Values of cohesion, human solidarity and equity are widely found among South Africa's people. However, it will take deliberate measures by the state in both policy design and implementation to translate these into shared values that guide all aspects social behaviour, writes Khehla Shubane.
It is trite to observe that the ANC has concluded that ours will be a society organised around the pursuit of free enterprise.1 No one has objected to this strategic view, not even the South African Communist Party (SACP), which seeks to build a socialist future in South Africa. There have been what amounts to quibbles about calibrating the chosen economic system to benefit working and poor people. The idea of building socialism, even in the view of the SACP, is a task that should be left for the future.
In the view of the ANC, save for a few matters that require further attention, economic policies are broadly on track to achieve stated objectives. The party, together with its allies, is however troubled by the stubbornly high levels of, and enduring, unemployment. The ANC has not missed a moment to express its distress at the resulting poverty.
Various policy measures are at different stages of conceptualisation, debate and implementation to ease the burden on those affected by unemployment. An opinion shared by most about how this problem could be resolved focuses on a range of interventions including growing the economy, providing the requisite skills and increasing efficiencies in the economy.
In the 4th Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture President Thabo Mbeki noted among numerous other things that greed has gripped South African society; the practice of pursuing accumulation above all else and at all costs is driving a section of the population to accumulate ever-increasing assets. This practice is born, he further argues, of assimilating capitalist values that characterised accumulation under apartheid. It is also a problem that has been identified elsewhere as market fundamentalism - reducing complex social, economic and political problems to the dictates of the market.
Everything has to be viewed by whether or not it has a market value.
The ascendancy of greed, Mbeki asserted, smothers social cohesion and blocks mutually beneficial human solidarity. Human relations are reduced to market relations. Values of the entire society suffer untold harm in an environment in which greed has been allowed to take a pole position.
It is difficult to quarrel with this conclusion. Instances of avaricious accumulation are everywhere to be seen. It is as if, as Mbeki argues, the demons are hard at work pushing people to accumulate even more. Incentives for this behaviour are embedded in policies that the government has crafted.
To blunt these incentives perhaps a question should be whether attention has been given to whether South Africa has defined values around which the entire society can cohere?
This exercise has yet to be deliberately undertaken. But there is no shortage of values in the society by which many live their lives and these can easily be woven into popular values. Many people and institutions have contributed greatly to the society and their contribution could be a starting point for constructing values that could guide the society.
CRAFTING SA VALUES
As the country grapples with the complex problem of building a new future for all, it has to contend with the values that are simultaneously being created to sustain the project of a future in which all have a stake.
Whatever future the population desires, it will have to be underpinned by values to which members of the society adhere. All societies have these; they are about the only thing about which generalisation about any society can correctly be made. It is for instance correct that private property is a value deeply embedded in the United States. The observation that the Swedes deeply dislike inequality is also correct.
Probably as a result of the divided past from which South Africa is emerging, the matter of values which are embraced by all has not received the attention it should. In the short time during which the country has moved away from racially defined access to power, clearly good values have emerged, some from the past, which form a basis of what might be built into a set of values capable of being embraced by all. South Africa has loads of values that are embraced by local people and the values they uphold are well known by even the least educated within the society.
These include values of perseverance, sticking to principle even in the face of overwhelming odds, magnanimity, inclusiveness, putting the collective interests ahead of personal interests, and treating your adversaries with respect. These values are not foreign to South Africa. They are the values by which Nelson Mandela, for example, has conducted his life.
Values of hard work are everywhere to be seen in this society and have marked the development of our society for long. Mamphele Ramphele beat formidable odds through sheer hard work. Charles van Onselen displayed determination and worked hard to emerge as arguably the best South African historian of our time. Both individuals were not brought up in families steeped in academia.
Many of our compatriots have displayed remarkable courage. Steve Biko dared to say no when opposition voices had been silenced. Braam Fischer, despite his comfortable upbringing and a relatively cosy future, stood up for his brothers and sisters even though he knew he was up against formidable power.
South African Breweries is a company that successfully took on the world.
Innovation abounds in South Africa. Chris Barnard's achievement must stand as a monument to what is possible even from this far flung corner of the world and that innovative thinking is not a monopoly of western society.
Collectively, the financial industry in South Africa is as good as any in the world. While South African financial markets may not be as deep as those of say the US, the ability to innovate is no less deep here than it is anywhere else. Companies in other sectors have shown too that geographical location is irrelevant to building strong companies that compete globally.
Trevor Manuel has given leadership to managing the fiscal affairs of the country that is second to none, showing in the process that state finances are not rocket science. Africans too can deal with these supposedly complex matters. He has applied himself diligently to the task at hand and has kept a fine balance between austere measures and expansive spending which has not left the poor behind.
The Sotho idiom 'lebetla la tlala ha leyo' expresses a deep commitment to others. Trade unions have rallied around a cry 'an injury to one is an injury to all'. Beyers Naude's commitment to other human beings must count as a high water mark in solidarity with other people. Yusuf Dadoo could not look the other way when his fellow human beings faced debilitating oppression.
The country's constitution embodies values which must surely represent the best humanity can aspire to. Those who drafted the constitution surely must have considered if the ideals they incorporated into the constitution reflected the values of the society and, with the agreement of a vast majority of the population, answered the question in the affirmative.
These are values that arise from diverse South Africans and are consistent with traditional practices of all communities. Why is it difficult to fashion the collective values of the society around these well-entrenched practices?
If it is historical antecedents that provide firm foundation for societal values, South Africa will not be found wanting. Nothing has to be imported to construct solid values that will define cohesion, human solidarity and equity in the society.
Government will have to play a leading role in leading society towards the definition and, more importantly, the embrace by all of these values. But government leaders at all tiers of government have been singularly lacking in imagination about charting a clear path to social values of solidarity and equity. At times, they have seemed far too concerned with the number of their bodyguards and how expensive the car they drive is. Waving from the comfort of their cars has at times seem far more important to them than identifying with the people they serve.
THREATS TO SOCIAL COHESION
Threats to social cohesion emanate not from greed alone; there are a number of other causes of it including a fair presence in society of vain individuals who wantonly pursue greed. There is no reason though why the country should have more of such individuals than other societies where greed has not derailed attempts to achieve objectives set by policymakers that are good for the entire society. Thus, with the greedy group in society the country should be able to succeed in creating values by which it wants to live.
Other sources that undermine social cohesion besides greed can be traced to many activities some of which are viewed as innocuous by those who practice them. Only a few are discussed below. The lifestyle the elite lead generally surely contributes to the lust for 'a good life' among many. This lifestyle appears comfortable and many desire it, but often without thinking about the means required to finance it.
Though there is less of this than in the wake of the elections in 1994, the phalanx of bodyguards around leading political figures is difficult to understand, let alone justify. Even when it is taken into consideration that political leaders have a generally higher level of awareness of security threats, there is no discernable threat in the environment that justifies a large number of guards who make their presence felt around people they guard. Perhaps if the guards were discreet without compromising the security of the person they are protecting they would not be such a visible part of the life of members of the political elite.
People in this category seem to go out of their way to use the most expensive and chauffer driven cars when less expensive but comfortable vehicles could just be as fine. The use of chauffeurs, though it too has declined, also appears to be out of proportion with what is reasonable. Some black people in the private sector have been seen in chauffer-driven vehicles too. This is definitely excessive and there is no explanation for it other than a desire to keep up with their counterparts in the public service who adhere to these practices because trappings of power are nice to pursue in and of themselves.
The definite purpose this lifestyle serves is to set the elite apart from the rest. This too serves no useful purpose other than to create a mystique around the elite. It is in the ensuing gap that social cohesion is undermined. The social distance created by guards and luxury cars kills human solidarity. A move to exclusive suburbs and, at times, gated communities completes the isolation the elite seek.
At least the political elite make the occasional appearance during election campaigns in poor areas. In contrast, the business elite is hardly ever seen in these areas except when they make an appearance at family gatherings in the townships where they grew up.
Aspects of black economic empowerment (BEE) also engender a gap between the elite and non-elite. While BEE is necessary to ensure a black business class is brought into being as swiftly as possible, there is no reason, to take one example related to this objective, that explains why BEE companies that have built strong balance sheets continue to benefit from the equity element of the scorecard. The purpose of BEE surely must be to create companies with an ability to participate in business. Once this is achieved no further reason exists for such companies to participate in transactions as if they did not have capital that could be used to further their commercial benefit.
Failure to curb this invites the criticism that BEE is concerned with benefiting only a handful of people who have already benefited manifold from BEE anyway.
The success of BEE must surely be measured, inter alia, by the ability of the empowered weaning themselves from state assistance. It cannot be that black business will forever require help from policymakers of the kind that the equity element affords them. If black business is unable to wean itself from government help that is so direct as the equity element, then the entire BEE exercise is reduced to a farce.
White business demonstrated that while they required state assistance to start off, on the whole they have proved their ability to compete without this help. It is not much to expect black business to do the same.
In some ways it cannot be helped if BEE companies benefit from the preferential procurement element. After all, policy is structured such that all companies should be able to benefit from this element. By concluding an empowerment transaction all companies should be equal in this regard and BEE should not privilege any company more than the rest. It would be imposing a huge burden on companies procuring goods from other companies to require of them to determine if the company they are procuring from has a strong balance sheet or not.
In some circles, BEE has been interpreted as open season for accumulation with little thought given to building sustainable businesses. This is not without sound reason. Some actively seek to use the BEE vehicle to accumulate as much as they can without any intention of assuming any risk beyond gaining assets. This is clearly not in line with the intentions of policymakers. Accumulation in the context of building new enterprises is a key objective of BEE. This is why the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) argues that BEE is, among other things, a part of the broader growth strategy government is pursuing. Limiting it to the equity element reduces it to a good retirement strategy for those who benefit from BEE transactions. It would be a huge improvement if the policy were tweaked to make this aspect clearer. It would shift the considerable focus on equity to the enterprise development element, and it would put the emphasis where it should be - building sustainable businesses by black entrepreneurs.
Emphasising one element, as has tended to happen in the last while, is limiting the vast possibilities BEE. In another ten years it will be sad if those who evaluate BEE conclude that it served merely to create a number of black shareholders. It would be a lot more exciting if the conclusion will be that it served to spur the creation of new businesses and a large black business class.
Strategists from BEE companies with strong balance sheets should also realise they are shooting themselves in the foot by placing their companies in line for more transactions when they could easily participate in corporate action that is not underpinned by the equity element of BEE. While no limits should be placed on the extent to which any company could grow, the population is entitled to place a limit on the extent to which a company relying on as explicit a policy as the equity element of BEE could grow using that policy. Policy makers and the public are well within their rights to demand that others benefit too from policy that seeks to create a black business class.
Failure to invest in entities that provide public consumption goods encourages a desire to accumulate wealth to privately provide for those needs that could easily be provided by facilities geared to serve the public. Good and well-managed public institutions have the advantage of being meeting places for both the poor and the well off; they work to destroy the walls created by unequal access to money with which to fund goods and services supplied by these entities.
South Africa has a poor record of investing in public facilities to serve the majority. The white population was well served by good public hospitals and other facilities. In the current period, these facilities have struggled to provide the same level of service to all who now are entitled to use them. Many institutions that were well looked after in the past are showing clear signs of decay, in part because they are ill-prepared to serve the many often poor people who seek the services of these institutions.
Public hospitals and schools are fast acquiring an image as bad providers of services. The growth of the private medical insurance industry is partly a result of the poor service provided at public health facilities. Schools of the quality of Healdtown, Inkamane, Mariazell and Pex do not exist anymore.
Constraints of Bantu education did not prevent these centres from providing a good education. The collapse of these schools has been especially hard on poor families who are without the means to enrol their children at private schools. But they have also put pressure on some to accumulate as quickly as possible to fund education at private schools.
Investing in public facilities should not be viewed as limited to a monetary investment, though this is important. More importantly, it should include investing in the people to manage institutions. What would be the point of building the best school if it does not have the teachers to go with it? The latter is often the most critical investment that far outstrips the look of the buildings. It is in this area in the main that the country is failing.
Neglecting investing in entities that supply public consumption goods also encourages the private sector to supply these goods to people who can afford the fees payable. This has a negative effect on social cohesion. Without discouraging private sector investment in any entity supplying whatever goods and services it wishes, the public, through the state, should make an effort to create public entities that can ensure people will not be denied any good or service for reasons to do with poverty.
An even scarier development is the wholesale scrapping of defined benefit funds for many beneficiaries in private employment. While the explanation is understandable, the consequences are devastating on the ability for people to fund what they require to live.
With many people living longer, available pension provisions are simply inadequate for the key needs to maintain health for many people. A meagre state pension is all many have and is demonstrably inadequate for its beneficiaries.
The left dabbles with fancy ideological positions that make those who make these arguments look very clever when there are practical achievable solutions to this problem. Social democracy in Sweden, operating as it does in the same global market place as any other country, has sustained a generous social support system for those who can no longer work. Instead of exploring such outcomes, left wing thinkers have practically abandoned the poor in favour of pure but meaningless theoretical posturing.
Inequalities resulting from high levels of unemployment, low pay for many people in employment and inadequate pension ensure that social cohesion is but a dream in South Africa. The gini coefficient (which is a measure of inequality) within the black community is said to have worsened since 1994; it is now higher than 0.6.2 Though this should not surprise anyone it points to a trend which should receive urgent attention from policy makers. What must have created this huge gap are the outliers at the top end of earners.
There were no blacks who participated in the higher reaches of management some ten years ago. Remuneration at these levels is in the millions. With the increasing numbers of blacks employed in managerial positions the high salaries they receive increase the average pay blacks receive and they should also explain the widening gap between the lowest and the highest paid.
It should be borne in mind that this has unfolded in circumstances in which social security expenditure has exploded. Many more individuals receive one or another social security payment than was the case in the past. Though this does not cover everyone without pay, it goes some way in reducing the numbers of indigent people. The effect this has on calculating average pay is to reduce the number of people without any pay and thus contributes to a higher average pay for blacks. What it does not do is obliterate the outliers on the low side of the pay scale. It is when these are compared with the highest that the gini coefficient is so appalling.
It is impossible for people earning the high salaries of executives to ever identify with people who earn very little or nothing at all. The two groups are as different as people drawn from different countries. Social cohesion has to rest on the basis that society gives some assurance that there is a floor below which no one will be allowed to fall. The monthly state pension of R820 does not do that. For very poor individuals it provides welcome relief but it is woefully inadequate.
South Africa does not have the resources to fund welfare on a scale disadvantage suggests it should. There are too many people in poverty in the country. The amount available is spread so thin that those who receive it must rely on other help, often from families, or starve. In addition, South Africa faces the challenges that have forced European countries to cut back on their welfare commitments.
Within existing constraints though the country should redouble its efforts to ensure that it defines a minimum below which no individual should be allowed to fall and work to find resources to keep to the commitment which will arise from this exercise.3 Once defined, this process will present problems of its own, which would have to be sorted out.
Greed is obviously present in the environment. There are indeed people in our midst who are driven by it. It is often present in programmes that are desirable, such as BEE. Not all accumulation though is reducible to greed.
Perhaps what this suggests is that policies must always be examined for their effect on society; inevitably many of them will have consequences that are not intended. It is not hard to imagine a policy that achieves what it was designed for and at the same time have negative consequences on social cohesion.
What evidence is available suggests the state has not taken existing values in South Africa and deliberately nurtured these into shared social values.
Indeed officers of the state have, by their behaviour, displayed the very traits that encourage greed and negative values. Good values are deliberately cultivated; they are just not embraced by the population out of the goodness of people's hearts. In other cases the state has displayed timidity in exploring policies that can promote a caring society which will require good values and will in turn advance them.
* Khehla Shubane is Chief Executive Officer of the BusinessMap Foundation.
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