Interests of the little guy are the big issue

Myview

SOMALIA is proving to be a scary example of how no economy can grow and become sustainable with the exclusion of locals.

I found the resurgence of piracy ominously coincidental, considering the hype around radical economic transformation (RET) in South Africa.

My frustration with the quality of debate in our country is that playing the man is a much more appealing sport than playing the ball.

Ishan Tharoor, writing for Time, aptly described Somali pirates as “not desperate bandits, experts say, rather savvy opportunists in the most lawless corner of the planet”.

Why would fishermen turn to piracy and carry out the most daring attacks, claiming close to $200 million (R2.6 billion) in ransom?

Since the collapse of the government in Somalia in 1991, Tharoor writes, “Somali waters have become the site of an international free-for-all, with fishing fleets from around the world illegally plundering Somali stocks and freezing out the country’s own rudimentarilyequipped fishermen”.

He quotes a certain UN report, estimating that about $300m worth of seafood was stolen from the coast of Somalia annually. Sound familiar?

Global giants use their power, experience and networks to marginalise locals, plausibly explaining their unfair advantage as globalisation.

African governments respond more enthusiastically to international investors than to their own people, who are patient and understanding, but can turn nasty when disillusioned.

The International Crime Commission and the International Maritime Bureau reported in 2014 that “piracy at sea has reached its lowest levels in six years, with 264 attacks recorded worldwide in 2013, a 40% drop since Somali piracy peaked in 2011”.

The active intervention by the international community allowed the Horn of Africa to breathe again briefly. Regrettably, the intervention was merely to protect their cargo and crew or contain al-qaeda, not to help the people of Somalia.

Now piracy seems on the rise again in Somalia – and President Donald Trump is talking tough.

This after it was tamed from 2014 as a result of international patrols. The ransom payable got unbearable and international maritime traffic became too risky or too expensive to insure. So rich nations of the world got involved to stem the piracy in Somali waters.

This, however, did not address the core problem: Securing the interests of the little guy in Somalia, who is toiling daily to support a family – someone like Ahmed Mohammed Ali.

This 27-year-old fisherman from Durduri told Jessica Hatcher of Al Jazeera in October, 2015 that he had had to abandon fishing because, although anti-hijacking patrols had stopped piracy, the big illegal fishing boats had returned.

These were the same boats that triggered piracy in the first place.

In Africa, our leaders tend to react more enthusiastically to the World Economic Forum or Fitch or the World Bank. Roads get resurfaced and services improved when the Commonwealth comes to town, but when a service delivery protest erupts in a small village, the leaders get dismissed for their ingratitude or are accused of being somebody else’s political pawn.

Similarly, when black South Africans complained about black economic empowerment (BEE) not delivering broad-based benefits, some in the ruling party got defensive.

Phrases like “there is nothing wrong with black people getting rich” or “I did not struggle to be poor” were echoed.

As factually valid as these were, they missed the point: The majority were asking for their share and were feeling left out.

Now, 23 years since 1994, high levels of unemployment, income inequality, inept state-owned enterprises, pedestrian economic growth and cracks in the ruling elite are conspiring to breed more defensive tactics among the well-off.

Just as Somalia does not need a partial international patrol as intervention, but rather decisive solutions to the problems that are elbowing ordinary fishermen from their rightful maritime economy, South Africa could do without the name-calling, scapegoating, political demagoguery or recycled concepts such as RET or the attack on “white monopoly capital”.

It needs a South Africa First mindset, which prioritises results, and a lasting, broad-based socioeconomic impact.

•Kgomoeswana is the author of Africa is Open for Business, a media commentator and public speaker on African business affairs, and a weekly columnist for African Independent – Twitter Handle: @Victorafrica

Masked pirate Hassan stands near a Taiwanese fishing vessel that washed ashore after the pirates were paid a ransom and released the crew in Hobyo, Somalia, in 2012.The writer says Somalis resort to piracy because others steal their resources.