BREATHING LIFE INTO THE NDP

SOUTH Africans currently face what one might consider a serious predicament. We all seem interested in moving forward, creating a better life, building a great nation, but are torn on how to get to this Promised Land, precisely because while others are talking to the future, our country seems to be drowning in the present.

We are confronted with so much, from claims of state capture, to Guptaleaks, to countless no-confidence motions and virtually every other man-made crisis you can think of.  Just the thought of it all makes achieving progress seem overwhelming. Despite it all, we have little choice but to pursue progress in the interest of our nation, our collective future and that of the next generations. As Oscar Wilde put it, “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”. 

The adoption of the National Development Plan (NPD) in 2012 as a blueprint for government planning, for a moment heralded a sense of hope and ample opportunity for South Africans across all divides. In particular, it presented hope for millions experiencing poverty, characterised by high levels of inequality, lack of opportunity and joblessness.

Its adoption signaled the unfolding of a roadmap towards the socio-economic development. The moment almost resembled and carried with it hopes and aspirations similar to those created by the Reconstruction and Development Programme ("RDP"). At the core of the RDP was an integrated, coherent socio-economic policy aimed at mobilising citizens as well as the country’s resources towards building a democratic and prosperous nation. 

The NDP sought to carry the same sentiment. In its foreword it makes the point that SA belongs to all its people and the future of our country is our collective future. Making it work is also our collective responsibility.

The NDP is essentially a plan to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030 through uniting South Africans, unleashing the energies of citizens, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capability of the state and leaders working together to solve complex problems. Among its targets is the creation of 11-million jobs by 2030. Key economic targets include increasing the investment rate to 25% of the GDP by 2019 and reducing official unemployment to 14% by 2020.

Five years after its adoption, and with 13 years to its expiry, the country seems – despite the bold assertions made – to be stagnating if not regressing. A few months ago SA entered a technical recession. Contrary to creating much needed job opportunities, it haemorrhaged jobs.

Of great concern is that at the centre of these challenges continues to be a peculiar stand-off between the most important role players – government, business and communities. This, at the time when they ought to be working together towards finding common solutions.

To illustrate the point, I draw attention to the quagmire around the adoption and or lack thereof, of the revised Mining Charter, now a bone of contention between government, the mining sector and communities.

The latest Mining Charter released by the Mineral Resources Ministry has drawn so much condemnation from business that it is now the subject of a court battle between the ministry and the Chamber of Mines. The revised Charter is straining relations in a sector already under strain as is seen through the large volumes of job losses.

Since 2012, an estimated 70000 jobs have been lost in mining. Just a few weeks ago, Sibanye Gold announced it could cut 7400 jobs at its Beatrix West and Cooke operations. This was against the backdrop of an announcement by AngloGold Ashanti that it was looking to cut 8500 jobs at two of its local mines. Meanwhile Bokoni platinum mine in Limpopo plans to retrench up to 2651 employees.

Private sector blames government for political instability, policy uncertainty and senseless decision-making. Government blames business for a lack of patriotism and interest and an inability to transform the economy.

And as the adage goes, when two elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers. According to Stats SA’s Quarterly Labour Force Survey, national unemployment in the first quarter of 2017 increased by 1.2 of a percentage point to 27.7%, the highest figure since September 2003.

As conceded by the Statistician-General Pali Lehohla, by any means, the gap between the unemployment rate as envisaged in the NDP and the current rate is widening.

As the sideshows continue, the jobs bloodbath goes on unabated. It is India’s Mahatma Gandhi who reminds us, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. That’s a situation we ought to avoid at all costs. We need to adopt collective and dual strategies to deal with the political and economic challenges while breathing life into the only strategic document that still carries the potential to deliver us into our Promised Land.

We must continuously echo the sentiment that SA’s progress rests on the ability of government, business, labour and communities to work together. National interest must transcend sectoral and individual interest and deliver hope and opportunity to the most vulnerable; if not we are in for an inevitably nasty time – the type alluded to by Jean-Jacques Rousseau when he said, “When the people shall have nothing more to eat, but the rich”.

It’s time to turn to the NDP into a people’s contract, to move it from a plan, to a national action and let everyone reap its rewards.

Sango Ntsaluba is Executive Chairman of NMT Capital; Co-founded

SizweNtsalubaGobodo and Co-founder of venture Capital firm WZCapital.

Power to the people

August 2015

When I was in Abu Dhabi recently, specifically on 6 August 2015, I had time to page through a publication titled “Philanthropy Age” Issue 8, June-August 2015. The sub title (in case that matters) was “Power to the people".

The two sections that caught my eye were the one with interesting statistics under the section “Bright young things"(pg 13) and the other one under the section "The world in 2025" (pg 26).  I have to say, for completeness, that the publication is looking more at this part of the world.

“Bright young things"

“According to a poll of more than 2500 global entrepreneurs, the Middle East and South Asia region offers fertile ground for start-ups". It continues that Turkey and India, by way of example, outrank mature markets such as the United Kingdom and United States of America when it comes to supporting entrepreneurial activities. The same section refers to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) which shows that there is an emergence of New Wealth Builders (NWBs) which is influenced by changing patterns of prosperity. NWBs are those with assets between $100 000 and $2million. The NWBs, according to the EIU, hold around $88 trillion globally, expected to be about $145 trillion by 2020.

“The age at which entrepreneurial urge kicks in is falling. Entrepreneurs who are 60 years old today first considered going into business when they were 37 years old. Current business-savvy youth, in contrast, start out at an average of 30 years and one month"

“The world in 2025"

The contributors to this section offer their predictions on how the industry (should we say the world) will change “for good or bad over the next decade".

“Gender: closing the gap”

"Worldwide, women are still not equal to men. They earn less, they are highly vulnerable to violence and they are under-represented at every level of leadership". The Author, Musimbi Kanyoro continues “I would like us to look back over a decade that saw exponentially more funding for women's rights - especially for the grassroots women's groups we know are the best mobilizers of lasting change.

“Aid:  the long game”

“The days of handing out basic pots and pans and plastic sheeting to desperate refugees must end". According to the Author of this piece, “Refugees are no longer a short-term concern. The involvement of the private sector in this regard is critical. The Author concludes that “By 2025, our intervention methodologies must be on preventing disaster, rather than responding to it. If we fail, the consequences will be vast”.

“Youth employment: a tipping point”

“Education and employment top the list of issues set to create an outsized impact on the future of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The Author, Ron Brunder, quotes “the International Labour Organisation forecasts regional youth unemployment will rise to 30 per cent by 2018", and further states that “many predict the situation will only worsen through 2025". "A decade from now, the region will witness a deepening crisis with social, political and economic reverberations". On the positive side, the Author is of the view that “massive improvements in the employment outlook for youth will unleash tremendous creative energy and growth".

 “Over the next decade, the private sector has a chance to drive a transformation in Education and Workforce Development Practices". If this is done by the private sector “Classroom education will be more closely aligned with the skills that companies need and we'll see the first signs of the Education systems and business working together to anticipate future skills needs".

“Mobile Money: complex cash”

"Mobile money did not exist 10 years ago and it may not exist 10 years from now". “In the next decade, we may see the mobile wallet torn asunder by the draw of informal, unregistered services on the one hand, and the freedom to choose among any service through mobile data and smart phones, on the other". According to the Author, Tillman Bruett, “we could see a growing pay-as-you-go economy, with banks and regulated deposit taking institutions, the likely platforms for these digital transaction accounts”.

“Migration: winds of change”

“Migration or human mobility will be a mega trend well beyond the first half of this century". The Author, William Lacy Swing, identifies the need for a change of the narrative about migration.

"From the current negativity, to reflect the historical reality that migration has always been overwhelmingly positive". The second challenge “is to help countries learn to manage social and economic diversity as well as ethnic and business diversity". The next five years will be very difficult, but beyond that the issue will become less complex simply because societies will recognize that they are only hurting themselves by not bringing their policies on migration up to date".

Over the next decade the Author hopes "to see more countries passing laws as to allow dual citizenship and to see regulations that support portability of social security benefits".

“Education: beyond the classroom”

“There are 58 million primary-age children across the globe today without access to education. What is more worrying is that a further 250 million primary-age children are not able to read, write or count adequately". The author, Tariq Al Gura, identifies education as “a central driver of social and economic change". "It is a primary mechanism to tackle poverty, increase income, reduce conflict and aid sustainability". The author is looking forward, amongst other things, to "seeing more and better prepared, better compensated and better supported teachers across the developing world".

As we acknowledge that governments have a pivotal role to play in these factors, the question to ask is, what is the role of business, the intelligentsia and especially the black middle class in addressing these challenges?

As we solve the problems of today and yesterday, can we pause to look at these predicaments and integrate solutions in our daily lives to provide leadership on these challenges of tomorrow.

Sango Ntsaluba

“A humbler SA would be a good thing for Africa”

An article written by Adeyeke Adebajo with the above heading , two days before our national and provincial elections which are going to be a resounding success and declared free and fair, which appeared in the Business Day  on page 9 (Monday 5  May 2014), makes for interesting reading.

Adeyeke make various points which I agree with but there are areas which I feel that for South Africans in particular and Africans in general it would be reckless if they are left unchallenged.

The fact that now Nigeria has GDP greater than that of South Africa is an achievement which should be celebrated by all Africans. In fact, what we should be talking about is, how the other African countries could also grow their GDP. But as Adeyeke no doubt knows, in addition and probably more important than the size of the GDP, is the GDP per capital because that is a measure, at least on average, of the welfare of the citizens.

The other measures which he does not comment on, are the size of the budget deficit, efficiency of tax collection, development of the financial markets which all point to stability and maturity of an economy. South Africa must not chase size but rather the quality and sustainability of its economy.

The list of the achievements of Nigeria which Adeyeke lists with pride, and with very little humbleness, like football are quite impressive.

For South Africans though:

This notion that South Africans must be humbler must be rejected, if only because I am not aware of who else is humble in this African continent, not least my fellow Africans from Nigeria.

Whilst I admire the success of the Nigerian movie industry which Adeyeke deals with in some detail and I personally enjoy the movies from Nigeria I equally admire the impressive malls created by South African companies in the rest of the continent and as I travel around in the continent, I hope to see more for the convenience they bring. Don't Africans deserve good things too?

I have no means of measuring, as Adeyeke does, of who is a talented intelligentsia, what I do know is that South Africa has produced academics, and professionals recognized the world over. You have only to look at the scientists and chartered  accountants, to mention but a few.

South Africans must be wary of the division propagated by Adekeye between black and white. I am not convinced that it is in the interest of South Africa for black South Africans to disown their white compatriots. I have seen no benefits from that, at least from the other African countries. What South Africans must do, is to continue to work towards a truly inter grated society that shares economic benefits, knowledge and resources in an equitable manner recognizing their painful past.

South Africa and Nigeria must take economic charge of Africa

I am sure all of us have been hearing terms almost in a nauseating way “it’s Africa’s century", Africa is a sleeping giant" and many more.

It's simple, we need leadership and boldness from both Nigeria and South Africa. I am not even sure what these unseemly squabbles which are tangential are all about. Whatever they are about, they must not take our attention from the fact that we need these powerful countries to be in the forefront of practical economic activity in our continent, Africa. I am told (from the Financial Times article that was published on 03 June) that a Harvard professor, Graham Allison, uses the term " Thucydides trap"  which the same article says its a tendency, first observed by Greek historians, for a rising power to clash with a ruling power. I am not here to analyse who is who but we must leave this tendency alone.

Both countries present high levels of business innovation, wealth of natural resources, are cash flush, etc. In taking the leading role, they should look at:

1. investing in other African countries in a big way;

2. developing their domestic manufacturing capabilities; and,

3. promoting entrepreneurial funding to encourage their entrepreneurs to get on with it.

As things stand, Africa is a looting place, a free for all, except for Africans. Africans continue to play in the periphery and maybe they are taking the Anglican creed recited before the Holy Communion that “we are not worthy to pick the crumbs underneath the table" too far.

We would like to see more Nigerian businesses and investors in South Africa more than we see Chinese investors and also South African businesses must get into Nigeria, but not in this trial and error way of extreme caution.

So, what needs to be done first? Business people know, let's get on with business.

THE BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN MILLENNIALS AND BORN FREES ARE IN A TIGHT CORNER

My heart goes to the enormous challenges faced by black South African millennials (1982-1995) and born frees (1994- to date). These challenges are in addition to their generational challenges which I classify as those of their own doing or, at least, those over which they have a great measure of control.

This group is caught within a triangle which makes it very difficult if not impossible to escape.

At the top of the triangle is lack of ethical leadership.

On the left is lack of creative or enterprising leadership.

On the right is lack of economic resources.

Never in my experience have I ever heard of a liberated people who must fight to emancipate themselves from failures of others before they start to look at how they can release their potential.

The ethical leadership manifests itself in the following practical ways, at least:

·         Failure to provide this group with a proper education system that equips them for the future.

·         Failure to deal with corruption decisively so that resources of the country are not squandered.

·         Failure to embed a culture of accountability as this creates an impression that failure has no consequences.

On the left:

·         Adults continuously blame government and shift their responsibility of parenthood.

·         Able bodied adults who don't want to do anything for themselves (they don't even want to paint by themselves a house given to them by government).

·         Adults who refuse to explore other possibilities for survival when traditional means are no longer viable ( e.g, who wants to go back to plough the fields when jobs are no longer available in the mines)

·         Adults who have eroded the black traditions and values and have passed nothing to the next generation.

On the right:

·         False expectations are being created that if people spend enough time at hotel lobbies waiting for or discussing deals, wealth will come soon.

·         Our white compatriots who are still by far the captains of industry unwilling to give this group any opportunity.

·         Endless  and meaningless discussions about rich black people instead of acknowledging that wealth has not shifted at all from our white compatriots.

·         Lack of bold steps by those in authority to embark on serious programmes to help this group with economic means (not grants) so they can take their chances.

I hope these millennials and born frees will understand what Steve Biko meant when he wrote “Black man you are on your own".

NOW, BLACK MELLENNIALS AND BORN FREES, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.

SOUTH AFRICA MUST TAKE ITS PLACE ONE DAY IN THE WORLD STAGE: JULY 2012

Sometimes one cannot always discuss South Africa without making reference to the rest of the African continent. This is so because the rest of the world, sometimes rightly or wrongly, will attribute certain behavioral patterns to Africans with no care whatsoever whether you are from the South, East or anywhere else in Africa.

I was taken aback by two issues on the recent trip I had to the East. This was in South Korea and in Vietnam.

The first striking thing was the absence of Africans, everywhere I went in these countries, even in the markets where you might think African traders would be present. The assumption they make there is that if you are black, you are American.

It was quite clear that in these countries they do not receive any significant number of Black South Africans, I guess they would not know where our white compatriots come from, in fact, they might be surprised if they come from Africa at all.

The surprise they had, was not derogatory like in the west, where people think wild animals still roam the streets in Africa.

I was particularly shocked by all this in Korea (they don't call it South Korea) because as late as few months ago, a Korean telecoms company wanted to buy a significant interest in Telkom.

Whilst this was a shock, it pointed to immense unexplored opportunities by South Africans to go to markets they are not in, if they have something to offer.

The second shock was an identity one.

As far as Easterners are concerned there is only East and West in the world. Since, as an African, I am not from the East I am therefore from the West.

When people continuously tell you that " we don't do things like you do in the west" you get tired of telling them that you are an African and not from the West in the sense of what they say.

For the first time, I asked myself, if I keep arguing that I am an African but continue to behave, in all manners like somebody from the west, what makes me different in their eyes? Is our being African reduced only to looks and the texture of our hair?

It's about time that South Africa take up their rightful place in the world stage and assert. My only concern is that we are so absorbed and consumed  by our internal petty issues that we forget that there is space waiting for us in the world stage to be occupied but we have to go out there and take it.

18 YEARS SINCE INDEPENDENCE: WHERE IS OUR HOPE

With the apartheid era fading from collective memory a new question arises, when will the next generation, especially black youth up to the age of 27, be truly independent? I feel that this question should come in the context of the South African youth being compared to other African youths.


Africans from the rest of Africa, from my personal observation, demonstrate admirable confidence, and have an extensive knowledge of their history and culture. It could be that this is due to the fact that some of my African compatriots were liberated from the 1960s and have had ample opportunity to find a sense of self, this is shown by the large number of Africans who have gone abroad and established themselves beyond their borders.

South African black youth, still in their formative years, seem to lack the ability to rebel at being treated as second class citizens, which classification their African counterparts have long rejected. This rejection form the basis of free and independent Africans who are comfortable with themselves and are equal to anyone, who are willing to explore and learn, and possess no inferiority complex due to being African.

One has to acknowledge though that whilst our education system is still one of the major drawbacks to unleash this potential, the few who have come out the private and model C schools and thus have escaped the less than ideal public education system should begin to form the nucleus of this movement to independence

They are a generation which hopefully shall not require BEE to assist them to get into business, they shall not require initiatives such as affirmative action to get opportunities in the corporate world, they shall demand their place in the corporate world, and they shall unleash creativity and innovation that will help them release their business acumen with no need of government support

It is therefore important for this generation, from day one, to learn from their African counterparts as to what it means to be a free African in terms of values, demands, aggression and self self-reliance

Whilst the intention is not to put pressure on this generation, it is important for one to realise that as a black community in SA for the first time in almost 300 years, we have a group of people to showcase and pin our hopes on. It is now up to each and every one of them to wake up tomorrow, understanding the very ideal position they are in, to decide how they will take advantage of the vast amount of space afforded to them, to think, to express, to enjoy, to be free.