Is Transformation Just Replacement?

We are all very much aware of the word “transformation.” However, most people are not aware that transformation is about the reshuffling power, not healing or justice.

In a recent article for the Cape Argus, Professor Frantz from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) said of her experience as a Coloured woman in modern South Africa that, “here I am in 2025, still sidelined. Still tolds – subtly, systemically – that my skin is not the right shade for transformation.”

She joined UWC in 1996 and is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Innovation. From what I can work out, Frantz is an intelligent and respected woman in the Cape, someone that we should take notice of.

She continues in the article to say that transformation, “is meant to heal, to restore dignity, to normalise what was once distorted. But what we are calling ‘transformation’ in 2025 is too often just a reshuffling of power.”

Her choice of words, “reshuffling of power”, is interesting because it indicates what we can all see happening right before our very eyes. Transformation, also called social justice and equity, is about changing one group for another. In other words, replacement.

And in the context of her article, it is about replacing the Coloured and Khoi. We know this because she talks about the personal nature of “exclusion” and references the Coloured peoples (which in this article include the Khoi).

Another example of the reshuffling of power can be seen at the Simonstown Navy. If you have lived in the area for more than 15 years, you would have seen the replacement that has occurred. From what I can work out anecdotally, it appears that the number of Khoi and Coloured in the Navy has declined compared to a decade ago.

It is alleged, from a credible source, that the reshuffling of power has taken on a tribal element where, in at least one case, the person was not promoted because he is not a Xhosa. In other words, now that the Xhosa tribe is on top at the Navy, the replacement is about keeping one tribe in power.

How then should Frantz respond? What should the Khoi and Coloured peoples do? What should other minorities who are also being moved around, reshuffled, and replaced?

Frantz rightly acknowledges the “complexities” of southern Africa regarding cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity. Southern Africa is made up of a wide variety of tribes. What are we to do? Clearly the current South Africa is not working.

While there are many non-political solutions, from a political perspective what we need a political dispensation that is more viable for the peoples of Southern Africa. One that is decentralised. One that allows for the various cultural, ethnic and linguistic groups to function.

There is some good news, in that Ernst Roets and Lex Libertas are working towards such a goal. For the sake of your children and grandchildren, it is in your best interests to choose this path.