Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Economic opportunity is street smart
Alan Winde breaks the ‘brules’
IF YOU want to open a shop, you do so on a busy street. It doesn’t, by convention, follow that if you’re an economic opportunities minister, you shift your ministry out of its upper-floor offices, ditch the X-ray machines and security desk and relocate to street-level commercial space at 142 Long Street.
But that’s what the Western Cape’s Alan Winde has done.
By design, passersby can look in and see the provincial minister at his desk. Or walk right in and have a word. Although of course it’s not quite as simple as that; he has a lot to do in his up-to-18-hour working day and there is little space for any idle chit-chat in his crammed diary.
But people do pop in – even if, as on the occasion when a woman wandered in ostensibly to find out “what economic opportunities you’ve got for me”, it is only to use the loo.
Alan Winde grins tolerantly at the risks of being a uniquely accessible politician, but there’s more to it than gold stars for good behaviour.
When he first raised the idea of moving his ministry into a shop, some provincial bureaucrats thought he was mad – but he wanted to make a point about being visible and accountable and he wanted to be as close as possible to the real life of the business community whose scope for growth and job-generation is his priority.
A disregard of convention – arguably the indispensable quality of the entrepreneur Winde insists he remains at heart – ranks high in his estimation of what it takes to get things done and to doings dif- ferently with a view to getting better results.
Adjoining his office is a recessed “thinking space” – it’s also home to what he calls his “city bike”, which he uses to cycle to the civic centre for meetings with city officials – where a much-stuck-upon and scribbled-over notice board is the source of a faintly irreverent if refreshing atmosphere of unministerial informality.
Two prominent watchwords hint at the unvarnished candour Winde favours over stuffy politesse: “craptastic” – to signpost scintillating-seeming but feeble notions that you flush away as quickly as you can say toilet roll – and a similarly brisk and marginally lavatorial “brules”, short for “bullshit rules”, a cautionary against accepting unfounded assumptions or constraints of nil merit.
Brules is the linguistic invention of Vishen Lakhiani, a Malaysian entrepreneur Winde admires. Lakhiani challenges people to break free of indoctrinated assumptions that are invariably emasculating.
It’s a notion that sits well with Winde. And, implicitly, ditching the wood- panelled, high-security ministerial office for his new quarters in Long Street matches that challenge.
“I’ve always felt that the perception of politicians is that they are inaccessible, work in ivory towers, and are hard to get hold of. So when I began my second term in the provincial cabinet in charge of economic development, tourism and agriculture, there were two things I wanted to do. One was to streamline the title of the ministry – focusing on ‘economic opportunities’ – and the other was to find new office space that would enable us to be more accessible.”
He recalled being frustrated that investors or business people would come to visit him and security guards downstairs wouldn’t know who he was, where his office was, or what number to call to confirm the appointment.
And then, on top of all that, his visitors would have their briefcases searched.
“I thought, that’s just not on. I wanted an open-access office.”
When the opportunity arose in the government- owned building at 142 Long, “I jumped at it”.
“When officials asked me what I had in mind, I said I wasn’t really sure except I wanted to be on street level to be accessible, and when people leave, I want them to think: ‘Jeepers, that can’t be government.’
“And it’s exciting. We’re up and running… there’s a double glass door, but you can walk in, people can stand on the pavement and see me at my desk – and shout at me if I haven’t answered their email. We can sit in the boardroom and be seen from the street … although sometimes I have to close the blinds because people inside get distracted by what’s going on out there.
“But the point is, even though the walk-ins put a lot of pressure on the team, all this drives the office to be accountable. And, increasingly, business people are coming in looking for help or advice and we can put them in touch with the right people.”
The initiative has been taken a step further with Winde’s decision to open the office for the regular First Thursday events, when the central city buzzes with life and art galleries, eateries and other venues stay open after dark.
The ministry has made itself available for product launches and for artists to display and sell their work.
Father and son painters, Dale and Mel Elliott of Knysna, exhibit their work in the offices, and 10 percent of all sales go to a trust set up to help emerging artists enter the mainstream. Alongside the Elliotts’ work are paintings by
street level to be
accessible and
when people
leave, they think:
Jeepers, that can’t
two artists who have benefited from the trust. Obey and Omega Mushonga are seasonal fruit-pickers in the Elgin valley. Winde hopes that by giving them a platform in Long Street, both will eventually be able to devote all their time and talent to painting.
“We have had a couple of showcases and tastings by black-owned wine labels. One of the walk-ins on our first First Thursday was Mphumi Ndlangisa of Magna Carta Wines – and we have hosted him here. We’ve also hosted Audacia winery, which uses rooibos in a unique production process.”
Other initiatives to showcase businesses or new projects are in the pipeline.
“None of this would have been possible before – so placing ourselves right in the middle of the commercial space helps us to be the enablers we are meant to be.”
Winde’s background has done much to shape his world view. His father Dave ran a factory in Gauteng (Alan worked on the production line during school holidays) and his mother Ingrid had an organic peach farm. He grew up breathing business ideas; at the age of 10 he was selling vegetables down the road from his own veggie garden.
He’s also started and been involved in 10 different companies, from a bicycle shop and a courier business to a resinmoulding factory.
Enabling and promoting entrepreneurial thinking and expanding the opportunity for people to pursue their ideas was, he said, a key part of his ministry’s role.
“We have a regular ‘stock take’ session with Helen (Zille, the premier). There are hundreds of indicators the cabinet is expected to answer to. I only have two: what’s the growth rate and what’s unemployment? And I am very happy with the numbers at the moment. We have dropped below 20 percent unemployment, there is new investment coming in, tourism is cooking.
“But there’s much more to be done to enable growth and jobs. Our Project Kulisa, which identifies growth engines and how to rev them, has focused on tourism and agriprocessing, with oil and gas on the West Coast as the wild card.
“And it’s our job to make sure the ecosystem functions well, cutting red tape, making sure the lights stay on, there’s enough water, and that we have the right skills. If there’s confidence in the system, we’ll get investment, and there will be growth.”
And he’s convinced a key part of getting it right – aside from ditching “craptastic” ideas and seeing “brules” for what they are – is being available, literally being “open for business”.
michael.morris@inl.co.za
‘I wanted to be on
be government’