Janet Wilhelm=20
Age: Somewhere between angry young political firebrand =20 and boardroom fossil.=20
Also known as: Ex-Benny Alexander!=20
Appearance: Also in transition. Businesslike blue suits =20 with fewer lapses into ethnic West African dashikis and =20 Mao tunics.=20
Is that what they call dressing for success? He is =20 following the modern fashion trend of choosing clothes =20 that accessorise your state of mind. His is in flux =20 from Black Power to Black Empowerment — the latter =20 translating as forget the landless masses and grab a =20 piece of economic power for yourself first.=20
Is that a job? He’s made it into one. His multimillion =20 rand Trans South Africa Investment Holdings consortium =20 is throwing bids around like spare ballot papers, and =20 made a last-minute attempt to muscle in on the African =20 Bank sale with a R200-million offer backed by Malaysian =20
How’s it going? Consensus on the past year rates him a =20 solid “C” performer: Conscientious (100 percent =20 attendance as the only PAC Gauteng legislative member), =20 Comical and Contradictory, making it possible for him =20 to climb into bed with Malaysian investors after =20 spending years sounding off about how colonial =20 foreigners stole his country and gave him a slave name.=20
Surely indigenous culture can withstand a colonial =20 onslaught from the East? It’s getting harder. Our =20 traditional way of life is no longer under threat — =20 well, only from hamburgers and reruns of Married With =20 Children. Go out to escape the American bombardment and =20 you face Sushi bars, Thai cooking classes and karaoke =20
There must be some advantage to going global? Mass-=20 produced microwave ovens. Video games — including the =20 !Khoisan favourite PAC-Man — that leave kids with eyes =20 looking like Catherine-wheels, but keep them off the =20 street. And that lifesaver for mothers across the =20 country, the two-minute noodle pack.=20
But !Khoisan, at least, remains dedicated to preserving =20 his roots? His last cultural foray was a year ago when =20 he supported the daubing of the Gauteng legislature =20 dining room with red mud, an ethnic touch meant to tone =20 down the opulent Eurocentric revamp. Since then he’s =20 forsaken nationalisation for international share =20
Any dissenters? Cynics, who feel that those who hold =20 public office should not mix business and politics.=20
Any supporters? Optimists, who believe the quicker =20 black-owned companies carve a slice of the national =20 economic cake the better for everyone, are singing his =20
And what is !Khoisan singing these days? “Who wants to =20 be a millionaire? … I do!”=20