LESETJA KGANYAGO: A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF GOOD CADRE DEPLOYMENT
It did not come as a surprise to many people that President Jacob Zuma appointed Lesetja Kganyago as the new Governor of the South African Reserve Bank. It was a good appointment that all South Africans and the international financial markets have welcomed with open arms; this was supported by the immediate improvement of the Rand/ US Dollar value on the day of the announcement.
What many people may not realise is that the South African liberation struggle was not just about the armed struggle, strikes, and consumer boycotts. Behind the scenes, there was an active preparation of many blacks to get involved in and even to lead in many areas which had been previously "no go areas" for the oppressed masses.
It was against this background that the 1980s and the early 1990s saw thousands of black South Africans being given scholarships to go and study in the USA and in the United Kingdom. This was not just an act of generosity by the USA and the UK governments and their institutions.
Having been perceived negatively by many black South Africans for having supported the apartheid regime; and also for having been seen to be breaking or resisting the economic sanctions against South Africa; the USA and the UK governments and their institutions soon accepted that the apartheid days were numbered and that they needed the future leaders of this country to be on the side of "the West" instead of being on the side of "the Communist Bloc".
It was against this background that the British Council and the UK educational institutions admitted many black South Africans to study in the United Kingdom, especially in areas where there were limited opportunities for blacks under apartheid. The University of London played a crucial role in the training of many black South Africans in the fields of law, finance, economics, industrial relations, human resources management, and other fields at both the London School of Economics (LSE) and at its sister tertiary campus The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).