Mandela policy prevented economic fiasco, says Hain

THERE was hardly anything that former president Nelson Mandela could have done to change the status of South Africa’s economy to favour the black majority during the transition from apartheid.

This was the view former British MP Lord Peter Hain expressed yesterday, speaking at a panel discussion on “South Africa – Hero to Zero” in Johannesburg.

The talk focused on the role of business amid South Africa’s political climate.

“It seems to me that with cronyism replacing merit‚ the state – including the parastatals – is becoming increasingly dysfunctional‚ which is lethal for economic prosperity,” Hain said.

“Some are arguing that the problem is rooted in the way the country was transformed, and they have a case.

“Under apartheid‚ the government and big business were run exclusively by the white minority. When white rule finally came to an end‚ the fear was that white businesses and investors would flee.

“Instead compromises were made for the sake of a peaceful and economically stable transition. The black majority now ran the government but the white minority still ran the economy,” he said.

“I cannot see how any other course could have been adopted by Mandela and the ANC leadership without triggering a flight of investment and a collapse in the currency‚ endangering political stability.”

Hain stressed that business leaders could not turn a blind eye to the politics.

Highlighting this‚ he mentioned UKbased PR company Bell Pottinger, which found itself at the centre of the construction of the Gupta family’s propaganda empire, as well as KPMG and McKinsey.

“It seems to me that any South African business which has anything to do with the Gupta empire or the Zuma elite is now irredeemably contaminated – with serious consequences for its own survival.”