Last Thursday, I finished my second tour of national duty with the Black Business Council (BBC) as its president, after having served as secretary-general before, which makes this an ideal time for reflection.
When I was elected president, the country was facing multiple challenges. These included low economic growth (including occasionally flirting with recession), credit rating downgrades (raising the cost of borrowing), rising levels of poverty and hunger, unemployment – especially among the youth – inequality, corruption and decline of our state-owned enterprises.
Also, business' relationship with government was not optimal. As if that was not enough, the body politic of our country was turbulent. And these were all before covid-19 uppended all plans to cure these ills.
Throughout all this time, my central mission was to ensure that the voice of black business is heard and that we have a seat at the main table, not near the door, so to speak. Our advocacy for black business is one of the highlights of my tenure.
We pushed very strongly for black business to be given its fare share of the spoils. Among others, the black industrialist programme was the result of this campaign. We established mutually beneficial relationships with a range of stakeholders including the U-Bank.
Our relationship with government (all spheres) and other business formations is now characterised by mutual respect and admiration. I couldn't hope for more. My approach in building these relationships was to always keep an open mind, be helpful and constructive and never to lose focus on the bigger picture.
As a country, we have achieved a lot together. After the ANC conference in 2017, we witnessed a change of government – from former president of the republic and the governing party Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma to his excellency President Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa – without a single shot being fired nor a drop of blood being spilt. This is who we are as a people.
Most of the challenges that characterised my tenure are still there. Covid-19 has accentuated them. Our unemployment rate, intra-country inequality and poverty have grown. Through our work as an organisation, we sought to ensure an inclusive approach to the design of solutions.
When Covid-19 hit our shores, we joined hands with Business Unity SA to ensure a joined-up approach to resolving the crisis faced by our country. We lobbied hard for the inclusion of non-banking players in the credit loan guarantee scheme which was backstopped by the National Treasury and the SA Reserve Bank.
We pushed strongly that black business should be part of the suppliers of the personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and other protective gear. As with other crises, some unscrupulous individuals exploited this public health emergency to line up their pockets at the expense of the poor.
When this came to light we spoke out clearly, loudly and fast: that this was thievery and we distanced ourselves from it. This was not what we had lobbied for. Similarly, we condemned the grand-scale fraud and corruption by Covid tenderpreneurs.
The period ahead is one of opportunity and risk. It requires strong leadership. We need to urgently resolve the crisis of unemployment, especially among our young people. We need to turn our young people into taxpayers, not social grant earners. This will restore their dignity.
Twenty-seven years into our democracy, it is unacceptable that the economy remains in white hands. There are many opportunities to correct this.
The following are opportunities to increase black African participation in the mainstream economy – the allocation of the broadband spectrum; the inclusion of private sector players in energy, ports and rail infrastructure, the legalisation of cannabis, and the R100bn infrastructure programme.
If we are to secure our future, we need to ensure that we work diligently to transfer 75% of ownership and control of the economy into black, African hands.
We need to ensure that the next 10 years doesn't turn into another lost decade.
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