ON BEING THE BEST
By Ryan Coetzee
Why is excellence – being the best – not one of our core values as a nation?
Rugby and cricket aside, in which field of human endeavour does South Africa strive to be the world leader? Of course there are individuals and companies in our country that lead the world. But as a country, in which field do we aspire to be right at the top?
In search of an answer, I made my way to the website, “South Africa – The Good News”. Under the section “SA teaching the world” I discovered this revealing introduction:
“South Africa has much to teach the world when it comes to finding useful - and often unique - solutions to enormously complex problems. Think about the challenges of deep-level mining, our fight to save the black rhino from extinction or the way we've designed cell phone masts to look like trees.
But it's perhaps in the field of political negotiation and economic restoration that we have the most to offer the world. We can pass on lessons about conflict resolution, multi-lateral decision making, forgiveness, and community upliftment.
We've also come a long way down the road of advancing women into positions of power and there's a great deal we can teach the world about networking in Africa too.”
Ok, we are indeed the world leaders in deep-level mining (a “mafia industry”, as one ANC MP described the mining sector) and yes, we do know more about doing business in Africa than any other country, as the Economist has pointed out. These are achievements worthy of a winning nation.
But really, how long are we going to allow ourselves to dine out on our “political negotiation” and “conflict resolution” abilities? Why are we reduced to talking about cell phone masts that look like trees? Why mention “advancing women into positions of power”, when millions of South African women labour on under an oppressive sexism that democracy and the bill of rights has done little to diminish? And if there is one thing we’re not good at, it’s “multi-lateral decision making”, as the shortest visit to parliament will attest.
Here’s a bold statement that’s likely to raise a few hackles: South Africa behaves too much like a loser nation, and this reflects an internalised Afro-pessimism that undermines our ability to deliver “the better life” that was promised.
When I think about countries that strive to be the best, I think of China and Australia. Call them arrogant if you like, but no one ever accuses them of lacking self-confidence. China unashamedly wants to lead the world, while Australia has made an art out of punching above its weight. No hand-wringing here. No glorification of victimhood or debilitating resentment against “the oppressor”.
Here’s a more specific statement, also provocative: too many white South Africans suffer from the colonial’s internalised sense of inadequacy, always regarding anything from “overseas” as better, while too many black South Africans have internalised the colonial characterisation of Africa and Africans as less-than.
We need to begin overcoming our past, and I say this without wishing to dismiss or diminish anyone’s legitimate experience. I know the perfect place to start. Last year’s World Bank “Doing Business” survey placed us 57th in the “starting a business” category, behind countries like Armenia, Jamaica, Botswana, Kazakhstan and, well, 52 others.
Now here’s my question: Why aren’t we first? Why don’t we sit down, determine exactly what it will take to be first, and then implement the necessary steps as quickly as possible?
I can already hear the chorus of objections about the constraints we face, the things I don’t understand, the complexity I don’t see. All nonsense.
We know we suffer unemployment on a grand scale, whichever measure you
| Posted on 28/5/2007
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