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The Business Community after Apartheid and Beyond: An Analysis of Business’s Engagement in the Second Decade of Democracy
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The Business Community after Apartheid and Beyond An Analysis of Business’s Engagement in the Second Decade of Democracy Theuns Eloff The subprime mortgage lending crisis that emerged in the United States during 2007 created the worst economic crisis in the world in 2008, and the first economic recession in South Africa in seventeen years in 2009. The recession was formally announced by Statistics South Africa during the same month, April 2009, that President Zuma was sworn in as the third president of a democratic South Africa. Despite all the good political intentions of the Zuma presidency, the economy will be his greatest challenge, linked to his relationship to business in general, while his political allies sing leftist and labor power songs. In 1997 the African National Congress (ANC) acknowledged that “the business community in South Africa was not in the past, any more than it is now, a monolith. It consisted of many different firms operating in several sectors, numerous individuals at various levels of decision-making and a number of business organizations” (ANC 1997). Precisely because it is so difficult to treat business as a homogeneous entity , this essay seeks rather to investigate what business has done collectively, through its mandated and jointly established organizations, and to identify trends. As a subtheme, the issue of aspirations versus reality is raised. It is important to remember that at the beginning of the transition to democracy, different groups of South Africans had vastly different expectations . The disadvantaged majority expected freedom, peace and security, human rights, jobs, proper education, houses, electricity, water, and land— and this list is not exhaustive. Business as a collective shared some of these desires but specifically expected a peaceful transition, a stable environment 106 Theuns Eloff conducive to doing business, economic growth and wealth creation, safety and security, and human rights. To evaluate the engagement of the South African business community in the new South Africa in the second decade of democracy, it is necessary to trace briefly business’s steps in the last years of apartheid and the transition years, or roughly the years 1990–2004. A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF BUSINESS’S ENGAGEMENT SINCE THE SIXTIES Surviving alongside Apartheid (1960–70) Like most business communities in the world, business under apartheid initially adopted a “survive with the regime” attitude. “The business of business is business, and leave the politics to the politicians,” was the general attitude . It is an incontrovertible fact that (white) business benefited from apartheid . The benefit came especially from the (artificial and temporary) stability brought about by apartheid in the sixties and early seventies, with GDP growth at almost 6 percent. In hindsight, though, it is also clear that apartheid had huge costs for business, especially in terms of the modern triple bottom line—economic, social, and environmental. In addition, the lack of skilled human resources (because most of the population was excluded from the full benefits of the educational system or the economy) is costing business (and the country) dearly today (Gumede 2005). The Eighties and Early Nineties: Engaging with and Challenging Apartheid (The Consultative Business Movement) During the mid-eighties, the “business of business is business” attitude was first challenged by business leaders who made contact with the liberation movements (e.g., in Lusaka and Dakar). However, they also engaged the National Party (NP) government (e.g., P. W. Botha’s Carlton Conference in 1981). The ANC stated that it “welcomes and acknowledges the fact that business broke ranks with the Botha regime in this way, and believes that it contributed to creating a climate within the privileged minority community more receptive to genuine, inclusive negotiation. At the same time, we feel obliged to point out that in the mid-1980s this break was not yet absolute” (ANC 1997). [52.91.0.68] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 15:05 GMT) The Business Community after Apartheid 107 Some business-based and business-sponsored organizations criticized apartheid policies publicly (e.g., the Urban Foundation), while others worked as facilitators for change. Among these were the Consultative Business Movement , or CBM (Eloff 1999b). CBM was launched in early 1989 as a direct response to the challenge of a peaceful transition from apartheid to a democratic South Africa (CBM 1988). It was spearheaded by a group of forty senior business leaders and formed after consultation with a wide spectrum of stakeholders . Although not a formal representative organ of business, and not seeing a direct role for...