privilege
Ben Turok
THE recent report that black corporations now control 8,6% of values at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange comes as a clear signal of the increasing pace of black advancement into the highest echelons of South African society. Until now, the most visible aspect of black advancement was in the political domain, where the African National Congress victory brought into public office a large number of mainly black activists, now firmly established in government at all levels.
This was followed by a new cadre of top public servants in government departments and parastatals and they too became highly visible. And now we have the entry into top positions in the private sector. Soon the pattern will be reflected throughout the professions and other sectors of society.
Is this what the liberation movement wanted? The answer must be in the affirmative. Even if it was not always stated explicitly, one of the goals of the liberation struggle was to enable black advancement into the highest positions throughout society. Yet some qualifications must be noted. The struggle was about the liberation of the black people as a whole, and not just an elite, with the essential corollary that all sections of society would be liberated from a hateful system.
So it is appropriate to ask now: is black advancement into the top echelons opening up the prospect of liberating all? The answer must depend on how the benefits of black advancement are to be apportioned, and that, in turn, depends on the values associated with the process. Here we are reminded that a great deal of nonsense has been written about black people enriching themselves in the last few weeks. Some black business people deeply resent criticism about their new wealth and status ascribing the criticism to racism (if it comes from whites) or envy (if it comes from blacks).
For anyone with experience of post- independence Africa, the phenomenon of the Wabenzi class is old hat. We were previously deprived, they say, and now it’s our turn.
The ANC argued for decades that South African society is essentially colonial but with a distinctive feature in that the colonial ruling class is located within the country and not in some imperial country elsewhere. The system has been categorised as “internal colonialism”. Undoubtedly the system, with its huge race barriers, its massive polarisation of wealth and power, and its system of privileges and parasitism, was colonial in its every fibre. The ANC always argued that whites enjoyed exceptional wealth and status, due to the colonial system, which enabled them to extract additional wealth and power way beyond what an ordinary capitalist system allowed.
What is a matter of concern now is not that blacks are becoming entrepreneurs and rich, but that their yardstick is the colonial levels of wealth and lifestyle, including the whole panoply of perks that white colonial South Africans gave themselves in addition to their incomes. These include servants, company cars, five star hotels, business class travel, holidays, and all the rest of the consumptionism associated with an exceptionally privileged group.
What is worse, is that even public servants use as a standard the incomes and perks of their white predecessors in what was a colonial state. What is happening therefore is a levelling up of a new aspirant black group in both public and private spheres launched on a wave of material aspirations, and which is pushing up costs right across the board.
There is evidence that in many other countries much richer than ours, there are deliberate efforts to inhibit the polarisation of society, by such measures as limiting the salary gap between top people and ordinary employees, and by laying down strict rules about property ownership and the like. Equally, politicians in many countries base their standard of living on a much lower level of personnel than we do. In some countries, politicians still give their whole salary to their party and receive back only what is considered appropriate.
The key question, however, is not so much whether there is an undesirable thirst for wealth, but how the masses see this phenomenon. In my experience all over Africa, the emergence of the “Wabenzi” was resented principally because it was thought that a new class was taking the place of the colonial class and behaving in the same way. I fear that we are beginning to arouse the same feelings among the mass of the people here.
The point is, therefore, that while black enrichment may indeed arouse some envy on the part of poorer people, this is not the main thrust of their resentment. It is rather the entry of new personnel into the style of colonials that offends.
— Ben Turok is an ANC member of Parliament