Capitalism+is+capitalism,+Khathu+Mamaila,+City+Press

City Press, Johannesburg, 10/06/2006 17:04 - (SA)
=Capitalism is capitalism=


 * KHATHU MAMAILA**

MAYBE I am jealous. But my initial response when I read that Tokyo Sexwale bought his wife, Judy, an eight-seater Lear Jet for Valentine's Day was: "How could he?"

I nearly choked. I thought here is a classical case of a deliberate act of incitement, not motivation, direct incitement. The poor are being incited to revolt against the wealthy by Sexwale's open display of wealth. It is the why-can't-they-eat-cake response to people in need of bread. It is a classic example of conspicuous consumption, I concluded.

Some of the people that Sexwale would have shared prison cells with, or were his comrades in the underground movement of the ANC, may be angered by the news. They may be saying: "How come we have no basic needs such as water, electricity and houses but one of our own has so much money that his kingsize headache is how to spend it".

Others who are not addicted to complaining may up their game. Shenanigans to increase their wealth and to be seen driving an expensive car will be accelerated. The slogan will be "get rich in the shortest possible time". The danger is that, in pursuit of wealth, often legality can be an irritant, which needs to be discarded.

After a few days, I thought maybe Sexwale's display of wealth is not a bad thing after all. Sexwale was popular as an ANC leader. In fact, he was so popular that some believed that he could have succeeded Nelson Mandela as president of the country.

He left politics and went into business. He is doing very well. His success provides us with the most vital lesson - there is life outside politics. A good life.

One of the reasons many popular heads of state tamper with their constitutions to allow them to serve as presidents for life is the realisation that, without the political office, they may be like a fish out of water.

But perhaps the real question is not really about the individual but the phenomenon.

The ANC, in its discussion document, has posed a tough question: "How do we theorise the interrelationship between reducing social inequality and the rise of a black middle strata and business class; how do we deal with the danger of perpetuation of colonialism of a special type, with the majority of black people excluded from any significant participation in the economy and few blacks co-opted in the courtyard of privilege!"

The document goes further: "Given the fact that we operate in and are, in fact, managing a capitalist system, how do we ensure that the outlook of society and posture of both the ANC and the state reflect a correct balance in the delicate relationship between encouraging entrepreneurship and individual initiative, and a promotion of the collective needs of society?"

The ANC has to confront the simple reality of capitalism: Capitalism is capitalism.

There is no white or black capitalism. A white capitalist and a black capitalist have different skin colours but that is the only real difference.

Authors of the ANC discussion document may be prisoners of hope. They continue to romanticise about a capitalist with a socialist heart. Somehow, they believe that, because of his history, a capitalist who read Karl Marx in a refugee camp in Angola or Tanzania will be different from a product of De Beers.

Wishful thinking. The truth is that one of the key traits of being a capitalist is the ability to exploit others. Without exploitation, there is no surplus which is the profit that makes capitalists capitalists.

Furthermore, capitalists tend to want to display their wealth.

The ANC must accept that it cannot rely on the goodwill of its capitalist cadres. In fact, it should be careful that the capitalist elite does not completely hijack the ANC and determine its policies to the detriment of the poor.

Instead of the sweet talk of broad-based black economic empowerment, the ANC should develop policies that will enable the state to play a more effective role in the distribution of wealth in the country. For example, instead of selling Telkom shares to the rich at discounted prices, the state can open investment companies and use the profits to spend on the social backlog of health and education.

Sexwale has shown us how easily taste-buds adjust to opulence.


 * From: http://www.news24.com/City_Press/Columnists/0,7515,186-1695_1949238,00.html**

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