All hands needed to prise us loose

IT WAS a breath of fresh air to read the views of former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene on turning SAA and the whole economy around in the article “We have to dig ourselves out of economic hole together” by Chris Barron (Sunday Times, July 9).

As we now know the Brics bank job which President Jacob Zuma in 2015 promised that Nene was going to get, never materialised.

Nene then went into the private sector, adding one accomplished feather to his cap after the next. In addition to becoming a non-executive director on the board of Allan Gray, he became a resident advisor for the Thebe Investment Corporation and at the end of May was appointed to the supervisory board of newlyformed Cape Town-based investment firm, Arise.

Last week he became the interim director of the Wits Business School.

Nene believes the private sector should participate more in turning the economy around.

While some in the sector may not like the idea of having to contribute more than what they regard to be their fair share of contribution, such as taxes and the provision of jobs, I am inclined to agree with the former minister.

Yeyele madoda, loosely translated, means “it is stuck, people”. This call was originally used when an ox was stuck in a rut and needed all available hands to free it. Failing to free it would mean losing it.

South Africa finds itself exactly in such a position. All hands are desperately needed to free us, not just this year mind you, but for the foreseeable future.

Nene believes that privatising state owned enterprises (SOEs) is not the solution to improving their management and performance. But he seems convinced that private buy-in is necessary to bring skills and expertise to the management of SOEs.

Of SAA he says: “I would like to see the private sector, as patriotic South Africans, work with government to make SAA sustainable for the benefit of the country.”

Yes, but board chair Dudu Myeni will definitively have to go.

As patriotic as South Africans are, many have been shut out and effectively thwarted from contributing an immense pool of expertise to government.

South Africans will easily overlook a myriad of divisions such as race, gender, religion and others, as long as there are clear inclusive national goals to work towards which will benefit the country as a whole.

This is what we had glimpses of during Nelson Mandela’s presidency.

But in contrast, President Jacob Zuma’s government will go out of its way to get rid of competent and skilful people. Nene’s own sacking is testament to this.

On business schools, Nene says, “There is a need for business schools to reposition themselves, to ask: what does the economy really need in terms of skills and expertise.”

In every facet of our society should focus on this question, what does our economy really need?

Considering that the economy is about people providing and satisfying each other’s needs, we need to move away from antiquated narratives which seek to paint the economy as the preserve of the few.

It is the true nature of economics that needs to be realised. It is the collective productive engagement of all the people of this country that we must enable and accelerate.

SOEs could be an integral part of this.

“At the end of the day SOEs are businesses and they should be run by people with business expertise,” Nhlanhla is quoted stating.

For this to happen, SOEs must not be regarded as strategic revenue access points for “comrades”, the “movement” and as demonstrated in recent years, cronies such as the Gupta family.

This view of SOEs is not only antiquated, but is counter-productive and highly destructive.

Also, the necessary expertise must continue to be built up over time. Business schools will be helpful here. Only when SOEs are in the hands of competent management and responsible morally upright boards, will they serve their intended developmental purpose.

But mostly and urgently, Zuma, the Guptas and their extensive network of minions need to go – preferably to jail.

Nene also speaks of the need for entrepreneurship and the unwise distributive nature of our economic transformational efforts

But perhaps most important of Nene’s views in this article, is his response to the ANC government’s intention to make it no longer necessary to pass maths for learners to progress at school.

“We need a completely transformed socioeconomic environment, and to be able to play in that space a basic knowledge of maths is crucial,” he says.

I cannot agree more. At a time when technology is accelerating and proficiency in numbers is becoming more crucial for meaningful economic activity, the ANC government wants to lock out millions of our children from the emerging worldwide economy!

Maybe to achieve “a completely transformed socioeconomic environment”, we will have to do it without an ANC government!