In an ordinary society, Phillip Jabulani (“Be Happy”) Moleketi would have become a medical doctor, but South Africa in the mid-1970s was not an ordinary society and did not cater for the aspirations of its young black elite. Rather, through its repression, it forced them into exile.
Moleketi had been active in student politics, but it was the Soweto riots that started a day after his 19th birthday that marked a turning point in his life.
Exile was the only option available for Moleketi as he left behind his sisters, one of whom became a nurse. The other one became a social worker, as did his father and mother.
His talent was such, however, that the armed wing of the African National Congress needed him in South Africa, so after a short course in Mozambique he returned in April 1977 to set up underground structures until he left again in December 1980. His day job during this time was as a youth organiser for the South African Catholic Bishops Conference.
He was then sent for training in Angola — where he met his wife, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, who is South Africa’s Minister of Public Service and Administration — and then later for battalion commander’s training in the Soviet Union. In 1983 he returned to Zambia, where he married in Lusaka.
A mere week after his wedding he was sent to Lesotho, the “belly of the beast” in his words, as the tiny mountain kingdom was totally surrounded by South Africa.
The Nkomati Accord of 1985 meant, however, that Mozambique could no longer act as a safe haven for ANC cadres and as a secure link with Lesotho, so he spent the last half of the 1980s operating in Zimbabwe.
His military activities precluded him from attending university, but he did complete a post-graduate diploma in economic principles that tested his economic knowledge at the University of London. This bridging course allowed him to complete an MSc in financial economics at the same institution in 2002.
Moleketi served as provincial minister for finance and economic affairs in the Gauteng province from 1994 until the April elections this year, after which he was appointed as Deputy Minister of Finance and the person most likely to succeed Trevor Manuel, who was appointed Minister of Finance in 1996.
Moleketi sees his role as having three major areas of responsibilities.
The first is the Treasury’s coordinating role as part of the economic cluster of ministries.
The second is his official title as chairperson of the Public Investment Commissioners (PIC). This body invests the pension money of civil servants and has about R300-billion under its management.
“My aim together with Brian [Molefe, CEO of the PIC] is to use the assets of the PIC to invest more in infrastructure and black economic empowerment. However, in order to do that, we need to build more management capacity within the PIC so we can evaluate projects,” Moleketi says.
The third area is international relations and this week, for instance, he is attending a conference in Shanghai on poverty alleviation, organised by the World Bank.
“I hope that I adjust fast to all this travelling, as I fly out on Monday and return on Friday, so apart from the time-zone changes, there is just the amount of time spent in airports and airplanes. That also applies to the flights down to Cape Town, which at a minimum take three hours out of your day,” he noted.
One of Moleketi’s success stories in Gauteng is the Blue IQ unit, which invested in 13 key projects such as the Newtown Cultural Precinct.
“We need a multipronged approach to poverty alleviation and job creation. The first prize is to continue development of the formal economy, but the so-called second economy also needs to be part of the solution. That means that the backyard mechanic should have access to finance so that he can buy the welding equipment he needs to fix exhausts,” Moleketi said.
Although he did not fulfil his youthful dream of becoming a doctor of medicine, the way he has handled the administration of finances has earned him high praise and will doubtlessly be the legacy he leaves for his three children, Nothando, Themba and Solomzi. — I-Net Bridge