Black capital is a product of white capitalist corruption
There is a sense of entitlement of sections of the black capitalist class such that the response to criticism over his unscrupulous business activities; former ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama argued: "I didn't join the struggle to stay poor". Of course nobody wants and should stay poor, but there is the undertone that suggests that those that have been in the struggle or are members of the liberation movement in South Africa have, by doing so, bought themselves free tickets to opulence.
This self-entitlement to lavish lifestyles by some within the liberation movement did not start, nor end with Ngonyama and his political ilk. It has continued to dictate the accumulation path by many a revered cadre. This is at the core of the growth and development of a black bourgeois class that largely owes its accumulation to its relationship with the state and the liberation movement. Some of these black capitalists continue to sit in the ANC NEC and use their position to advance their narrow economic interests even in the name of the poor and working class.
These black capitalists now play the role of apologists for the capitalist system in South Africa because this is what white capital cultivated them for. Their rapid development as a class owes itself to manoeuvres by white capital to ensure its continued stranglehold on the South African economy. This has baffled many left intellectuals. Many a left intellectual in South Africa and abroad ask themselves: despite all its sins, how did white capital survive the storm in South Africa? How did it detonate the anti-capitalist anger of the 1980's? An answer to this can be found in the relationship between white capital and the liberation movement. Remember in the early 90's, white capital remained unsure about the reaction of the black working class and about what the future held in store for it under an ANC led government.
As a result of this they had long realized the need for political clout to legitimize and justify their continued monopoly on the South African economy. Despite having outfoxed the ANC on the economic front during CODESA it still remained sceptical about its relationship with a future ANC government. This was because of the fact that, white capital was worried that it could not only depend on its economic muscle to keep the ANC at bay, it had to give its leadership a stake in the new economy. Co-opting liberation leaders into both the core and periphery of post-apartheid accumulation seemed the best way to tame the political leadership. This had been the strategy of white capital, as far back as the 1970's.
Moves to lure high ranking leaders came out in bold relief as early as 1990 which by 1994 they had reached their Zenith, but went worse when even the women's magazine Cosmopolitan – which is often concerned with how professional women can achieve multiple orgasms – risked its reputation and declared with cartoon-like metaphor that, Sexwale, Mbeki and Shilowa are men who were not only smart talkers but were guaranteed its vote for their impeccable "sex appeal".
Smart-talking; yes; there would be no contestation, but declaring Sexwale, Mbeki and Shilowa as men who get "votes for sex appeal" in 1994 necessitated a huge stretch of the imagination. All those who would remember, 1994 images of Sexwale are those of the lumpenized green tracksuit, while Mbeki is of the ugly pipe and huge coat, while Shilowa the leather hat, leather Jacket. These combined could in no way be mistaken for sex appeal. But Cosmopolitan had no inhibitions or embarrassment to print the word "sex" and "appeal" next to Mbeki let alone Shilowa. Clearly something more than recognition of "sex appeal" was intended with this statement.
The view to co-opt the black liberation leaders into bourgeois society by white capital was underway. Images of how ANC leaders could live a lavish lifestyle without losing touch with the masses, had been glaring during the CODESA negotiations. This was also aided by that fact that many moderate ANC leaders had already started flirting with captains of industry well before the 1994 democratic breakthrough. For some reason, this did not seem to disconnect the ANC leadership from its mass base even though not even one ANC parliamentary candidate even in 1994 (!) came from a squatter camp, where the majority of ANC voters came from (H. Adam et al, 1997).
Despite this social and economic distance, the ANC had remained popular with the poverty stricken masses it claimed to represent. This has also been reflected by the recent 2009 general elections. Many comrades in the ANC and YL are aware of this fact. That is why they can continue to live their lavish lifestyle without worrying that they would lose their popularity. All they need is to camouflage their opulence with revolutionary sounding demands such as calling for radical reform and continue to live in the comfort of mansions and continue to drive their luxury sedans.
Anyway, back to the 90's. The rift kept widening in the social and economic lifestyles of liberation leaders and their masses even before the 1994 elections took place. Clearly the Jacobins in waiting had already showed signs of selling out before they could even get a grip on power, on that basis, white capital had no qualms co-opting them as a survival tactic. Today, many of these leaders consistently warn against a "left takeover" of the ANC and call poor ANC members to defend the wealth of the leadership under the pretext that this is defence for the revolution.
Strengthening the case for co-opting leaders was the fact that despite moving to the suburbs' while throngs of ANC supporters remained in shanty towns' liberation leaders did not lose their political clout, but their lifestyle proved to be of enormous influence, to the point of dictating fashion. When they wore revolutionary berets, everybody seemed to want to do the same. When they changed to suits, everybody wanted to follow except for the fact that they would not afford this.
After leading the queues to parliament, liberation leaders quickly left their new positions of responsibility and chased after economic deals. Deals that they, themselves, had organized while hid behind the curtains of parliament became their ladder to opulence. Among luminaries who shamelessly shirked their responsibility of building a nation in shams and opted for fattening their households are; Saki Macozoma, Tokyo Sexwale, Cyril Ramaphosa, Patrice Motsepe, Mzi Khumalo, Jay Naidoo, Sphiwe Nyanda, and Wendy Luhabe…The list is endless. Shirking one's social responsibility for quick money should be a source of shame. Not so according to former Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka who once urged black businessmen not to be shy to say they wanted to be "stinking rich" (Adam et al). "Stinking rich", they have become.
This is what some in left circles scornfully termed "C-to-C" defection; "Communists to capitalists." Some of these communists turned capitalists continued to keep a foothold in ANC structures while others left politics to those who cared but continued to have beneficial relations with their former comrades. In fact most comrades who are still in structures are never involved in business but most of their spouses or family members are. Some benefit through kickbacks on tenders that they presided over. Mostly, benefit in businesses that are more or less related to the work being done by their relative as was exposed by the family of Zola Skweyiya that benefited from tenders presided by Bra-Zola himself (to use ANC language).
Not all those who left politics, did so for good. Some of them such as Tokyo Sexwale attempted to make a spirited political comeback during the much denied ANC 2007 Presidential contest but his hopes were dashed when his name did not appear in the list of Presidential nominees and only appeared alongside many others on the nominees for National Chairperson which he clearly was not going to win. He has later become a parliamentarian and a member of the cabinet and to his credit resigned in all his business responsibilities, but disappointingly still retains his shares and therefore control of these businesses and rakes millions in dividends.
When somebody resigns from the board but continues to benefit from business activities of a particular entity, they would continue to ensure that that particular entity gains business. They may do this even if they are not part of its active leadership. There are three types of this black bourgeois stratum. The first is an openly capitalist black stratum that pursues its capitalist interests unashamedly. Examples of these avowed black capitalists are Motsepe, Ramaphosa etc. The second groupings are those who are in the state either as deployees of the movement such as Ministers, Parliamentarians and bureaucrats (DG'S).
The third layer of these accumulating elite is composed of those who are revolutionaries by day and capitalists by night. This grouping is composed of those who acquire political positions within the liberation movement as cloaked champions of the left. The ANCYL leadership led by comrade Julius Malema was elected on a left ticket against what was termed a right-wing tendency represented by Saki Mofokeng. This grouping accumulates through facilitating tenders for certain companies and receives kick-backs in return or it pressures certain government departments to award tenders to its businesses.
If these government departments refuse to act as instructed, their officials risk losing their positions of deployment, for they will be accused of failing on their mandate to deliver to the poor. These struggles are therefore used to mask the disgruntlement of a small stratum angry at the direction of government tenders.
Those within our movement whose dubious business activities have come into the spotlight have been overly dismissive of the call for lifestyle audits alleging that it is a ploy to score cheap political points or to "target certain individuals as part of the contest for ANC leadership leading to 2010". Remarking at another time Lenin said:
"No profound and mighty popular movement has ever occurred in history without dirty scum rising to the top, without adventurers and rogues, boasters and ranters attaching themselves to the inexperienced innovators, without absurd muddle and fuss, without individual "leaders" trying to deal with twenty matters at once and not finishing any of them. Let the lap-dogs of bourgeois society, from Belorussov to Martov, squeal and yelp about every extra chip that is sent flying in cutting down the big, old wood." (V. Lenin)
Lenin realized the tendency by opportunists to use the struggle as an instrument to advance their narrow economic interests and cry foul when they are caught. He continued: "What else are lap-dogs for if not to yelp at the proletarian elephant? Let them yelp." Indeed, the struggle to halt the accumulation regime underway will be undertaken regardless of complaints by bourgeois apologists. The wild conspiracy theories they conjure up will not and must not serve to derail our struggle to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. The first step is the struggle against corrupt politicians.
Lazola Ndamase is the Secretary General of SASCO |
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