An Independent Black Voice

Written by Administrator
Tuesday, 05 July 2011 14:23

In 2007, on a trip back from the African Union Summit in Ghana, I was privileged to share the journey with Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu. At the time, many African economies were enjoying solid growth rates of approximately 5.8 percent against a world average of 4 percent. It was the first time since their independence that most sub-Saharan nations were on a positive trajectory, and excitement was mounting around Africa as the final frontier for investment.

Four years later, African countries are still clawing their way out of the global economic crisis, and South Africa, the darling of the continent, is at a crossroad.

South Africa’s turbulent history is well documented, but the years following 1994 inspired confidence, even euphoria in some instances, and there seemed to be a clear vision of a nation’s desire to rebuild. In the last 12 months, the outlook seems to have become murkier as the country grapples with all manner of social, economic and political ills. There’s a growing voice questioning government’s agenda and disconnect between policy, promise and implementation. These challenges have brought into sharp focus just how fragile our democracy is, and I began to question the role of the growing educated black middle class in shaping the future of the country. Like so many African countries, South Africa’s black middle class is growing, yet we seem to have taken a back seat to the public discourse while we go about the business of paying off our townhouses and Porsche Cayennes.

At times, it’s easy to feel quite powerless against the avalanche of government mismanagement, inequality, poverty and crime. Yet the future of our security is based on a prosperous society, a goal that continues to elude us as structural imbalances threaten our vision for a thriving nation. Just across our border, a highly educated black middle class watched as their ideals disintegrated and their economy crumbled.

Challenging black professionals
From 1991 to 1995 Nkuhlu was the leader of the organisational voice of black business. As president of the Black Management Forum (BMF), his task was to spearhead the advancement of black professionals and to ensure that they were active in shaping the country’s future. Although he no longer occupies this position, this agenda still tops his priorities as he challenges black professionals to take a more active role in developing the country.

“The reason why it’s important for a country to have a progressive, non-sectarian, non-partisan professional intellectual class is because you need that kind of layer of people who can look at things scientifically and objectively in terms of what needs to be done,” he explains when I meet him for a second time, to interview him for this Afropolitan article. “Once professional people are sectarian or partisan, intellectual honesty suffers, because whatever they do, they don’t want to offend whatever affiliations they have.”

Prioritising a skills revolution
During his tenure at the BMF, the organisation embarked on two major projects. The one was to assist companies to transform and to fight prejudice with the law and the other was to massively expand South Africa’s skills base. By his account, they failed in their attempt to fully implement the latter. At the time the BMF recognised that there was a dire shortage of black accountants, engineers and economists, and they embarked on a plan to send thousands of students to international universities so that they could use their skills and knowledge to transform society.

At the time he pointed to the East, where India and China were ploughing billions into educating their graduates abroad to ensure a growing pool of skills to power their fast-industrialising economies.

Sixteen years later, the BMF no longer publicises this agenda, yet for the country to achieve long-term transformation, far more priority needs to be given to a skills revolution.

Valuing knowledge and excellence
Professor Nkuhlu argues that preoccupation with short-term goals (such as black economic empowerment, social grants and subsidies) and a poor culture of excellence is severely jeopardising sustainable development. Yet again he draws a comparison with Asian countries.

“One of the differences between where we find ourselves and where Malaysia and Korea and others find themselves is that scientific and technological knowledge and excellence is valued more in those societies and is seen as the determinant of one’s progress,” he explains.

With growing inequality, high levels of unemployment diminishing incomes and rising costs, it’s understandable that the demand for wage increases results in strike action across all sectors.

He argues that South Africa’s unemployment figure of 25 percent is abnormal given that Western countries have embarked on extreme measures to fight unemployment figures of between 5 and 10 percent.

What’s missing from the current debate – whether it be between politicians, union leaders or labourers – is the question of excellence. In fact, the debate around productivity, up-skilling and a better work ethic has become overshadowed by the immediate need to accumulate more and gross inefficiency. It’s no surprise that South Africa tops the list of protest nations.

Dealing with employment
Throughout the various positions he has held, Professor Nkuhlu has been grappling with employment issues, both local and international.

In 2008, at a time when job losses were the order of the day due to the global economic crisis, he became the president of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE). When he took over the leadership of this organisation, the IOE’s most pressing task was to ensure that politicians focused on issues pertaining to job creation and unemployment in addition to rescuing financial institutions.

With leading economists such as Nouriel Roubini warning of a double-dip recession, South Africa cannot afford to be complacent. Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan remarked that South Africa needs a growth rate of 7 percent over the next 20 to 30 years if it aims to create jobs, reduce poverty and tackle all the social ills related to unemployment. It’s an ambitious target given the fragile state of the global economy and our own internal inefficiencies.

A vibrant private sector has been one of the stellar performers of the country’s economic transformation. Professor Nkuhlu says he welcomes the management of institutions such as the national treasury, the independence of the Reserve Bank and a vibrant civil society. For him another positive aspect of South Africa’s democracy is the vigorous debate that allows citizens to speak their minds and criticise power.

“What’s going to make a difference in South Africa is when black professionals speak their minds. Not whites, because white people will always be dismissed as yearning for the past and apartheid,” he says. “What we need are more coherent black voices talking rationally and independently and really being scientific in their approach, showing respect for formal knowledge and competencies.”

In his ongoing pursuit of skills development, Professor Nkuhlu has made education and training his personal passion. His response to discrimination was education and a drive that saw him nurture a generation of black chartered accountants such as Futhi Mtoba, whose professional career started in Umtata, where Professor Nkuhlu was one of South Africa’s first black chartered accountants.

South Africa has navigated treacherous waters and proved a resilient nation that can succeed when working towards a common goal. Rural populations, the voting majority, do not have the luxury of questioning conventional wisdom. We in our luxury sedans, weaving our way through peak-hour traffic, have that luxury and should use it wisely.