The day AfriForum met the Black Management Forum

27 May 2021

We witness far too few open and frank discussions between those with opposing views in this country. Rather than barking at each other from a comfortable distance, communities should instead regularly meet to discuss the best way forward, because no community is an island.

My AfriForum colleagues and I were therefore grateful to have been invited to the Black Management Forum’s (BMF’s) panel discussion on 5 May 2021. The topic of this discussion was “Black Economic Empowerment policy has failed to empower black business and transform South Africa. What should be the next way forward?”

Soon after the proceedings started, it dawned on me that I was surrounded by an audience who are overwhelmingly convinced, despite the spectacular failure of BEE to attain its stated goals, that the only solution going forward should be for the government to apply racial quotas even more aggressively and strictly.

The overriding sentiment was clear: “After all, real BEE has never been tried.”

The issue of unemployment in South Africa can be seen as a tree that does not bear as much fruit as expected. There can be many causes: poor soil quality, insufficient water or sun, disease, restricted root space, etc.

Trying to solve black unemployment and social upliftment through BEE policies is like hanging all sorts of fruit from this tree that were bought at the market and then triumphantly declaring that you have solved the problem.

I suspect a lack of water or sunlight was at the root of the metaphorical tree's problem, but at the BMF panel discussion I was surrounded largely by people debating the number and variety of fruit that should be bought or donated to hang in it.

The bottom line is that BEE has become the backdrop and justification for lucrative political theatre, performed by the ANC-connected elite. Apart from my colleague Ernst Roets’ input, virtually all the “solutions” discussed revolved around promoting further government intervention, which is destined to yield more bitter fruit of government dependence.

Increased dependence on government to intervene with BEE to enable someone to appear successful – this is a recipe for cultivating an inferiority complex. A vicious cycle is thereby created: The larger your inferiority complex grows, the more your envy will let you focus on handicapping the successful, rather than improving your skills or providing the poor with better opportunities for upward mobility.

Children who remain forever dependent on the trust funds of their parents are bound to experience feelings of deficiency and will never feel that their achievements are self-made or that they can independently stand on their own two feet. The same logic applies to an overprotective, paternalistic state and those who become eternally dependent on it.

Throughout the evening the notion was expressed that black people are weighed down by self-doubt in terms of whether they can be successful. It is indeed important to resist being held back by self-doubt, and the proven remedy for getting rid of self-doubt has always been selfdoen (doing it yourself).

My grandfather used to say, “Nothing succeeds like success.” With every brick you lay when you build your own institutions, safety infrastructure, services and communities, you are also building your confidence and accordingly your self-respect.

There is immense pride to be found in relentlessly toiling away to improve your community and then standing back and admiring the sweet fruits of your own inspiring achievement, which nobody can deny, diminish or rob you of. The Solidarity Movement’s building of Sol-Tech through community funding and without any government funding or assistance is a proud monument to this vitalising mentality of selfdoen.

In response to Ernst Roets advocating less – and certainly not more – government regulation, it was alleged from the floor that AfriForum simply doesn’t want to be regulated by government in order to “preserve the status quo of self-enrichment”. It is true that AfriForum and its members do not want to be over-regulated by the government, but can you blame anyone for saying that we should not be granting even more power, control and money to a government that has singlehandedly bankrupted almost all state-owned enterprises and that has shamelessly looted funds that were intended for the sick and vulnerable during a pandemic?

There was a magical moment during the question-and-answer segment when Ernst Roets mentioned that white South Africans have generally become wealthier since 1994. This remark was met with great applause and cheers of approval from the audience. When he finished his line of thought by stating that this was due to whites being driven out of protective state employment through BEE and into the competitive but rewarding private sector, the applause quickly chilled into a stunned silence.

Much has been written about the destructive economic consequences of the BEE policy. Few have, however, highlighted the immorality of this textbook example of systemic racism. BEE policy is inherently predicated on the flawed premise that impoverishment is a struggle exclusively reserved to black South Africans and that every white South African, without exception, enjoys great wealth and privilege.

Any example that demonstrates these ideas as awful generalisations would expose BEE policy as a racist, immoral farce. The justifications used for BEE imply that all white people’s wealth could only have been acquired through oppression or theft, and that all black people’s poverty is the product of this oppression, theft and discrimination.

This notion could explain why several audience members implied or outright argued that the only solution to correct the past injustices of apartheid policies is for the ANC government to implement similar discriminatory, oppressive policies – as if oppression and discrimination are the only avenues to wealth.

These remarks start to flirt with satire when one considers that most people who prescribe apartheid-like race-based BEE policies responded in all likelihood with furious outrage and indignation when apartheid’s label as a crime against humanity was the subject of a fiery national debate some time ago. Indignation over discriminatory apartheid policies appears to take one of two main forms: either despising them on moral principle, or despising them merely because you were not the ones wielding them.

After 27 years the ANC has – through its race-based policies and cadre deployment – created a society where, when it comes to wealth creation and opportunities, there is no bigger privilege than being born into an ANC cadre's household. I must emphasise that present wrongs – such as the immoral policy of BEE – can never right the wrongs of the past, for the simple reason that the present has a nasty and consistent habit of turning into the past. (The irony was not lost on me that while a black business mogul on stage was discussing how all white South Africans are born into racial privilege, I was pausing for a moment to figure out which of the three silver spoons in front of me to use first.)

Fortunately, most clouds tend to have a silver lining, which in this case turned out to be Nano Mothibi, a businesswoman and author, and Kabelo Kgobane, a member of the BMF’s Young Professionals, who came forward and acknowledged that black South Africans can learn a great deal from the Afrikaners in terms of weaning yourself from government dependence, by serving and uplifting one’s community. They therefore made an appointment with AfriForum to discuss closer cooperation, whereby knowledge and experience on how to empower and develop communities can be shared.

The value of robust conversations was reaffirmed to me once again, seeing that I left this event with new insights to ponder. Many of the misconceptions and lies of modernity have infiltrated not only my own community, but others as well. We should not construe success with blindly emulating Bill Gates, ANC cadres or Elon Musk in the personal wealth that they have accumulated.

Like our ancestors once did, success should be measured by how much you have done to strengthen and contribute to your community. AfriForum regards mutual respect, cooperation and good relations between self-sufficient, responsible communities as the way forward to a sustainable future, which will unlock true potential and freedom of communities and individuals, without anyone being unfairly handicapped, privileged or controlled by depraved government policies.

Ernst van Zyl is a campaign officer at AfriForum for strategy and content. He co-presents the Podlitiek podcast, hosts the Afrikaans In alle Ernst podcast, and hosts a political commentary and interview channel on YouTube. Ernst usually posts on Twitter and YouTube under his pseudonym Conscious Caracal (follow him at https://twitter.com/ConCaracal).