into angels of empathy, if not direct involvement.

Indeed, there is a need for a change of mind-set amongst many on both sides. On closer examination, both sides are just as divisive as the other.

I am still waiting for a leader (black or white) who can consummate our new democracy to translate it into an organic, self-sustaining (oops!) embodiment, uniting all our people; not a mechanical, insensitive engine, that needs external inputs & maintenance to keep it going (or, collapsing)!

Just as much as your views you think are not shared by many whites, there are just as many blacks who think their views are not shared by others! People like you and myself cross that thresh-hold; I salute you! Amandla!

www.racingweb.co.za/2009/06/phumelela-re...s-to-goosens-column/

Maybe he could have posted a response on betting clan site aswell as there dont seem to be much debate on racingweb?

To be fair, the original article was published on RW, so the response should be on there as well?

Ofc its their article!thats why i said here "aswell"

Point taken, Hibs.

Master of spin, Mr Attenborough has off course picked up on some detail points which he could correct, but in my view ignored the general gist of the story.

One or two points that I would like to argue:

'Although it has never been our policy as Phumelela to debate the industry within the media'- Why not? Surely this is a way to inform the public what you are up to - or do you have something to hide?

'In response to the main body of Mr Goosen’s article regarding the operator’s alleged neglect of the weaker calibre of horse in the racing programme, we would point out that the programme is drawn up by a Joint Committee of the Racing Association and Phumelela, operating in terms of agreed “Principles and Criteria” which seek to provide a sensibly spaced sequence of races across all categories of horse over all distances' - I suggest that the members of this Joint Committee are not doing a good job, how else can you explain that in the 2 months spanning June and July, there is exactly one turf race over 1800 - 2000 metres scheduled for moderate fillies and mares?