Former UCT vice-chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng. Tracey Adams/African News Agency (ANA)
Sandile Memela
Pretoria - There exists a self-righteous tendency among self-appointed radicals and black spokespersons to criticise and condemn black super-achievers who are successful in a supremacist and capitalist economic system.
I guess it does not sit well with some to witness ordinary folk from our kind of people and background – poor working class – suddenly rise to earn R5 million per annum. There are some who see this criticism of super-achievers as a mentality where blacks do not celebrate the few who make it.
What we need to understand about black excellence is that it subscribes to the same rules of the white supremacist capitalist games. You must serve the interests of the white patriarchs for you to succeed beyond your wildest dreams.
Frankly, in most instances, the super achievement and success of any black person will, and must be, at the expense of the majority of black people. One only has to look at the multi-millionaires spawned by Black Economic Empowerment (BEE).
However, this turning the back on the black majority is created by the circumstances. The consequence is we are all, directly or indirectly, co-responsible for the prevailing injustice and inequality created and perpetuated in the most unequal society on Earth.
Black radicals and spokespersons have their place, but their holier-than-thou attitude is not going to take us anywhere. Will any man, woman or child who has not been here enjoying half-baked political freedom and allowing greed, corruption and theft to creep into the country please raise their hands?
No, no, no! For instance, a hail of stones was thrown at the house of former UCT vice-chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng. She was accused of promoting a reign of fear, intimidation, terror and secrecy at the celebrated university.
What irked people was that her shenanigans were about entrenching her personal power. Worse, she earned about R5m for allegedly not advancing the interests of blacks as a block.
Reports said the chaos of misgovernance at UCT was about her protecting her position and power. So, she became an easy target – rightly or wrongly.
Then there was Mteto Nyati, a corporate top flyer and super-achiever who was recently appointed to the board of Eskom. He is a qualified mechanical engineer whose career path is punctuated with top positions in local corporations like MTN and multinationals like Altron. At his last job he earned perks of almost R20m a year. Of course, this makes him Mr High Life himself.
So, why are radicals and black spokespersons throwing stones at his house? The gripe is not that he is not the right man, but his perceived reactionary politics. Nyati was to review the procurement process to do away with BEE. Now, he is accused of kicking down the ladder because he is at the top. The critics say he doesn't want more blacks to reach his dizzying heights.
We can do much better. I believe we need to think things through. We need to separate the sin from the sinner. Frankly, when you live and grow up in South Africa, it is your destiny to benefit from inequality to be successful. In a way, those doing relatively well are beneficiaries of neo-apartheid. Whatever you have accumulated is within the parameters of this supremacist capitalist economic system.
Under the circumstances, it looks like we must make the best of a bad situation. Worse, we have long answered Lenin’s revolutionary question: “What is to be done?” Our resounding answer always is, “Sizothini” (there is nothing we can do).
We, the people of the revolution, have resigned ourselves to the fate of being victims and blaming each other.
This is the language of self-defeat, and is a collective responsibility. And black radicals and spokespeople must give us answers. Will those not responsible for what is happening in this country please raise their hands.
* Memela is a journalist, writer, cultural, critic and civil servant. He writes in his personal capacity.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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