Malegapuru Makgoba writes that ”a sector of white males have an adaptation problem”. So what? Who cares? Apart from the assorted monkeys themselves, nobody. Maybe baboons are a nuisance if you share quarters with them, but they are not ”a major obstacle to our democratic transformation”. In the greater scheme of things, they don’t matter.
Something else does, but Makgoba mentions it only in passing and its significance seems to elude him. That is, the ”context of the 21st century [and] globalisation” within which ”sooner or later African dominance and the imitation of most that is African shall permeate all spheres of South African society”.
On current standing, it’s going to be later rather than sooner. To date, we have failed to realise the right to education for the majority of people in this country and throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Societies that don’t deliver on the aspiration of a (good) education for all will never dominate anyone — not even themselves.
Based on current trends, the United Nations estimates that primary-school enrolment in this part of the world will only reach 100% in the next century. The heartbreaking report on education in rural communities, recently compiled for the Nelson Mandela Foundation by the Human Sciences Research Council, tells of kids collapsing from hunger in the classroom, too tired to do their homework after a long day of household chores, and walking incredible distances along dangerous routes to attend schools they often cannot afford, and so on.
Meanwhile, high-school students collude with their teachers to obtain matric results that aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. At many schools, including top national universities, institutional hyperbole — the ”vision thing” — contributes to making students believe that mere enrolment somehow means they’ve got the world in their pockets.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development believes that South Africa is less likely to make good use of global knowledge associated with foreign investments than Mongolia — a country with a gross domestic product six times lower than that of South Africa. One factor behind this assessment is the enrolment rate of students at tertiary level — in Mongolia it is double that of South Africa. It is this kind of information that global firms look at when they shop the globe for potential investment locations.
Finally, the UN Industrial Development Organisation tells us that the single most negative determinant of South Africa’s relative industrial performance is — take a guess — skills.
Education is essential for laying to rest the ghosts of apartheid. It is also a prerequisite for engaging with a global knowledge society that may harbour much promise.
But, make no mistake, competition by intellectual capital is raising the ante for a rewarding and dignified participation in the global economy. This competition is merciless with regions lacking higher-order skills, let alone people who cannot read and write.
Makgoba is in the most important business around — education is going to make or break this country and continent. That’s why we should let monkeys be monkeys, and get on with what really matters.
Professor Jo Lorentzen is a research specialist in the HSRC’s human resources development research programme and an honorary research fellow at the -University of KwaZulu-Natal