A new dawn for the land of the rising sun?

Students of history will tell you that the illustrious heritage of these proud and industrious islands has not been spared the vicissitudes of bitter adversity. They will also tell you that Japan is amongst a handful of non-western countries not to bear the acerbic yoke of modern colonial rule. Thanks to deeply imbedded martial samurai traditions that evinced a strong sense of nationhood, enmeshed with a famous work ethic and discipline, it has always proven more than a handful for attempted foreign subjugation. 

The rise of modern Japan, as is so often the case, is traceable to effective leadership. In this case that of Emperor Mutsuhito, also known as the Meiji, whose reign began in 1868. Instead of a typical wholesale rejection of Western ways, as many had done and continue to do, he epitomised shrewd pragmatism, with the common sense to embrace what works, even if from the hand of bitter cultural or ideological foes. 

Eager to emulate Western progress, Mutsihuto assiduously studied western systems of government, industry, military and naval technology and hastened to implement them in Japan. In a matter of decades, a backward feudal country was transformed into the first non-western country to industrialise and one of the leading world powers by the outbreak of WWI. As one of the founding members of the League of Nations, it emerged from the Great War, with even greater geopolitical clout.

Entering into the brief interwar period, a cohesive, industrialised and adolescent Japan was at the cusp of great things in the world. Leadership was to play a key role in its immediate destiny, this time not for all the right reasons. Its newfound status in the world gave rise to a hubris that spawned an imperialistic belligerence that was to prove disastrous for the nation. A growth induced thirst for mineral resources coupled with a solicitous eagerness to test its newly found military muscle, led to the invasion Chinese Manchuria in 1931. 

Following widespread condemnation for this act, like a spoilt adolescent, it responded by abandoning the League of Nations, invading hapless Mainland China with impunity. The characteristic absence of resistance, one of many indicting examples of the impotence of the now defunct League of Nations, served to fuel this acquisitive zeal, with further invasions across Asia during the period leading up to WWII. This coincided with similar bellicose activities by Germany across the world, a country with which it was to enter into an ill-fated alliance. The USA in turn applied trade sanctions on Japan, including a debilitating oil embargo. 

Consumed with a misplaced sense of invincibility, Japan saw itself as left with no option but to plan a surprise attack on an unsuspecting US naval base, Pearl Harbour. This event was to prove a decisive turning point for the war and the century, awaking a reluctant post-war super power from its untimely slumber. Japan was to pay dearly for this gross overestimation of might, losing two million of its people, along with the regrettable fate of being on the receiving end of the inaugural use of futuristic nuclear weaponry in military combat. 

The crushing defeat, suffered at the hands of the Allied Forces, led to solemn reflection that culminated into another of its many turning points. A chastened and contrite Japan saw an opportunity to once again redefine itself, something it accomplished with characteristic distinction. In fact such was the extent of its success that it rapidly grew into the second largest global economy. 

At its apogee, some thought it only a matter of time before it would overtake the US to become the world’s largest economy. Its secret was a strategy to go beyond the production of low margin consumer goods. Reasoning, as David Landes notes, “if they were to have a modern economy, they had to master the heavy work: to build machines and engines, ships and locomotives, railroads and ports and shipyards”.

The implementation of this export oriented strategy, including the gross under valuation of its currency, however, concealed some serious flaws, which were to be brutally revealed in the post 1989 period known as the “lost decade”. A period characterised by ubiquitous spectres of deflation coupled with anaemic economic growth rates (So much for the omniscient pundits who saw its rise to economic hegemony, a mere formality!). 

This era of an enduring, incurable national economic malaise lasted for more than a decade. Indeed, the country is still yet to fully extricate itself from it. Trillions of Yen injected by the Japanese government in hopes of resuscitating the apoplectic economy, have thus far only succeeded in compounding its problems, plunging it into another morass of excessive indebtedness.

The recent apocalyptic events, that have captured the world’s imagination, have coincided with continuing attempts to resolve this enigmatic economic trap. Not without macabre irony, these events could prove to be just what the doctor ordered. The expected investment in necessary infrastructure (unlike many of the failed government sponsored white elephants) may be exactly what is required to jolt the Japanese economy out of its chronic economic comma into some semblance of dynamism.

Without a doubt, the immediate future will pose innumerable testing questions for Nippon, many of which simple answers will not suffice. Beyond the passing shadows of tragedy hanging over Japan, awaiting it is the promise of a long awaited economic dawn for the land of the rising sun. History offers a demonstrable account of a people endowed with legendary resilience and resourcefulness, the kind of which has often found unexpected expression, in moments like these.

 

The tragic dénouement of a heroic age

It was not to be long before the optimism that greeted the advent of the twentieth would be met with its first significant test. And the nature of this test could not have been more portentous. The ship that “even God could not sink”, the Titanic, collided with an inanimate object, an iceberg, on its first voyage, tragically sinking with it over 1500 people.

It was unsurprising that the ship would be named as such given the confidence in human brilliance typical of the times. This masterpiece of human ingenuity was until that point, unexcelled in technical sophistication and luxury. Such was the confidence of the shipbuilders that basic safety features like lifeboats were deprioritized. Perhaps not unsurprisingly, after all this was the ship that “even God could not sink”

Not unlike the Titanic, the unlimited optimism of the times founded on the supposed sovereignty of man was such that the venture into the unchartered sees of the twentieth century overlooked an obvious reality – man’s amply demonstrable capacity for self-destruction. A taste of the true state of the human heart was to be revealed during the Great War (WWI), a war considered at the time as one to “end all wars”. 

It had been imagined that education had advanced man beyond his historically demonstrated capacity for self-destruction. It was soon to be discovered, on the contrary, that education and the technology it spawned, would merely become instruments of this very proclivity. This was portrayed in acts of such savagery during the twentieth century that man’s erstwhile swagger would suffer an enduring blow. 

Reflecting on this rude reminder de la Croix writes: “Everything bears witness to the eternal and incorrigible barbarity of man”. Almost nine million people died during the First World War, a casualty rate of unprecedented proportions. The First World War thus brought with crushing humiliation the closure of the enlightenment and its boundless idealism. 

The untested radical ideas of the late Karl Marx found a perfect opportunity in war weary Russia, one that his most committed disciple Vladimir Lenin was not going to miss. The social inequalities spawned an atmosphere of discontentment in Russia that were ideal for the launch of his version of Marxism, later to be called Marxist-Leninism, which sought to accelerate the so called dialectical process of history through violent revolution. 

From its small beginnings it was to grow into perhaps the most influential political movement of the twentieth century. As impressive as this success was, the cost was astronomical. Estimates put the number of people who died under repressive communist government well in excess of 100million. 

Following the roaring twenties, the Great Depression of the 1930s was to bring the juggernaut of the world economy to a screeching halt. All manner of State interventions failed to resolve this mysterious phenomenon. British economist John Maynard Keynes offered what seemed an elegant solution. Governments could stimulate their economies through debt-induced fiscal interventions. And thus began the idea of deficit spending, the consequences of which our generation is well familiar (let the Greeks tell you all about it!). When questioned about the long-term consequences of this indebtedness, he retorted with these (in) famous words “in the long-term we are all dead”. 

While the rest of the world battled the Great Depression, a humiliated Germany was busy rising from the ashes of its WWI defeat, quietly growing from strength to strength. Its inspirational leader, Chancellor Adolf Hitler, seemingly could put no foot wrong. Having rescued the country’s economy from its post-war shambles and restoring the self-respect of Germany, he was not satisfied. He was now hungry for world conquest and revenge! The world was therefore plunged into an even bloodier world war, accounting this time for 60 million lives. 

The first half of the 20th century was perhaps the darkest in all history. It seemed an eternity from the soaring euphoria of the enlightenment and the Renaissance, where man was thought capable of carving himself out of an allegorical rock with his own hands. To the discerning, the message was unequivocal, “left to himself man is capable of immeasurable destruction”, bringing to mind the biblical admonition, “the (human) heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Fredrick Nietzsche’s words penned in 1882 in his famous Parable of the madman, pronouncing the consequences of the shadow that was to be cast on the world with the supposed ‘death of God’, were startling in their prescience:

Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning?

Critical conversations about the South African economy, Part II

The task that confronted the post-apartheid South African government was no small one. Cavernous racially tinged economic inequalities, commingled with social antipathies that had been painstakingly nurtured through centuries of conflict, conquest and subjugation implied an unpromising prognosis for the country’s future.

But hope is a powerful force. It galvanised the country towards a triumphant rainbow-hued narrative in hopes of transcending the gravitational pull of its difficult past. Such was its influence, the true scale of the daunting realities momentarily retreated into the invisible background.

Twenty one years into the democratic era, the complexity of these socioeconomic fissures has re-emerged to loom much larger. That all important fuel of hope seems in short supply nowadays.

Political leadership is ultimately about solving the pressing problems of the day. Its mettle is ultimately assessed on the scale of results. On this score the assessment is mixed, with pockets of excellence juxtaposed with areas of unmistakable disappointment.

Success in solving problems in turn hinges on unsullied clarity about the nature of the problem. From this, strategic directions can be plotted.

Missing among the multiplicity of proposals that bespatter the local discursive landscape, is analysis on the implications of the industrial structure of the South African economy. Specifically its relation to the sphinx problem of unemployment, which remains the defining economic challenge confronting post-apartheid South African society.

The evolution of economic modernisation in South Africa was shaped by two distinct politico-economic forces. The nexus of Colonialism and English Capital on one hand as well as that of Apartheid and the emergent Afrikaner Capital on the other.

Both of these deserve much credit for their role in building the economy to the dynamism it became. Albeit appreciably aided by the abundance of land and cheap “surplus” labour that has been previously discussed.

The mining industry, with its large capital outlays, lent itself to a concentrated ownership structure that eventually cascaded into broader South African industry.

The two icons of this structure on the mining side of things were Anglo American, representing English capital and Gencor (subsequently Billiton), which flew the flag for Afrikaner Capital. The financial services sector was a mirror image of the mining edifice, with Old Mutual and Sanlam, playing identical roles in representing the two poles of the apartheid power constellation. 

There certainly were other players but these were among the most conspicuous. Their control extended well beyond the mining and financial service sectors. In fact, such was the dominance of Anglo American, in 1987 the group constituted as much as 60% of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange market capitalisation alone.

The decline of the relative importance of mining to the South African economy as well as timely exits to London and elsewhere have diminished their dominance here. But the legacy of industrial concentration remains an inescapable feature of the contemporary economy.

The implications on unemployment are notable only by their absence from popular analysis. Nevertheless they cannot be avoided.

It is no earth-shattering proclamation to assert that Capitalism is driven by the quest for profit maximization.

Oligopolists, by definition, are in the privileged position of competing with fewer players. This makes for easier coordination between them in the interest of the overarching quest for profit maximization.

Oligopolists are subject to a unique production curve according to economic theory. According to this curve profit maximisation occurs at lower production levels to what can be expected under perfect competition. Lower production entails lessened supply. This in turn culminates in higher consumer prices.

The absence of competition thus makes reducing supply easy for South African oligopolists across a range of sectors.

The comparatively higher prices with which South African consumers are quite familiar are a discussion for another day. My concern today is the reduced demand for labour necessitated by the artificially lower production.

This is because lower production means fewer workers in the production process.

The result is the stubborn unemployment that has proven impervious to the ebb and flow of the local and global business cycles. Thus South Africa has come to be saddled with a problem of structural unemployment that has few peers anywhere in the world.

Restructuring the economy seems the only way it can be rescued from its current dismal loop. There is also no shortage of simplistic suggestions as to how this can be done. Clear thinking is what seems to be in short supply.

Letter to the UCT vice-chancellor

Dear Dr Price,

As a UCT alumni, it has come as an utter shock to learn that a UCT SRC vice-president was suspended from her position on the basis of her Facebook post, “We are institutionalising and normalizing sin. May God have mercy on us...”. This is without mentioning the alleged drive to have her expelled from the university.

Her Facebook post is understood to be associated with the US Supreme Court's ruling, which redefined the meaning of marriage across all of its states.

The presumption is that the forced resignation is on the basis of a construal of her statement as constituting “hate speech”.

I want to state this categorically, I see absolutely no basis for these actions by the university. If anything they are a clear violation of at least two of Ms Pae’s constitutional rights. 

1) The freedom to receive or impart information or ideas (section 16 (1) (b))

2) The right to freedom of conscience, religion thought, belief and opinion. (section 15 (1))

According to the same freedom of expression clause in the South African constitution, it is well understood that freedom of expression precludes (section 16):

i) Incitement of imminent violence

ii) Advocacy of hatred that is based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, and that constitutes incitement to cause harm. 

It seems utterly preposterous to imply that the post constitutes anything vaguely resembling the “incitement of imminent violence” or “advocacy of hate”. 

It simply expresses an opinion on a court ruling made in the United States, based on her religious beliefs. The post makes absolutely no reference to any groups or individuals, it is a harmless contribution to an ongoing debate.

Furthermore, the court ruling in question was narrowly passed after much contestation. One wonders how the student's own opinion on a matter that continues to be a subject of vigorous debate across the world, could be seen by the University to be so offensive as to warrant suspension from her position on the UCT SRC, let alone expulsion.

Has the university come to see its role as the arbiter of personal opinions and religious beliefs? It would be a tragic day indeed if this has come to be the case.

It is therefore difficult to see these actions as representing anything but intimidation and the abuse of the power conferred to the university, over a defenceless student, of limited financial means.

It is also difficult not to connect these actions with the role that the UCT SRC played vis a vis the recent “Rhodes must fall” campaign.

In the interest of the constitution as well as the University’s own reputation as the unbiased defender of all human rights, I request the immediate reinstatement of Ms Pae to her elected position as the Vice-president of the UCT Student’s representative committee.

Critical conversations about the South African economy, Part I

The recent public release of the Farlam report that explores the causes and possible remedies of the Marikana massacre, has brought to the fore the stark realities and choices facing South Africa. 

Commentator, Brad Cibane, has lamented the failure of the report to address the deep structural issues that gave rise to the massacre. Perhaps unfairly so, given the limited scope of the inquiry. 

This conversation is nevertheless critical if we are to overcome the sphinx problems before us. The Marikana tragedy and its mining backdrop could hardly be more symbolic, given the dominant role the mining industry has played in the modernisation of South Africa, for better or worse.

The South African economy, as we have come to know it, was literally built on gold. Platinum, its successor, only belatedly came to take pre-eminence, following the gradual decline of the gold industry subsequent to its apogee in the 1970s. It is now the country’s leading earner of foreign exchange. 

The true societal cost of developing the gold industry is truly unquantifiable. Much has been said about the induced migrant labour system and the trail of fatherless communities it left in the so-called homelands[1]. So, I will say less about that. 

Much less has been said, however, about the corresponding psychosomatic impact on the socially dislocated men who found themselves in strange new environments, hundreds of miles away from their families. It is easy to see how violence came to define the dormitory township environment. After all, there is much to be said about the trauma of coping with the resultant cutthroat culture of the emergent sprawling settlements, in distant and foreign settings, ripped apart from their ancient communal socio economy. 

Black South African society and by association the entire country continues to bleed from the cruel edge of the nexus of colonialism and capitalism that buttressed the rise of the South African mining industry. The Marikana tragedy is a timely reminder of the deeper challenges confronting post-apartheid South Africa, which we ignore at our own peril. 

There has been much talk about the “ticking time bomb” supposedly implied by the sea of the unemployed that has characterised South Africa for many decades. What is surprising about this analysis is its apparent ignorance of the devastation it has been reaping for decades already. 

What is the violent crime that has tormented us for decades, if not a direct consequence of the sea of angry and desperate men characterised by the pernicious status of having nothing to lose? Have we been imprisoned so long behind our high security walls that we have forgotten that they exist? 

Black Townships have lived with this scourge for decades. Its spread into broader society is a newer reality that reminds us that there is no sowing without reaping. As with the natural pattern, what is reaped is usually much greater than what was sown. 

Ironically, the surplus of black labour that was close enough to the city for accessibility to burgeoning industry but not too close to “dampen” property prices, served Apartheid society well for decades. The “surplus” labour ensured that wages remained low enough to serve the interests of industry and white society. What was then advantageous “surplus” labour is what we have come to call the ranks of the unemployed. The difference is that they have now become human. 

[1] Feinstein. C, H. “An Economic History of South Africa, conquest, discrimination and development” (2007). Cambridge University Press

(2) Terreblanche, S. “A history of inequality in South Africa, 1652-2002” (2002). University of Natal Press

Is QE the panacea for the troubled EU economy?

It would be a profound understatement to regard me as a Quantitative Easing sceptic. In my mind nothing is more absurd than Central Banks creating money out of thin air. In fact I think it is a sign of the times that this has become a contrarian view. 

The ECB recently joined this cavalcade to the tune of €500bn. I suppose the pressure became unbearable given prevailing economic wisdom. A persistently anaemic economic growth environment recently exacerbated by threats of deflation did not help matters much. 

My moral or logical misgivings notwithstanding, QE has yet to convince me of its effectiveness even as a policy instrument, not least its credentials as a facilitator of economic growth. 

Some may point to the recovery of the US economy as evidence of QE’s capacity to drive output. I would encourage caution about rushing to such conclusions. After all correlation is hardly confirmation of causality. 

Indeed, a counter argument could be advanced that an improving housing market and eased levels indebtedness have improved household balanced sheets, releasing more money to the American consumers. Who, as we know, have the reputation of needing little invitation to consume. 

I am willing to entertain the plausibility of QE’s usefulness as bulwark against deflation but not much more. The inflated money supply certainly does lend itself to low interest rates, but that is hardly the medicine needed by the Eurozone at the moment, where interested rates have been hovering around record lows for years. 

The root problem to me seems to be either the unwillingness or the inability of individuals to spend. Which, in turn, translates to the unwillingness or the inability of companies to invest in fixed capital formation. More so in a sluggish global economy. The problem can also be placed at the door of governments who are able but unwilling to do the same. 

To all of these problems, QE hardly seems the solution. What it does is to pump money into the hands of wealthy individuals and institutions, the most likely holders of EU bonds, whose appetite for consumption and lending respectively is questionable at the moment.

What these parties are inclined to do is to pump money into asset markets such as shares and bonds or maybe property, whether in host countries or emerging markets. This precipitates frothy asset growth and deepened economic inequality.

If governments want to put money into the hands of households, the direct route of tax cuts seems the most logical approach. Why go through the banks, whose appetite for lending has shown itself to be so unreliable? 

If there is a potential positive outcome that even a sceptic like myself would need to accept, even if ever so reluctantly, is the prospect of a weakened Euro. In a global environment dominated by artificially deflated currencies, monetary authorities that do not follow suite are subject to unfair competition as their currencies become comparatively expensive. 

As we have begun to see, the Euro is flirting with record levels of weakness, which can only bode well for the ailing European economy. In a global economy characterised by such daunting threats as a slowing Chinese economy, it certainly can use every bit of help it can get.

Healing the black South African’s fragmented sense of self

“Behold, they are one people, and they all spoke the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them” Genesis 11:6 NASB

The formation and development of nation states is a long, bitter and usually bloody process. Scour the annals of any country and there you will find tales of war, bitter divisions, some of which continue to cast a distressing shadow over their contemporary social realities. Our young democracy is no different. 

America was born of revolution, nursed by the hands of slaves upon fields stained by the blood of natives. It was purified through the furnace of a bitter civil war that finally compelled the country to reckon with its founding principle that “all men are created equal”. It lives now through debilitating political divisions that add to the subterranean angst that its days of global leadership may yet be numbered. 

Modern France is the progeny of the idealistic French revolution and a subsequent Reign of terror. From this emerged the great Napoleon, whose continental conquests were to prove the greatest days of a country for which greatness became since then a claim rooted in nostalgia rather than contemporary experience. 

Germany was built on the foundation of the bloody Thirty years war that culminated in the epochal Peace of Westphalia of 1648. It was later chastened by the might of Napoleon and two ferocious world wars. It walks now with a limp that tames its enormous potential for both good and evil. 

South African socio-politico-economic realities are sometimes distressingly complex but they are hardly a novelty in human history. 

All of this reminds us that the trajectory of prosperous societies at peace with themselves and the world is never linear but is marked by frustrating detours and bitter conflicts. Indeed, even among the more well-adjusted societies, none can claim to have fully arrived at the illusive foot of this rainbow.

The difficulty of our task is compounded by the attempt to engraft together not merely multiple ethnic identities but two distinct civilisations into a single cohesive social formation. One, African in its orientation and historical character, diverse but united by largely common values and outlook. The other Eurocentric in its disposition, shaped by the history of its antecedents such as the Great Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. 

The initial confrontation of these two civilisations led to 300 years of strife, where one, owing to its technological advancement and imagined sense of superiority subjugated the other. 

It is a tragic reality of human history that an enduring peace is usually built on the foundation of an unambiguous military triumph of one of the feuding parties. The fact that this path was avoided was a historic achievement that nevertheless accounts for some of the difficulties that the new South Africa has confronted since inception. 

War is a dreadful thing and those who harbour romantic notions about it have simply not reflected enough on the subject. Its dark clouds gathered ominously during the twilight years of Apartheid. Both sides understood its costs and were eager to avoid them. The overwhelming priority became arriving at a peaceful settlement that could spare countless lives and preserve wealth accumulated over centuries. 

The capacity to arrive at a peaceful settlement reflected a maturity uncommon in the colourful and bloody catalogue of human history. Nevertheless a sustainable peace must fulfil a fundamental condition. Either the resolution of the major points of conflict for the parties involved or the unconditional surrender of one of groups. None of which was the case in the South African negotiated settlement. 

The major grievance for the African population had been the violent dispossession of its land that rendered it practical slaves and vagrants in the land of its forefathers. Those who say land is of no consequence must remember that capital is ultimately acquired on the basis of the accumulated fruit of labour and ingenuity, previously applied on natural agents, of which land is primary.

Without the dispossessed land, along with its fertility and minerals, ingenuity alone was insufficient to accumulate the capital amassed by South Africans of European descent. This is even without reference to the cheap labour enabled by the deliberate economic impoverishment of South Africans of African descent that was pursued precisely for that purpose. 

A postponed resolution of the land question would have surely ensured an uneasy peace. Mindful of this, the founders of the new dispensation conceived of an ingenious way of resolving the dilemma. Mindful that this could undermine the entire foundation of the nascent social order. 

The plan was the rapid assimilation of the African population into the existing white-owned economic structure as a means of advancing the cause of restitution, which alone could underwrite a harmonious start to the new South Africa. The scheme involved corporate equity transfers at favourable terms, as well as the creation of preferential career paths for those whose ethnic identity had precluded them from gainful economic participation.

It was understood that there would be a cost to the incumbent controllers of the economy but the cost was thought justified by the demands of restorative justice. Time would however betray the simplicity of the solution. 

What was termed Black Economic Empowerment turned out anything but that. Instead it became a means of procuring political favour for the incumbent capitalist class through the enrichment of a limited politically connected elite. Even they were not truly empowered, as the contemptible size of the equity stakes, acquired through complex and highly leveraged structures. The entire scheme hardly fulfilled popular hopes of economic justice.

The new political dispensation nevertheless facilitated the emergence of a new black middle class. This new economic class was the natural outcome of a normalised political situation, which opened the lid to a period of sustained economic growth last seen in the pre-1976 period. This segment could grow without the feared displacement of white employment seekers. 

The moral logic of affirmative action, however, never quite found general resonance among South Africans of European descent, who now claimed victimhood amid fears of a reversal of economic fortunes. These fears, however, found little statistical confirmation as both the wages, employment and wealth accumulation of this segment continued to comfortably outperform those of black South Africans in the post-apartheid era, even among the university educated. 

Despite statutory prescripts, anecdotal evidence pointed to the existence of a glass ceiling for the emerging black middle class. Their newly acquired status nevertheless made them a coveted prize for marketing practitioners owing to their high propensity for ostentation and lavish debt funded consumption, who promptly rewarded them with the coveted appellation, “black diamonds”. One they wore with an air of self-satisfaction, while the grateful retailers walked away with glee, all the way to the bank. The ethnic statistics of the senior managerial elite nonetheless continued to belie the underlying demographic context. 

The pace of economic transformation, considered glacial by an increasingly impatient black South African population, has begun to find political expression in the formation of radical if not misguided political formations that presage further polarisation in an already polarised society.

A growing frustration among those of European lineage is also perceptible. Some of whom never quite reconciled themselves to the realities of the post-apartheid dispensation, which created for them the dissonant picture of political power residing with those for whom deeply engrained historical conditioning had taught were intrinsically inferior and hopelessly inept. 

These persisting sentiments have in turn found a propitious alibi in an increasingly arrogant, unaccountable and corrupt government, lending a look of respectability to ideas that otherwise belong to the sewer of history. 

It is hardly surprising therefore that twenty years into the new political dispensation, social cohesion is at such a disconcertingly low ebb, with historical animosities and suspicions at their strongest since the advent of democracy. This parlous state of affairs hearkens for new pathways of thought in light of demonstrably ineffectual strategies.

It is self-evident that functional relationships are impossible without mutual respect. Mutual respect in turn is difficult without the self-respect of all parties involved. Flouting this principle has perhaps been at the core of the difficulties with the post `94 reconciliation[1] project. 

Among the unheralded and possibly the most devastating imprints of Colonialism and Apartheid has been the systematic decimation of black South Africans’ sense of worth, which in turn, has contributed to a modest sense of self-respect. 

The first recorded encounter of Europeans with black South Africans in 1687 tells an eloquent tale about the depredations that were to follow on their psyche and social structures. A journal of one of those who were on the shipwrecked Stavenisse, a Dutch ship, on the East Coast provides an enlightening description of those they encountered. 

Of the range of descriptions at his disposal, his specific choice of words is instructive, “among the finest specimens of the human race”. The description is doubtless not without a whiff of romanticism, nevertheless it is a far cry from the pitiful portrait that has come to prevail of what it means to be a black South African. 

A subsequent observer offers another affirmative account of pre-colonial Nguni society:

“they are very civil, polite and talkative….revenge has little or no sway among them…one may travel 200 or 300 miles through the country, without any cause of fear from men, provided you go naked, and without any iron or copper….their country was extremely fertile and incredibly populous, and full of cattle…It would be impossible to buy any slaves there, for they would not part with their children, or any of their connections for anything in the world, loving each other with a most remarkable strength of affection.”

The idyllic picture offers clues as to the comparative technological backwardness of pre-colonial black South Africans. Living thousands of miles away from the ravages of inhospitable climate, suffocating proximity to scores of bellicose nations in highly densely populated environments, offered inadequate necessity for the kind of technological leaps seen in East Asia and Western Europe. As it has been said, necessity is the mother of all invention. There was technological advancement for pre-colonial black South Africans, nevertheless it progressed according to the pressure of necessity they had to contend with, which was apparently minimal. 

The advent of democracy brought with it closure to the centuries’ long struggle for equality before the law of the land, bringing with it freedom of movement and trade as well as security of property rights. Privileges at the core of wealth creation, that were previously considered the birth right of South Africans of European descent for centuries. What it failed to secure, however, is the restoration of the crushed self-image of the black South African. 

The black South African is politically free but he has come to believe that his language, culture and heritage are inconsequential at best, if not downright primitive. So much so that he has come to look down on of his own people who have managed to maintain some connection to their cultural moorings. You will be hard-pressed to find a single successful people group anywhere in the world with a similarly self-defeating outlook. He continues nevertheless to live in a daze that robs him of the awareness of the true nature of his plight and this condemns him to an even more arduous path towards finding his long lost centre.

His political freedom, laudable as it is, has yet to rebuild the intricate and well developed social system that ensured that young boys were nurtured to be responsible self-respecting and economically active men, young women pillars of the home and the old men and women dignified sages to guide the next generation. A social system defined by its value of the intrinsic dignity of humanity. He has come to tragically internalise the damming dehumanised version of his identity that is constantly fed to him as the true depiction of himself. 

He languishes now as though a drunken man in an inhospitable and foreign milieu that looks upon him at best with veiled condescension if not a patronizing pathos, usually concealed under spurious grins. He must learn a language foreign to him, master cultural peculiarities at odds to his own. All of which may allow him some acceptance, though never quite complete, in a cultural milieu in which he will always be an outsider. This must be all done before the unyielding pressure to succeed in an economic environment that positively expects him to live up to its image of him – innately inept and therefore condemned to constant supervision from which he can rarely hope to graduate. 

The tragedy of this permanent ordeal is that the black South African must endure it with a fragmented sense of self that has surprisingly received little attention since the advent of democracy. With his severed roots as well as spatial, cultural and spiritual displacement and therefore a contemptible knowledge of who he is, the black South African continues to live as an effective destitute in the land of his forefathers. His inner resources unavoidably insufficient to withstand the multiplicity of unflattering definitions he must endure in the dominant and often hostile cultural environment in which he finds himself. 

He has come thus to tragically accept the correct view of himself as the one foisted on him by others. The fact that he is so susceptible to taking cue concerning his worth from external sources speaks volumes about his crisis of identity. This disposition poses greater problems for him than the largely unflattering views about himself that he oft complains about but nevertheless obsequiously imbibes from the socio-economic environment imposed on him by historical exigencies.

What is needed in building a true Rainbow Nation at peace with itself and the world has nothing to do with breaking down the white man but everything to do with building up the black man. Attention must be given not merely to his impoverished wallet but more crucially, his emaciated soul. The responsibility for this belongs to no one else but himself. 

To this end, a leaf can be borrowed from the contested legacy of Mao Zedong who nevertheless had the perception to see the need to take the country through a period of internal reconstruction, with methods that were at the very best questionable, to deal with what he saw as weaknesses that lay at the root of the so called “hundred years of humiliation”. The end does not justify the means as some of the means in this case were nothing less than tragic. That said, the re-emergence of China as a global power toward the end of his reign must at least vindicate his discernment in seeing the need to rebuild the confidence of what had become a desperate, weak and fragmented nation. 

This is certainly no call for the reconstruction of the pre-industrial idyll of lore. That is neither possible nor desirable as times have changed. In fact, a case can be made that pre-colonial black South African society carried weaknesses that rendered it vulnerable to its own “three hundred and fifty years of humiliation” at the hands of foreign powers. It is a call instead for the recognition of the damage that centuries of Colonialism and Apartheid have done to the black South African’s sense of self, which should lead to deliberate steps towards its reconstruction. 

A perilous narrative has been deeply embraced by black South Africans that equates progress to the necessary forsaking of everything African and embracing everything Western. This is precisely the mind-set that renders them perpetual strangers in their own homeland, condemning them to the endless search for answers about their own identity and value from sources other themselves. 

The time has come for black South Africans to define themselves for themselves. A new consensus must emerge of what it means to be a black South African in the 21st Century. This social movement must liberate us to express ourselves in a way that reaffirms the legitimacy of our dignity, humanity and perspective on life. 

There might be a misinterpretation of this as being another knee-jerk anti-western diatribe. That would be to miss the point entirely. Such a path would not only be morally problematic but it would be a self-defeating diversion of precious energy. I speak here of a needed development of a pro-African consciousness among black South Africans. The two are not synonymous. To be pro-African does not equate to being anti-West. This consciousness will confer the kind of rootedness required to confidently and positively engage with the outside world in our own terms, out of a deep assurance of our identity and worth.

A movement has gathered momentum for land restitution. There is certainly a case for this as the endorsement of the prescripts of the land act of 1913 was simply an unjust compromise. Nevertheless to make land restitution the centrepiece of the strategy to recover from the ravages of Colonialism and Apartheid carries something of an anachronistic ring. 

While land was central to the pre-1850 economy, the advances of subsequent decades rendered it less and less so. Knowledge and expertise have become the pre-eminent means of production in the modern economy and there is simply no escaping that. 

The land restitution process must be accompanied by the injection of capital into the agricultural and mining sectors which must raise the level of productivity for these primary sectors. To make them the cornerstone of our economic strategy, however, is to confine South Africa to a perpetual player in the lower leagues of the global economy as these sectors are notable for their comparatively lower rates of return, not to mention their tendency for cyclicality and high price volatility. Their importance, however, lies in building a capital base that can be used for diversification into higher yielding and more sustainable sectors. 

Even in the information age, manufacturing expertise remains crucial. The decimation of some of our manufacturing capacity over the past two decades, largely at the hands of cheaper Chinese imports, points to the need for different thinking when it comes to manufacturing. The lesson is there for all to see – an industrial strategy centred primarily on cost is unsustainable. Other competitive advantages must be developed, harnessed and maintained. This is how to compete sustainably in a global economic environment underpinned by divergent socioeconomic realities that necessitate that certain countries will always have lower labour costs than others. 

To recover some of their self-respect, black South Africans must eschew economic dependence on their white compatriots. This can only reinforce stubborn white-supremacist contempt and the maintenance of the deleterious belief we are incapable of self-advancement. 

There must be a concerted drive to develop a groundswell of black entrepreneurs. They will need government support as did their lighter hued compatriots but support is no synonym for dependence. The time has come to conceive of global businesses run by black South Africans, who must develop the confidence to open up new frontiers of knowledge, innovation and expertise to the global family of nations. 

This will require us to defy the counsel of our fears as well as countless opposing voices, mostly emanating from ourselves. We have the example of our Afrikaner compatriots to look to, who had the gumption to disregard their self-doubts to build what became leading global corporations. We must believe that God has endowed us with greatness as well. Success will create its own momentum, opening a whole new world of possibilities for others and future generations. A beneficent virtuous cycle must be precipitated. The time to begin is now[2]. 

[1] The popular term “reconciliation” is in fact a misnomer as it presupposes the previous existence of harmonious relations between black and white South Africans, something not borne out by historical evidence. My use of the term is according to its popular interpretation – conciliation. 

[2] It might seem strange that a discussion about building a cohesive society has focused primarily on black South Africans. This is premised on the idea that sustainable relational partnerships are partnerships of “equals”. A lack of self-respect afflicting one of the parties naturally breeds contempt by the other. This might explain why pleas for reconciliation have largely emanated from one side with the other side showing scarcely concealed disinterest. This is a natural and predicable outcome that will continue until such a time that both parties understand their own true value. Only then can the reconciliation between white and black South Africans, that has hitherto proven so elusive, begin in earnest. 

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