The appointment of Sello Aggrey Matsabu, 40, as an executive=20 chairman of Motorola SA, may have come as a surprise. For a=20 South African to head the local operation of this giant,=20 multinational is a vote of confidence in local management=20
Virtually unknown in the corporate world, Matsabu, nonetheless,=20 has had many years of training and experience in information=20
With only a year to go as a medical student at Natal University in=20 the early 70s, Matsabu, inspired by fellow student and black=20 consciousness leader Steve Biko, became entangled in student=20 activism. Dropping out was a blow to his “hard driving” father=20 who had pressed him to be a doctor. However, this=20 “disappointment” was soon to lead Matsabu to the information=20 highways and byways. In 1976, he joined IBM in Johannesburg and received training in=20 software engineering for technical support services. IBM had just=20 initiated an extensive training programme spurred by its need for=20 technicians, as well as growing pressure, later codified as the=20 (Leon) Sullivan Principles, for United States companies to=20 implement training programmes for black technicians and=20
After six years, during which he gained considerable experience=20 working for major clients like South African Airways and Legal=20 and General, he felt he needed advanced training and=20
On his own initiative, Matsabu went to the US — not, at least=20 initially, for further study, but to exercise his South African- acquired skills in the country with the edge in information=20 technology. In 1982, he joined a New York consultancy,=20 Personnel Sciences, where he was soon made a manager. This=20 was followed by a stint in the New York City Department of=20 Finance, again as a manager. His big break came when he moved to American Telephone and=20 Telecommunications (AT&T), where he spent three years. He=20 became involved in the design of data communications networks=20 which entailed planning and applied research. He returned to his=20 alma mater, IBM, in New York, and worked there from 1988 to=20
Matsabu puts his success, for which he had no theoretical or=20 academic training, down to several factors. There was the legacy=20 of his parents’ (both school teachers) drive and insistence that=20 their children should take on challenges and excel. “The role of=20 parents in instilling the right attitudes and values is crucial.=20 Parents should not abdicate this role to schools and other social=20 institutions. These have their role as well, but they should not=20 supplant those of parents in laying the right foundations.” He also cites the contribution of his high school maths and=20 science teacher, the late JA Nakedi. In the depressing black=20 education system he says: “I was fortunate in having had a=20 teacher who stressed the need to think analytically rather than=20 * earning by rote. He motivated us to acquire skills and explore=20 whatever problems and tasks we had. This spirit has inspired and=20 sustained me up to this point.” The role high school teachers=20 should play as mentors is a theme Matsabu keeps coming back to. He says information technology is largely a hands-on exercise=20 which requires practical sense and self-motivation. Sensing, perhaps, that he would not spend all his life immersed in=20 cells and wires, he went to Wharton School of Business in=20 Pennsylvania where he obtained — not its prestigious MBA — but=20 a basic, undergraduate business degree. An avid fan of Alvin=20 Toffler, the apostle of modern technology, Matsabu insists=20 continual education and training should be integral to product and=20 career development, to keep up with technological changes. And,=20 * aturally, for a communications fundi he cites Marshall=20 MacLuchan’s dictum that the world has become a global village=20 and that a greater awareness of the implications of this is=20 indispensable as the world gets wired. More importantly, he believes schools should concentrate on=20 enhancing technical, analytical and innovative skills to prepare=20 students for effective participation in technological developments.=20 Motorola runs its own hands-on university in Chicago. The=20 company also supports Promat, a project to improve the maths=20 and science training skills of black teachers. “They need support=20 and direction. I am a product of good high school training and=20 would like to extend this to others,” says Matsabu. “We should=20 * ever dilute investments in human resources.” As Motorola’s executive chairman, Matsabu will concentrate on=20 corporate-public sector relations, working with all stakeholders in=20 telecommunications (“to realise the objectives of RDP”), in=20 developing the market for Motorola in Southern Africa and=20 maintaining links with the worldwide Motorola operations. There=20 are no plans as yet to set up manufacturing plants in South Africa. Though he is confident that rapid improvements in technology=20 will reduce costs, he is concerned about the high tariffs which=20 protect Telkom. Once these are removed or reduced, cellular=20 phones, for example, could be mass marketed, he says. And this=20 would benefit poor areas where conventional phones do not exist. =20 Not surprisingly, Matsabu has strong views on affirmative action=20 and the role of black managers and professionals. “Affirmative=20 action is important. But, most significant is the need to provide=20 real training so that people can do effective work. This must start=20 at the bottom. But, to take a person, give him or her an office and=20 a car, and for the company to merely boast about such moves, is=20
Cultural roots are also vital, he says. “That is what makes a=20 person.” Referring to his links with Evaton, Gauteng, where he=20 grew up, he maintains: “Black achievers must reinvest in their=20 community,” as part of their social responsibility. “If I spent 10 years at Motorola without making a social impact, I=20 would be a failure. There has to be a spiritual and intellectual=20 revolution among the black elite alongside economic and political=20
Matsabu, a jazz afficiando and soccer enthusist, is married to=20 Mampiti Sekeke, a civil engineer and Lesotho citizen, whom he=20 met in the US. The couple has two small children.