A contradictory class location? The African corporate middle class and the burden of race in South Africa

Abstract

The existing literature on the changing nature of workplaces in South Africa either ignores the role played by the emerging layer of black managers, or views them as essentially conservative or as 'sell-outs'. This article problematises this perspective in two ways. First, through Eric Olin Wright's notion of 'a contradictory class location', I show that a new middle class social status and power in the workplace is complicated by popular notions of how class and race intersect —both among fellow managers and how they are viewed by the primarily black workforces. Second, I show that the class position of the emerging African corporate middle class is closely linked to the communities that they come from and is influenced by decisions they make in relation to this. By considering how these managers experience living in the 'suburbs', we can better understand their contradictory class location and how this relates to issues of race and class. Based on 21 in-depth interviews with African managers in a range of industries, this exploratory study shows that far from just being conservative 'sell-outs', the emerging African corporate middle class has constantly to negotiate and re-negotiate its role and identity. It shows that they make different choices which are often informed by their social background. Those who come from a middle-class background tend to cut ties with their former communities, while those who come from working class and trade union backgrounds tend to maintain links with their communities. Indeed, some of these managers still see themselves as being part of the working class.

Introduction

Studies of workplace transformation in South Africa have established that the post-apartheid workplace regime is characterised by discontinuity and continuity. The latter refers to the reincarnation of some apartheid practices in the context brought about by the competing imperatives of the country's triple transition, ie, political democratisation, economic liberalisation and the deracialisation of society (Von Holdt 2003, Bezuidenhout 2004, Sallaz 2005, Webster and Von Holdt 2005). While the political and social aspects of the transition serve to facilitate a move towards racial redress in the workplace, global competition coming with economic transition makes it difficult for companies to prioritise racial redress within the workplace. The resultant conflict facilitates the emergence of a workplace regime characterised by continuities with the workplace regime of the past. The reincarnated elements of the apartheid workplace come in the form of the upward floating colour bar, an informal wage colour bar and the maintenance of white managerial domination. This has implications for the occupational mobility of black people. Black managers in the workplace have limited independence and power to perform their duties or challenge the status quo (Von Holdt 2003, Bezuidenhout 2004, Sallaz 2005). Despite these findings, there is little research which directly involves black managers.

Some of the studies referred to above look at how black managers understand their positions and roles in the context of transforming workplaces. Those broadly concerned with this stratum of society, such as Sallaz (2005), take little cognisance of black managers' class location, and how this location is embedded in their communities.¹ This article demonstrates that the reappraisal of the concept of a contradictory class location provides a more nuanced picture of the positions and roles of African managers both in their workplaces and communities. It is shown that while their economic position may qualify them to be in the middle-class category, African managers are barred from the associated influence and social status by the legacy of workplace regime and racial prejudice in South African society. Using interviews conducted with 21 African managers, this article shows that African managers' perceptions of structural obstacles to influence and genuine intermingling in the workplace leads them to assign themselves a political role which is independent of relations of production. It is partly because of this that most of these managers deny a label of the middle class. The latter is also caused by perceptions of African managers that they have limited impact in the workplace and that some...