Dr Richard Maponya and the Township Economy
Upon hearing of the death of black business legend Dr Richard Maponya this week, I was reminded of those timeless, poignant words from Thomas Babington Macaulay’s Lays of Ancient Rome, “Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate: To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late, and how can man die better, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods.”
Dr Richard Maponya was a guru, a father of the township economy who fought against immeasurable odds that apartheid placed against black business at the time and became for the rest of us a shining example of what could be achieved with a bit of entrepreneurial initiative, drive, ambition, innovation and singlemindedness. Having built a successful business empire emanating from Soweto, Dr Maponya’s life was the embodiment of the words of distinguished journalist, editor and media personality Aggrey Klaaste when he said that, “Soweto is a metaphor for black lives in South Africa.”
When reflecting on the life of Dr Maponya, we must of necessity reflect on the struggles of black business to find expression within the mainstream economy of South Africa and ask ourselves whether we are doing enough to inculcate a culture of entrepreneurship in our townships as a means towards facilitating economic and spatial transformation, growing our economy more equitably and sustainably and of course creating much needed jobs.
I was reminded of the argument advanced by renowned scenario planner Clem Sunter, when he opined that government should not be setting itself job creation targets for the economy per se, but rather should be focusing on promoting, supporting and facilitating the growth of sustainable SMMEs, as in the long run, these sustainable SMMEs are the ones that will create the jobs that are needed in the economy in order to deal with unemployment and poverty.
It is a question of focus and prioritisation, more than anything, which is well captured in the words of Dr Maponya himself, when he was talking about the importance of entrepreneurs, “as they grow their businesses, they address poverty as well. Believe you me, with more people creating job opportunities-this country could turn around overnight and the kind of poverty we see will be a thing of the past. I’m hoping I can see this happening in my lifetime.”