90 The Nelson Mandela Years
thE NELSON mandela years
It also features independent editorial in which important writers reflect in new and in interesting ways upon Madiba’s living legacy to all of us. 90 The Nelson Mandela Years is therefore a necessary and a vital component in the written record of Madiba’s great contribution firstly to South Africa, to its greatness and to its business prosperity, but also to the international community of nations.
90
Yes, a great deal has been written about Nelson Mandela, especially in this, the year of his 90th birthday. And so the question can be legitimately asked: is there either space or need for yet another tribute commemorating the life and the achievements of this great man? By way of an answer, the publishers of this publication invite you to take a look inside it – indeed, to take some time to review its contents. The publication consists of 45 messages from companies and other organisations that wish to place on record their special sense of appreciation to Madiba for his creation of the environment in which business in South Africa - deep in the doldrums in the late 80s and in the early 90s – could recover, and finally take its place in the global business community. In the post-apartheid euphoria, we quickly came to forget that, right up to 1992, it was not “business as usual” in South Africa - in fact - that business South Africa had already long since gone into terminal decline. The return to a state of normalcy, which was also a return to the many good things that business does – deliver products and services to eager consumers, create employment, pay taxes and dividends , grow international market share, and help create South Africa’s competitive advantage amongst nations – is something we tend to take for granted. But the fact that business could return to normalcy is in overwhelming measure attributable to the role Mandela played, and this publication exists to provide a platform to allow organisations to recollect their debt to Madiba, and to thank him for what he has done for business South Africa.
Contributors Elleke Boehmer R y l a n d Fi s h e r Pe t e r Jo y c e C l ay t o n Swa r t
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THE NELSON MANDELA YEARS
‘During my lifetime I have
dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black
domination . I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in
harmony and with
equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to
die .’
Nelson Mandela, statement from the dock, and the last words uttered in public before he went off to spend 27 years in gaol.
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Jurgen Schadeberg/Getty Images
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POOL New / Reuters openers.indd 4
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“ Whether in Sophiatown or Houghton, in Pollsmoor or Tuynhuis, Mandela has always
striven to approach others
not as members of a certain party or group, but as human beings first and foremost, as
unpredictable ,
complicated, yet life-affirming agents. He reworked humanism such as it was understood by Europe, to bring it in line with the values of social
harmony
and mutual support that had always lain at the heart of
African societies. To
borrow from the formulation of the great Martiniquan poet and politician Aimé Césaire, his
humanism was made
to the measure both of the world and of Africa, defined from the perspective of those whose humanity had historically been
denied . ”
Elleke Boehmer
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contents CREDITS Chairman & Publisher Richard Fletcher General Manager Ralf Fletcher Associate Publisher Bradley Shaw Group Production Manager Van Fletcher Consulting Editor Ryland Fisher Managing Editor Colin Bower
Jurgen Schadeberg / Getty
Chief Sub-Editor Shaheema Albertyn Production Manager Gareth Rabéy Designers Jason Etheridge Jayne Macé Jacque Smit
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Photographic Editor Sarie Potter
Contributors
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Project Co-ordinators Joe Steyn Sibongile Somdaka Neil Heldsinger
Preface
Clem Sunter
Illustrations Sasan Saidi
A message from the publisher
Publications Administrator Heather Andersen
Richard Fletcher
Human Resources Manager Irene Wijne
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Financial Manager Peter Wilson
A message from the associate publisher
Financial Administrators Helen Napier Bernadette Theron
Bradley Shaw
Jurgen Schadeberg/Getty Images
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Printers Pinetown Printers
LEGACY On Mandela: the unfolding legacy Elleke Boehmer
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Milestones Nelson Mandela – the man and the times Peter Joyce
Paul Weinberg/ South Photographs
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Traffic Co-ordinator Tamlyn Van Der Horst
Research Mandela leads billions back to new South Africa Clayton Swart
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Opinion Triple M – Mandela’s lessons for Motlanthe
Contact Details Medala Project Communications (Pty) Ltd 1 Garron Avenue, Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa 7806 PO Box 16467, Vlaeberg 8018 Tel: (+27 21) 791 7100 Fax: (+27 21) 790 7496 Email: info@topco.co.za Publication website: www.nelsonmandelayears.com Disclaimer All rights reserved. The opinions expressed by the editorial contributors to this publication are not necessarily those of the Publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of Medala Project Communications (Pty) Ltd Reg. No. 2007/192104/23. While every care has been taken when compiling this publication, the publishers, editor and contributors accept no responsibility for any consequences arising from any errors or omissions. ISBN: 978-0-620-42737-1
Ryland Fisher
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CONTRIBUTORS
Elleke Boehmer was born of Netherlands parents in Durban, South Africa in 1961, and was educated in South Africa, Canada, and Britain. To date she has published three widely praised novels, Screens Against the Sky (short-listed David Higham Prize, 1990), An Immaculate Figure (1993) and Bloodlines (short-listed Sanlam Prize, 2000), as well as short stories and memoir sketches, many of which are set in Africa. Internationally known for her research in international writing and postcolonial theory, she is the author of the world best-seller Colonial and Postcolonial Literature: Migrant Metaphors (1995, 2005), the monographs Empire, the National and the Postcolonial, 18901920 (2002) and Stories of Women (2005), and of the acclaimed edition of Robert Baden-Powell’s Scouting for Boys (2004). Elleke Boehmer is the Professor of World Literature in English at the University of Oxford. Her OUP study of Nelson Mandela appeared in 2008, concurrently with her novel Nile Baby, to coincide with his 90th Birthday in July.
Ryland Fisher is former editor of the Cape Times and author of the book Race, published last year. This follows on Making the Media Work for You, published in 2002. He is executive chairperson of the Cape Town Festival and has worked in business, with government, in the media, in the corporate sector, in NGOs and in academia.
Author Peter Joyce was born in Turkey, educated in England and studied history at Cambridge before emigrating to southern Africa. He worked with a number of magazine and book publishers in Zimbabwe; helped the Reader’s Digest Association to establish its books division in Cape Town, and has since made his living as a freelance writer and editor. He has produced some sixty works, most of them in the realms of travel, politics and history, a few of the reference kind, one biography (of Ian Smith, prime minister of rebel Rhodesia), one children’s novel and a miscellany of home-interest and business titles. His latest release is The Making of a Nation, a narrative of the political struggle in 20th century South Africa. He lives in Cape Town.
Clayton Swart, is a former senior journalist at Media24 titles Rapport and Sake24 in Cape Town. His articles were syndicated to Fin24, Beeld and Volksblad. As senior business journalist for Sake24 he covered several industries including labour issues and wrote a weekly column on the JSE. He cut his teeth in journalism at Bush Radio and later at Workers’ World Media Productions where he produced short radio programmes in five indigenous languages broadcast Africa wide. He works as an inhouse senior journalist (media relations) for the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) while also studying towards an MBA degree.
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P R E FAC E
Open-mindedness By Clem Sunter
T
hat was the answer to a question which I posed
happened subsequent to his release. The negotiations over the
to a young woman called Taki at a bank’s
new Constitution and his five years as President displayed a
recent networking forum in Johannesburg.
magic touch of pragmatism on his part, combined with deep
The question was: “What is Nelson Mandela’s
moral values. At no time during his period at the helm of the
legacy?” I totally agree, having had the
country was there a hint that some political dogma was about to
privilege of meeting the man in prison just before his release.
be unleashed on an unsuspecting public. Quite the reverse. He
showed an amazing ability to adapt his thinking in pursuit of
We talked about the changes taking place in the world
economy and the challenges facing South Africa. He at the time
the one thing that he really believed in – reconciliation.
was fully committed to the Freedom Charter which included
nationalisation of key elements of the private sector including
prepared to see opportunities and possibilities where others
the mines and the banks. He even issued a statement from
saw limits. This is in sharp contrast to many of the leaders
prison confirming his commitment. This sent a shiver down
in the world today who get hung up on a single idea, and
the spines of many business executives who thought of their
will not relinquish it even when they should obviously do
companies as potential targets for nationalisation.
so. Consistency turns into obstinacy and a blindness to any
facts that are in opposition to their stated policy. Loss of face
I remember, after my visit to see him, having to
In my language, Mandela was a quintessential fox
reassure my colleagues at Anglo American that the man I
becomes of paramount concern.
experienced was searching for new perspectives in a way that
was the exact opposite of an ideologue. At one stage of the
we might as a human race live more comfortably with each
conversation in prison Deng’s quote came up: “I don’t care if a
other and be more open-minded about each other’s differences.
cat is black or white as long as it catches mice.” Deng of course
Nations would seldom take entrenched positions and less often
was trying to distance himself from his predecessor, Chairman
pursue their own interests to the detriment of others. They
Mao, and policies like the Great Leap Forward. Indeed, one can
would understand that a higher level of equilibrium can be
say that the turning-point in China – the moment when the
attained through negotiation and compromise. But that is why
Dragon woke up – was 1978 when Deng’s open-door policy was
he is in a class of his own and is probably the most respected
first introduced. Mandela appeared to me to agree with that
person on the planet today. He came out of prison wanting to
approach during our interview.
learn in order to lead. Taki was right to choose the attribute
she did.
Anyway the validity of my interpretation really does
Oh for more Mandelas in the international arena! Then
not matter in light of the way he behaved and what actually
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FOREWORD
M E S S AG E F RO M T H E P U B L I S H E R
I
am always thankful that in the new democratic South Africa, Nelson Mandela set the precedent by becoming the first President; we could have done a lot worse. He created a high standard by constantly raising the bar – in show business it’s known as “a hard act to follow”. Nelson Mandela fought injustice and oppression most of
his life, he was jailed for his beliefs for 27 years by a legal system that within itself was illegal. In putting this book together we also fought our own battle with forces with more resources than our own, and in our own small way we realised what it was like to take on an adversary which has no respect for honest normal values. Like Mr Mandela we stuck it out and the proof of this is the book you are reading. It reached a stage where we felt the freedom of the media was under threat – maybe that story is a whole new book in itself. So on a more positive note I want to thank Nelson Mandela for the inspiration he gave me and my staff, and to you as a reader I hope you enjoy this wonderful book and the sincere tributes that have been written about this great man. He left a legacy which we should not allow to be diminished or sacrificed. We as the media and general public also are the true guardians of his great contribution to South Africa’s history.
Richard Fletcher Publisher
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FOREWORD
Celebrating the best of our past
P
reparing a publication such as this is a daunting task. How does one present the public with a publication that can do justice to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela? A man, yes, but more than a man, an icon of all that is good about our beloved land, South Africa. I trust this publication will promote the legacy that he is destined to leave for all future generations of South Africans
who strive to follow in his great footsteps.
One of the passages from his book Long Walk to Freedom that has most inspired me
personally is: “The greatest glory in living lies not, in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
With this in mind we should look at the word Sankofa, from the Akan language of
Ghana, which symbolises the action of taking from the past what is good and bringing it into the present, in order to ensure positive progress in the future.
There is a lot that Nelson Mandela has left us in the past that is positive and good
and that can and should be brought forward into the future to ensure positive progress of South Africa as a nation and indeed of the rest of the world.
Bradley Shaw Associate Publisher
To quote Kofi Annan who delivered the 5th Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture
Address: “The world has seen how deeply he believes in freedom, human dignity, and the right of the individual to fulfill his or her dream. And in our work together, I have been privileged to see how determined he can be in pursuit of those ideals.”
I trust that these beliefs will live on for evermore and that we will consistently
look back and learn from the actions and beliefs of Nelson Mandela.
I feel especially privileged to have been involved in bringing this publication to
fruition, especially in view of the many obstacles that have lain in our path, often falling, but rising each time to meet our challenges. I trust that you will enjoy paging through this book, and reading the thoughts of many of our most prominent business and government people on the life of Nelson Mandela and what he has meant personally to them and to the organisations that they represent.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, we salute you in this your 90th year. May you bathe
under the glory of the African sun that you have made that much more glorious.
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FOREWORD
Playing the fields globally
A
s a South African domiciled and the 24th largest coatings company in the world, Freeworld Coatings is proud to be associated with Nelson Mandela and the other leading companies and institutions in this edition of 90 – The Nelson Mandela Years. Now JSE-listed, Freeworld Coatings is an innovative international marketer of decorative, automotive and industrial coatings. As the now independant
successor to the coatings division of Barloworld, we in Freeworld Coatings are proud of our South African heritage and vision of being a world-class multinational with strong sustainable financial performance and a socially responsible outlook in conducting our business.
Our consumer brands have a strong reputation for quality with a loyal customer base.
Our product brands such as Plascon, Crown, Polycell, Midas and Earthcote are well entrenched and leaders in their respective categories. In the industrial and furniture markets in southern Africa, we are well established as a supplier of specialised coatings under the Plascon, International and Maeder brands. Complementary products, which include a wide range of paint brushes and rollers, are marketed to commercial enterprises and the DIY market under the premium Hamilton Brush brand. In the automotive industry, we supply both vehicle manufacturers and the refinish industries under the Plascon, Spies Hecker, Standox and DuPont brands. Through ICC, we produce and supply colourant systems both locally and abroad.
In South Africa, we have factories in Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Johannesburg
André J Lamprecht CEO of Freeworld
and operations in Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia. Products are marketed and sold throughout these countries as well as other sub-Saharan African countries. Internationally, Freeworld Coatings has a presence in China and Australia and export to a number of countries.
As a global player, we are also committed to being responsible custodians of our planet
and its resources. Cognisant of the fact that our products beautify our living and working environments, Freeworld Coatings is committed to change that is more than superficial. Our corporate citizenship is reflective of the social transformation that has taken place since the democratic political transformation achieved in 1994, the achievement which is symbolised by the leadership and foresight of Nelson Mandela. Fundamentally, we believe business – and our country – will be more successful when rooted in innovation, investment and integrated development.
We look forward to continuing to play a role in building, beautifying and adding economic
value to the rainbow nation called South Africa.
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“Freeworld Coatings is committed to change that is more than superficial.”
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On Mandela: The Unfolding Legacy By Elleke Boehmer
lthough Nelson Mandela’s often-
which are familiar to the many audiences before whom he has
mentioned ‘iconic’ status as a ‘moral
appeared. He was one of Johannesburg’s first black lawyers,
colossus’ bestriding the 20th Century
charismatic and principled; he was also one of the world’s
sends straightforward heroic messages,
longest-detained political prisoners, unflinching till the end;
my convinced sense is that his legacy
and he was of course the first President of a democratic South
today constitutes a still-ingathering
Africa. These are the constants of career and character that we
and unfixed cluster of values, symbols,
associate with the well-known story of his life.
stories and emotions. Speaking as the author of a cultural history of Mandela, I also believe that this ‘unfixedness’ is no
Yet, due precisely to those sterling qualities, he has also
bad thing. Although a number of qualities attach securely to
become a universally admired symbol for reconciliation and a
him – political courage, social justice, hope for the future –
negotiated peace. Worldwide, he is regarded as an exemplary
still, the ‘meanings of Madiba’, to quote a 2006 book title, in
figure connoting non-racialism and democracy; as himself an
many ways remain malleable, and will continue to shift and
embodiment of social justice. Indeed, for many young people,
change even as South Africa’s 21st Century history unfolds.
who were small children when he walked free, he probably
Yet, far from this being a cause for anxiety – for worries that
represents more prominently as human icon than as living
his memory might eventually recede from the world’s mind
man. Inevitably, therefore, he is more closely associated with
– this malleability around the one-time struggle icon, can
the static past, hardening into fixed symbols (incorruptible
rather be considered a rich source of mythic potential and as
Madiba alongside, say, sexy Monroe, or uncompromising
something to be encouraged, as I will contend here.
Ché), than with the endlessly unspooling present. Hence the question of what he stands for becomes as prominent
As regards Nelson Mandela’s significance both at home
as who he is. As icon, however, he is often, regrettably, seen
within the nation and in the transnational arena, the
as unique and singular in what he represents, whereas, as
question concerning what he might stand for has in recent
he would be the first to admit, all his achievements have
years, as he has grown older, become almost as important as
involved close cooperation with others: ‘I have been only one
the question who this guarded, intensely private man really
in a large army of people’. This is something that Mandela
is. True, Mandela the man has led a widely publicised life of
the man never forgets. However, when we look at Mandela
exemplary political probity and self-discipline, the details of
the familiar tourist website logo or fridge magnet, what he
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signifies of serious political cooperation and solidarity almost
generosity of spirit, strategic intelligence – in as much as
inevitably fades into the background.
these qualities of his are evolving qualities, let us not allow our perception of them to settle into banality. Let us remain
The values connoted by Madiba the man on the one hand
open to how they will adapt and grow and be re-read with the
and by Nelson Mandela the tourist mascot on the other are
times.
highlighted in their stark differences when we compare how the former President is regarded at home, as against how he
Putting it differently, if Mandela abroad is a Major Celebrity
is seen internationally. While across the globe he is rather
somewhat lacking in meaningful content, at home, especially
simplistically invoked as a secular saint and a super-hero with
in relation to the recent xenophobic attacks on African
fuzzy outlines, at home the widespread pride in the grand
‘foreigners’, the significance of his story of negotiated
old man’s achievements is coupled with an awareness that
reconciliation and ineffable hospitality has by contrast not
the legend remains a living one, who still walks and breathes
yet fully taken hold and persuaded. What does his message
among his people. And this awareness is accompanied by
comprise: a poetry of hope and courage; a primer of self-
another: there is a palpable recognition not only that such
discipline? Who do we value more: the private and thoughtful
presence means continuing responsibilities, but also that
Madiba of the prison cell or the charismatic President who
what Nelson Mandela signifies for South Africans today
does not scruple to bop with England’s Queen? The answers
cannot yet if ever be conclusively decided, though the
to these questions intercut and shift depending on who is
pointers to what he represents are evident and clear. Madiba’s
asking them. Yet, rather than this divergence in evaluation
meanings at home in this sense have yet to unspool along
giving reason for concern, for driving his PR minders ever
with the unspooling of South Africa’s 21st Century. A panel
more assiduously to police his meanings, instead the
discussion about Mandela the leader put it this way in
differences emphasise a still-untapped potential for more
the run-up to his 90 birthday in July 2008. Steely courage,
open-ended, energised interpretations of Mandela, that adapt
th
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and modify in relation to his and his country’s changing
was being worshipped in this overawed way? These were
contexts.
puzzles that must have occurred to the British audience as well as to the South Africans present. Was there not an
The bifurcation in perceptions of Mandela at home and
unmistakable oddity to the fact that the 90th birthday was
abroad was starkly dramatised during his 90th birthday
being celebrated here in London, while in Mandela’s native
celebrations, which many of the world’s great and good
land there was some consternation at his absence and silence,
seemed to feel obliged to celebrate with him. At the Birthday
especially in the aftermath of the xenophobic outbreaks and
Concert and 64446 Campaign-launch in Hyde Park, London,
the crisis in Zimbabwe? Wasn’t there something disorienting
on 27 June 2008, Will Smith the film star led the crowd in a
about this transplanted birthday party? Something bizarre
rap, and the troubled Amy Winehouse came out of hospital to
about the manic susurration of media stars, paparazzi, and
sing for him. And when the great man himself at last made a
wired-up security detail, enwrapping so very tightly the brief
brief appearance to read a prepared statement about his HIV/
appearance of an elder statesman abroad, as if to imprison
Aids campaign, the whisper ‘It’s him, it’s him, it’s him’, ‘There
him – though with images, not words – all over again? I was
he is, there he is’, ran audibly through the crowd. Though
reminded of a batik-cloth painting of Madiba I once saw in
he appeared as no more than a tiny speck on the stage,
a Cape Town market, selling at a price that only a tourist of
people strained forward maniacally to see him more clearly,
some means could have afforded. Had his fame reduced
focused not so much on the big screens where his image was
Nelson Mandela to an inaccessible icon who could no longer
projected, as on that distant stage. It was as if they wished
be clearly heard by his people?
to be blessed by that physical presence, much as happened when in more believing times a holy man passed through a
Only a day or so before the concert Mandela had indeed
crush of people. An irrepressible question now arose even
noted his regret at the violence against fellow-Africans in
for the star-struck concert-goer. What did this boundless
his home country, and at the tragic ‘failure of leadership’ in
adulation mean? What was the content of the symbol that
neighbouring Zimbabwe. Everywhere relief was expressed
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that the moral beacon had at last spoken. And yet, his
with other parties may prove for both law-makers and
statement had been given in London, as part of a dinner
political trouble-shooters an ever-more-important beacon.
where luminaries like Bill and Chelsea Clinton, and Britain’s
Alternatively, in a period marked by political divisiveness and
Prime Minister Gordon Brown had been present. The
internecine bickering in his party, his strategies for forging
compunction to speak had finally been triggered not by
unity and consensus may re-coalesce into a crucial source of
the great urgency everywhere palpable in South Africa, but
guidance for former political friends and enemies alike. As
abroad, where, it was again impossible not to notice, the
his country moves into the (forgive the phrase) post-post-
icon was in effect under an obligation to speak. In this way
apartheid period, and the rainbow nation’s varied colours fade
Madiba’s myth was made safe for his fans across the globe,
in the political wash, the hero of the anti-apartheid struggle
while in his homeland the myth of the reconciled rainbow
and architect of that nation will inexorably find that history
country he had helped create showed signs of cracking under
writes new roles around his legacy and name.
the weight of the people’s desperate make-believe. Internationally, Mandela remains the African the world loves The irony of Nelson Mandela’s 90th-birthday year must be
to love, even if in a noticeably over-compensatory way. Africa
that just when his reputation as the 20 Century’s leading
the continent of famine, corruption and social abjection
post-colonial leader seemed secure, the ways in which that
has produced, at least, this one fine human being. However,
reputation will last and weather in South Africa itself are
and this is part of my point, by heaping excessive adoration
suddenly a little less certain than before. Yet, to make my
upon the head of this one seemingly superhuman African,
point clear, this does not mean his good name will decline,
the international community has left his real-life career in
only that the interpretation of his legacy must continue to
particular, and Africa the continent and its people in general,
grow and change. So, for example, as South Africa struggles
more lacking of attention, by contrast. There have been many
as it has recently to accommodate the ‘stranger’ in its
great Africans yet their reputation has been dangerously
midst, Mandela’s capacity for agreeing common principles
eclipsed by this one African mega-star of our times.
th
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The hope is that as his career comes to be viewed in a more
For many years the hope and promise Mandela unlocked in
calibrated and variegated light in his own country, the stifling
a whole people will remain sufficiently generative of new
myth to which his name is soldered abroad may be creatively
and growing interpretations as to exceed by many degrees
dislodged and revised.
the style re-inventions required by a pop-singer. After all, we should remind ourselves, he was first and foremost a political
It is here, therefore, within the gap between his fully
leader, however charismatic and media-friendly, and not a
manifested yet relatively shallow international fame, and his
movie-star or OK-magazine icon. And politics, as his Czech
still-partially-latent local significance, that, it seems to me,
counterpart Václav Havel once observantly wrote, is ‘a strange,
the potential for renewed understandings of Mandela have
never-ending process with no clear turning points and no
the opportunity to emerge, which, when all is said and done,
unambiguous and immediately recognisable outcomes’.
is as it should be. Mandela may be a glittering global celebrity,
Politics, in other words, makes its own series of unfolding
perennial as Madonna or Kylie Minogue, yet after all that he
events – one resistant to the fixity and finish of the media-
has done for his nation (and by extension the world), does
image.
he really, like Madonna, require tireless image-management and icon airbrushing? Surely not. What he has achieved in the
When I reflect back on my project of the last couple of
realm of establishing democracy and justice, and countering
years, of encapsulating Mandela’s legacy as a cultural and
the terrible cruelty and failure of imagination of apartheid, is
symbolic history, it is this that most forcefully strikes me:
of greater political and historical importance than anything
the extraordinarily varied path that his long journey to
the Material Girl has accomplished (interesting as that has
freedom and beyond has taken. Mission-school pupil and
been). Surely he does not require the same degree of image-
city showman, boxer and Black Pimpernel, lawyer and leader,
toning, shaping, and sanctioning, in the style of Madonna
ace-negotiator and Father-to-the-Nation – he has filled all
Inc.? (In her case this was very much in evidence in mid-
these roles, and more. Yet running through this apparent
2008, when she too entered a significant new life-decade).
malleability have been certain strong and consistent themes:
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his determinedly individualist, sometimes authoritarian
historically been denied. I will end with the words that closed
political will; his tireless efforts at consensus-building linked
my cultural history, that for me still emphasise the important
with his concern to accommodate the perspective of others;
fluidity of Madiba’s meanings.
his sensitive awareness that his country needed the liberatory
Nelson Mandela—figure, icon, sign, smile—has been over-
myth that he himself embodied. Ultimately, I venture to
represented to the point of being rendered banal, excavated
say, it will be this amalgam of sensitivity to others within
for meaning till all sense of the human being behind the
a broad area of mutual humanist agreement that will be
public face disappears. His story of overcoming is widely
the dominant meaning Mandela’s legacy projects into the
regarded as his country’s ethical bequest to the new century.
future. Whether in Sophiatown or Houghton, in Pollsmoor or
Yet, ironically, there is as yet no representation of Mandela
Tuynhuis, Mandela has always striven to approach others not
that captures possibly his greatest achievement, how he
as members of a certain party or group, but as human beings
came to understand conversation as a human imperative. If
first and foremost, as unpredictable, complicated, yet life-
there were such a representation, it would probably resemble
affirming agents.
improvised ensemble music, a complicated jazz rhythm scattering itself through time, impossible to recover exactly
He reworked humanism such as it was understood by Europe,
in script.
to bring it in line with the values of social harmony and mutual support that had always laid at the heart of African
A jazz riff alone would capture at once the risk and
societies. To borrow from the formulation of the great
tenaciousness of Mandela’s commitment to sheer talk: how
Martiniquan poet and politician Aimé Césaire, his humanism
he placed the idea of the human-in-interaction at the heart of
was made to the measure both of the world and of Africa,
his vision of the future.
defined from the perspective of those whose humanity had
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Guy Tillim/South
MILESTONES
By Peter Joyce
O
n a chilly winter’s day in July 1918 a baby was born in the tiny Transkei village of Mvezo in South Africa’s Eastern Cape region. It was an important local occasion: a hundred years earlier the boy’s great-grandfather had reigned as king of the Tembu people. This was a polygamous society and the father’s ‘house’ lay outside the line of dynastic succession but, still, the child had a regal lineage and in due course he was adopted into the royal family.
His parents, village chief Gadla Mohakanyiswa and
his wife Nosekeni, named him Rolihlahla which, perhaps ironically in the light of events in the distant future, can loosely be translated as ‘troublemaker’. Mandela was attached as a surname in honour of his grandfather. A teacher at his primary school – he was the first of his family to receive formal education – called him Nelson. By that time his father had offended the Cape authorities and had moved his wife and children to the village of Qunu, near Umtata.
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THE ANCESTRAL VILLAGE Qunu, Nelson Mandela’s home village, lay deep in the Transkei countryside, a tiny cluster of thatched, mud-walled, dungfloored ‘beehive’ huts far from anywhere. It had practically no comforts of the modern kind: the family living quarters were devoid of furniture; smoke from the hearth in the cooking-hut escaped through a hole in the roof; most of the residents wore ochre blankets – and most were women and children, because the men were usually away, labouring on white farms or white mines. They returned perhaps twice a year, once to plough the land. The rest was women’s work.
A simple life and, for a child, an arguably idyllic one. Young Nelson spent much of his time ‘playing and fighting’ with friends who were almost brothers – they shared the same food, often the same sleeping-blanket – later graduating (at age five) to the fields as a herd-boy. There he perfected his skills with the catapault and the slingshot. He also mastered the time-honoured skills of stickfighting. And it was in the sunlit silence of the fields that he began to feel the almost mystical Nguni reverence for cattle, to gather wild honey and the fruits of the veld, to ‘drink warm sweet milk straight from the udder of a cow, to swim in the clear cold streams and to catch fish with twine and sharpened bits of wire’. Idyllic indeed.
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Rodney Barnett/South
MILESTONES
The reckless society
That year, 1918, millions around the world were
celebrating another, much more famous event. In November, after four years of savage fighting, the guns of the Great War – the first industrial-scale conflict and, people were praying, the ‘war to end all wars’– finally fell silent. A whole generation of young men had been wiped out in the slaughterhouses of Flanders Field and elsewhere; Germany and her allies were defeated; the protagonists had had enough, and they would soon gather at Versailles, near Paris, to hammer out punitive, and as it turned out disastrous, peace terms.
The universal feeling of relief carried through and
beyond the next decade. Beneath it, though, there was a hard-edged cynicism, and deep anger that a once-trusted establishment had allowed such massively pointless carnage to happen. The younger generation rebelled, rejecting all the pre-war conventions. It partied on, living for the day, for the hour. This was the age of jazz, of the Charleston, of Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin, of cocktails and cloche hats and bicycles made for two. And of the flapper, that liberated young woman who had proved her worth in the wartime workplace and now demanded freedom to speak her mind, behave as she wished, reject the stuffy lifestyle of her Edwardian parents, smoke and drink in public, and to vote. She cut her hair short, painted her face and adopted the slender, flat-chested, boyish look that hid her curves.
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INPRA
INPRA
PRINCES AND PAUPERS The British imperial connection remained both healthy and happy in the 1920s – a link demonstrably evident when Edward, Prince of Wales, arrived at Cape Town docks to a tumultuous welcome. A decade later he was briefly to become King of England and, many thought, to betray his people by exchanging his crown for the love of an American divorcée. But now, in 1925, he was handsome Prince Charming, the world’s most eligible bachelor, and he captivated everyone on his exhaustive and exhausting tour of the subcontinent (his sage advice to other touring royals: ‘Never miss an opportunity to relieve yourself’). He also broke a lot of young female hearts along the way.
INPRA
Close Harmony, Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers, Nancy Carroll, 1929
But if he had been more attentive, this congenial icon of British democracy and fair play would have seen that the dead hand of apartheid was already descending over the country. The Natives (Urban Areas) Act, passed two years earlier, gave white local authorities the right to exclude black folk from ‘white’ territory, and even from the black locations if they were deemed to be ‘vagrants’ or ‘surplus to labour requirements’. The path to the monstrous Group Areas Act and to the forced removals of the 1950s was being charted, and the Empire looked away.
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MILESTONES
Anita Page in The Broadway Melody; 1929
Rebellion indeed. In the US, Prohibition triggered the rise of the speakeasy, gang warfare, and Al Capone.
It was also a decade of adventure and enterprise.
In 1920 two South African aviators, Pierre van Ryneveld and Quintin Brand, pioneered the London-Cape Town air route. Shortly afterwards Lady Mary Bailey, wife of South African financier Sir Abe Bailey, made history when she flew solo from London to Cape Town and back; Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, Henry Ford produced his first Model ‘T’, Dame Nellie Melba became the first artiste to be paid for a wireless performance, and handsome Edward, Prince of Wales, toured South Africa.
There was a grimmer side to the decade, though,
certainly in South Africa. In 1922 white workers in the Johannesburg area staged an uprising, the so-called ‘Red INPRA
Revolt’, provoked by one William Andrews, leader of the Communist Party together with the extremist all-white Federation of Labour, who didn’t like the way the mines
National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party. At the end
were replacing semi-skilled workers with cheap black labour.
of the decade Wall Street crashed and, in doing so, ushered in
How these people could reconcile their Marxist principles
what became known as the Great Depression.
with what was essentially a racist campaign is still a mystery.
Prime Minister Smuts called out the commandos and strafed
it bred; Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia); Hitler’s
the strikers from the air, and many were killed – on both
occupation of the Saarland, the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia
sides. Their leaders, including Andrews, were executed.
and finally Austria, led the world remorselessly to another,
bigger, global conflict. In September 1939, the Bright Young
Meanwhile the Union parliament was signing off on
The instability of the thirties, and the Fascism which
a succession of ever more divisive race laws. Far to the north a
Things who had enlivened the thirties put away their
31-year-old rabble-rouser named Adolf Hitler founded the tiny
gladrags, donned uniforms, and went to war again.
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THE NELSON MANDELA YEARS: OFFICE OF THE PREMIER – EASTERN CAPE
“We celebrate the 90th birthday of Madiba, the man who has taught us what it is to be a leader.”
Nosimo Balindlela Eastern Cape Premier Office of the Premier Private Bag x0047 Bisho 5605
Dear Madiba
Madiba – Son of soil We feel so humbled to be given the privilege of profiling a birthday message for this remarkable man. As we celebrate the 90th birthday of Madiba, we reflect back on the life of a hero, the life of the son of soil. As we do that we cannot separate the story of your life to the history of our nation as it unfolds through the years of the struggle for liberation. The past 90 years have indeed been very significant in the history of our country. Who knew that the 20-year old Nelson who came from the Transkei to Johannesburg would one day be an icon that would be recognised by the whole world. This brings into mind the Rivonia Trial, the event that marked a significant time in the political life of our nation. The sentence left an unspeakable pain in the hearts of the non-white South Africans. Twenty-seven years later, when Madiba and other activists were released from Robben Island, the day marked the beginning of a new dawn in our history. On the 27th of April 1994, at the ripe age of 65 years, the books of history were rewritten when for the first time in our country the first democratically elected president was put into power. That was non other than our very own Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela. That came at a time when the struggle had reached its highest peak. In 1999, when Madiba left the seat of presidency many thought that was the end of Mandela, but for many years after, you kept on doing the hard work. You assumed a very special role in human rights activity by playing a mediating role in political conflicts around the African continent. After eight years out of active politics, Madiba is still the most admired personality in the whole world. Today, we celebrate the 90th birthday year of Madiba, the man who has taught us what it is to be a leader. The icon of our liberation, a living example of dedication, self denial and sacrifice. Happy birthday son of soil, Madiba!
CONTACT DETAILS Postal address: Private Bag x0047, Bisho 5605 Physical address: Office of the Premier Building, 2 nd Floor, Independence Avenue, Bisho Telephone: (+27 40) 609 6301 Fax: (+27 40) 635 1166
Nosimo Balindlela Eastern Cape Premier
O F F I C E O F T H E P R E M I E R – E A S T E R N C A P E Fa s t Fac t s • Vision: To be the leader in excellence at the centre of a coherent, pro-poor Provincial Administration
• Mission: To ensure responsive, integrated and sustainable service delivery to all in the Eastern Cape through strategic leadership, critical interventions and coordinated effective provincial governance
• Values: Honesty, integrity, humility, stewardship, respect, loyalty and discipline, diligence and dedication, service before self and collaboration and mutual support
MILESTONES
Beyond the madding crowd
world-wide slump affected every country, but in South
Very little of all this, however, percolated into the
The 30’s were grim years in which to grow up. The
gentle hills and valleys of the Transkei, where people lived in
Africa it was compounded by long years of drought which
pretty little ‘beehive’ houses made of sticks, the women and
devastated the land and impoverished tens of thousands of
children wore ochre-dyed blankets, and, in Nelson Mandela’s
tenant farmers. The government did what it could for the ‘poor
words, ‘the concept of education was still foreign to many’.
whites’, but practically nothing about the grievous suffering
At the age of five he became a herd-boy, his life ‘shaped by
of the black people. Their story remains untold.
custom, ritual, and taboo. This was the alpha and omega of our existence, and went unquestioned’. He also remembers that ‘whites appeared as grand as gods to me, and I was aware that they were to be treated with a mixture of fear and respect’.
Here, the war had been seen as a remote and
irrelevant affair, although some sons of the Tembu had taken part and a few had died. Many of the dead – a tragic 700 of them – had been passengers aboard the Mendi, a troopship which struck a mine and went down in the English Channel in February 1917. Eerily, news of the disaster reached the victims’ families 6 000 miles away before the official announcement was made.
Mandela learned his ABCs at the local Wesleyan
the public education system afforded few chances to black
INPRA
mission school (located next to the palace). In those days
The Great Depression - Food handouts in New York,1930
children, but the various Church establishments did a
relatively good job – and would continue to do so until the
Healdtown, the Wesleyan college at Fort Beaufort, alma mater
infamous Bantu Education Act did away with them in the
of most Tembu royalty and very British in its pretensions.
fifties.
Mandela was luckier than most. He took his place at
‘The educated Englishman was our model’, he recalls.
When he was 16, Mandela underwent the customary
‘What we aspired to be were “black Englishmen.”’ Here he
initiation into manhood; and then boarded at the nearby
matriculated, and went on to Fort Hare University, to sporting
Clarkebury Institute to complete his junior certificate. He
excellence – and to student activism. The vision was already
had already absorbed a lot, and would soon go on to higher
taking shape.
things.
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : H U M A N S C I E N C E S R E S E A RC H C O U N C I L ( H S RC )
“As you celebrate your 90th birthday, please be filled with the contentment of knowing that we are committed to entrenching the legacy of the work of your Foundations.”
Olive Shisana (ScD) President & Chief Executive Officer HSRC Private Bag x41 Pretoria 0001
Dear Madiba
An astute visionary It is a great honour and pleasure for the HSRC to join our compatriots and the world in celebrating your 90th birthday. Beyond our long walk to freedom and democracy, as a council that is involved in social science that makes a difference, we have also walked and struggled alongside the Nelson Mandela Foundation, to combat the scourge of HIV and Aids. Tata, you have been a visionary, who foresaw more than a decade ago that great statesmanship includes leaving a legacy of working with and assisting people living in poverty; people who are vulnerable or living on the margins of society. Through the Nelson Mandela Foundation you supported the HSRC’s secondgeneration surveillance studies of HIV/Aids. Similar ground-breaking studies have subsequently been conducted in Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland. The philanthropic activities of your various Foundations and initiatives have also supported the HSRC’s evidence-based policy work, with respect to orphaned and vulnerable children in the SADC region. As you celebrate your 90th birthday, please be filled with the contentment of knowing that we are committed to entrenching the legacy of the work of your Foundations. Thank you Tata - for lifting up the spirit and horizon of all our people, especially those living with HIV and Aids. With you in our hearts, both the residents of and migrants to our country have hope for tomorrow. Khula and be blessed with many more years of a healthy and resolute life.
CONTACT DETAILS
Olive Shisana (ScD) President & Chief Executive Officer
Physical address: 134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria 0002 Postal address: Private Bag x41, Pretoria 0001 Telephone: (+27 12) 302 2000 Fax: (+27 12) 302 2001 Website: www.hsrc.ac.za
H U M A N S C I E N C E S R E S E A RC H C O U N C I L T I M E L I N E
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Publication of Democracy and Governance Review: Mandela’s legacy, 19941999; an independent assessment of the country’s transition to democracy
The HSRC expands into additional offices in Cape Town and Durban
The Nelson Mandela Foundation commissions the HSRC to undertake the HIV/Aids household survey
HSRC publishes the first edition of the State of the Nation
External research income exceeds parliamentary grant allocation
Launch of Emerging Voices; a project on rural education, supported by the Nelson Mandela Foundation
Africa collaboration strengthened with the signing of an MOU with CODESRIA and support for the AU youth charter
Overall equity target reaches 70.8% black; Dr Olive Shisana is appointed to the 46664 Board
MILESTONES
Vera Lynn in wartime uniform
A world in conflict
Global war broke out for the second time in the
century when, early in September 1939, Hitler sent his panzers into Poland. It lasted for six years, it killed an estimated 60 million people, and it changed the international order. It ended when two nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan. Now, there were just two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, and they glared menacingly at each across an immense ideological chasm. South Africa also joined the fray, and its troops INPRA
served with honour in East Africa and the Western Desert (although they lost an entire division of men with the
other. To the British, German tank general Erwin Rommel, the
surrender of the Tobruk fortress), and then slogged their way
Desert Fox, was something of a hero. This, it is said, was the
up the rugged spine of Italy which, even though Winston
last of the gentleman’s wars.
Churchill had termed it ‘the soft underbelly of Europe’, turned
out to be one of the most bitter and thankless of campaigns.
strife-laden years was Jan Smuts, once a brilliant guerilla
fighter, now a statesman, always a philosopher and naturalist.
But there was comradeship, and music too. It was
The man who guided South Africa through these
the heyday of the big bands; Glen Miller and the Dorsey
But Smuts spent much of his time and most of his efforts
Brothers filled the airwaves. And while the soldiers’ fathers
on the global stage and, one suspects, was relieved to do so;
had marched to the bouncy strains of ‘It’s a long way to
the racial problems at home were too difficult even for his
Tiperary’, the sons echoed Gracie Fields’ sadder ‘Wish Me
brilliant brain. He seemed to close his mind to what was
Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye’ and Vera Lynn’s ‘I’ll Be Seeing
happening on his own doorstep. The hard men of the far
You’. And ‘Lily Marlene’, that all-time favourite war song born
right, among them D.F. Malan and his Purified National Party,
in Germany and sung by everyone. On still, starlit nights in
were gathering support from both white language groups.
the sandy Libyan wasteland, where sound carried far, the
On the left, the African National Congress was also flexing its
troops of both the Afrika Corps and the Desert Rats rendered
muscles after years of more-or-less passive resistance during
it in their own languages, sometimes within earshot of each
which it had placed its faith, rather naively in the event, on
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : R E A D , S WAT M A N & V O I G T
“You have laid a solid foundation on which we will, with God’s help, continue to build a super-structure of freedom and hope.”
Hennie Read Chairman & CEO Read, Swatman & Voigt PO Box 62532 Marshalltown 2107
Dear Madiba
A legend of history In the long and often troubled history of man, from ancient times to the contemporary world, the grandeur of moral rectitude must surely rise above all other human virtues. It is fairly easy to be bad. To do bad. It is a test of character to always be – and inspire – good.
hennie read CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
The personificcation of this ability must surely be yourself. Your natural philosophy, earthly wisdom and genuine compassion for others has not been surpassed by any other living human being of our time. In this, your 90th year, we celebrate with you and remind ourselves, once again, of the true liberation that you brought to our nation. Your influence touches not just people, but the way they conduct their daily business. You have inspired us at RSV, and its linked enterprises, to build companies that will continue to reflect the virtues for which you stand: honesty, integrity and an indomitable spirit that will always pursue the good and eschew evil. You have laid a solid foundation on which we will, with God’s help, continue to build a super-structure of freedom and hope. Congratulations and God’s richest blessings. Long may you continue to enjoy the African sun.
Hennie Read Chairman & CEO
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 3 rd Floor, Swiss House, 86 Main Street, Johannesburg Postal address: PO Box 62532, Marshalltown 2107 Telephone: (+27 11) 373 8203 Fax: (+27 11) 373 8239 Email: hennier@rsv.co.za / vanessas@rsv.co.za Website: www.rsv.co.za
R E A D , S WA T M A N & V O I G T T I M E L I N E
1986
1991
1995
2001
2003
2007
Read Engineering Projects cc formed
Read, Swatman & Voigt (Pty) Ltd formed
First major project: Amandelbult No. 1 Shaft
First linked enterprise established
RSV acquires its own premises at Swiss House
RSV employees total more than 1 000
MILESTONES
lobbying peacefully for social and a modicum of political
Johannesburg, big and bold and unforgiving, was a challenge,
rights.
but it had its upside. It was where things happened. Mandela
Nelson Mandela was one of the new breed. At Fort
worked as a law clerk and devoted his leisure hours to boxing,
Hare he had met Oliver Tambo, who was to serve as colleague,
although he was the first to admit he’d never be a champion.
loyal friend and mentor in the long decades to come. Both
He lacked a killer punch. He also had a good look at working
were expelled after their involvement in a boycott against
conditions and was appalled by what he saw. There was
university policies, and they made their way to Johannesburg
nothing magical about a gold mine, he later wrote. The
and the law. Oliver was already a post-graduate; Nelson
black miners, relatively well paid though they were, ‘lived
had a further incentive to move – the threat of an arranged
on the grounds in bleak, single-sex barracks that contained
marriage.
hundreds of concrete bunks separated from each other by only a few inches....’.
In due course he gained his bachelor’s degree by
correspondence, a law degree from Witwatersrand University, joined the ANC and, with Tambo, set up a legal practice. He was on his way.
What were his political aspirations at this time?
Who and what inspired him? The injustice he saw all around, of course, but also the world at war, odd though that may seem. It was after all a war against tyranny and oppression, a gigantic struggle which the black man in Africa echoed in microcosm. The best ideals of the time were neatly encapsulated in the Atlantic Charter, a document setting out the democratic rights of societies and reaffirming the dignity of the individual. Its signatories were Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, leaders of the free world, and its principles UWC Robben Island Mayibuye Archives
were eventually (albeit cautiously) accepted by the South African government.
Mandela drew special inspiration from the
teachings of the brilliant ideologist Anton Lembede, whose philosophy anticipated Steve Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement of the 60’s and was summed up
Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela
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THE NELSON MANDELA YEARS: BHP BILLITON SA LIMITED
“Dr Mandela, in the early 1990’s you generated in our fractured country a sociological, political and economic miracle.”
Dr Vincent Maphai Chairman BHP Billiton SA Limited 6 Hollard Street Marshalltown Johannesburg 2001 Dear Madiba
Our hallmark of wisdom In this the year of your 90th birthday, all of us at BHP Billiton share, along with family, friends and your admirers throughout the world, a celebration of your life and an appreciation for the wisdom that is the hallmark of who you are.
Vincent Maphai Chairman
From the moment you walked out of Pollsmoor Prison in 1990, South Africa and the world have quite simply never been the same. You demonstrated popularity without populism, humility without weakness and authority without authoritarianism. You have shown humanity that it is possible to become a great man – in your case, an icon of our era - and yet still stay close to your roots; treating all men, women and children as equals and never setting yourself before any other person. For someone like myself, who was fortunate enough to rise from a childhood background of poverty, went on to earn R57 a month in my first job and now guides an organisation of 16 000 people, your example of consistent humility is one to hold close and pass on to my own daughter and three sons. Dr Mandela, in the early 1990’s you generated in our fractured country a sociological, political and economic miracle. It is my sincerest hope that with patience, care and focus, we as a nation will repeat that miracle many times over. I can think of no better way for the nation to honour your many years of sacrifice before 1990, and your years of dedication since. In the midst of pessimism, cynicism and scepticism, you spared this land a seemingly inevitable conflagration and set for the world a new and exacting standard of conflict resolution. We commend you for that and continue to celebrate the fact that every minute of your life is a blessing to South Africa and to all. Happy Birthday, Madiba.
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 6 Hollard Street, Marshalltown, Johannesburg 2001 Telephone: (+27 11) 376 3361 Fax: (+27 11) 688 4362 Website: www.bhpbilliton.com
Dr Vincent Maphai Chairman
BHP BILLITON SA LIMITED TIMELINE
1860
1885
1977
2001
2002
2003
2004
NY Billiton Maatschappij established in The Hague, Netherlands
BHP incorporated in Victoria, Australia
First joint venture discussions between Billiton and BHP
BHP Billiton merger (formed out of BHP Limited and Billiton plc) - first combined profit of a record US$2 189-million announced
Natural gas discovered, deepwater Gulf of Mexico; BHP Billiton endorses South Africa’s mining charter
BHP Billiton moves to new global headquarters
Dr Vincent Maphai appointed to the position of Chairman of BHP Billiton South Africa Limited
BHP Billiton is the world’s largest diversified resources company. It is distinguished by the quality of its assets; the company’s deep inventory of growth projects; its customer-focused marketing; its diversification across countries, commodities and markets; and its Petroleum business. BHP Billiton has some 39 000 employees working in more than 100 operations in approximately 25 countries.
Just as important as the minerals that come out of the land, is the support the company gives to the communities in which it operates. Through a diverse range of health, education, environmental projects and ongoing sustainable development programs, BHP Billiton is committed to enriching the world.
Madiba, you are an inspiration to us in pursuance of our go als to be a resources company of choice.
T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : N AT I O N A L H E R I T A G E C O U N C I L ( N H C )
“Your emphasis on nation building has been so profound that everyone undoubtedly wishes to eternalise and embrace it, like the living treasure it is.”
Sonwabile Mancotywa Chief Executive Officer National Heritage Council PO Box 74097 Lynnwood Ridge Pretoria 0040 Dear Madiba
Following in your ‘mind prints’ You have been a source of inspiration to all of us at the National Heritage Council and you continue to be a pillar of comfort whenever we take a glance at your living legacy.
SONWABILE MANCOTYWA CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
The memories of your kindness, forgiveness, empathy, responsibility and caring nature have touched the hearts of humankind. The National Heritage Council has modelled one of its priority programmes to emulate and integrate your belief in Ubuntu/Botho into society. Your nomination to receive the first Ubuntu Award from the NHC in 2006 was against no other contest, unanimously decided on by the Council, because of the prominence and embodiment of the values of Ubuntu/Botho that you have taught the world. We will continue to award those who follow in your ‘mind prints’. The fruits of your sacrifices make us a proud nation today. Your contribution to democracy does not discriminate or withhold its generosity. It is this unifying force, which you have stood for, that has been educational and invaluable to the entire human race. Your emphasis on nation building has been so profound that everyone undoubtedly wishes to eternalise and embrace it, like the living treasure it is. May your birthday not only last for a day, but rather be enjoyed as a lifetime’s celebration of what you have achieved for South Africa, Africa and the world. Yours sincerely,
Sonwabile Mancotywa Chief Executive Officer
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 57 Kasteel Road, Cnr of Ingersol Road, Lynnwood Glen 0081 Postal address: PO Box 74097, Lynnwood Ridge, Pretoria 0040 Telephone: (+27 12) 348 1663 Fax: 086 601 6581 Email: nhc@nhc.org.za Website: www.nhc.org.za
NAT I O NA L H E R I TAG E C O U N C I L T I M E L I N E
1999
2004
2005
2006
2007
The National Heritage Council (NHC) is officially constituted through the NHC Act, 1999 (Act 11 of 1999)
The NHC Act, 1999, is officially proclaimed on 14 April
The NHC celebrates its first anniversary at a Heritage and Economy Conference in Gauteng
Nelson Mandela accepts the first Ubuntu Award received in Mpumalanga by the Deputy President at the time, the Honourable Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Dr Kenneth Kaunda, former State President of Zambia, receives the second Ubuntu Award in the Western Cape
national-heritage-letter_template.indd 1
11/28/08 11:09:07 AM
MILESTONES
in his, Lambede’s, statement that ‘Africa is a black man’s
writes Mandela. ‘Our creed was the creation of one nation
country … Africa belongs to them. The basis of national
out of many tribes, the overthrow of white supremacy ….
unity is the nationalistic feeling of the Africans, the feeling of
Our [Youth League] manifesto stated: “We believe that the
being African irrespective of tribal connections, social status,
national liberation of Africans must be achieved by Africans
educational attainment, or economic class’.
themselves”.’
Tambo, Mandela and their new intimate Walter
Sisulu, a jack-of-all-trades and master of trade union
Aftermath and apartheid
organisation, took these and other teachings as a (figurative)
call to arms and founded the ANC Youth League in 1944. The
ways for the former combatants. America entered an era of
parent body was by now largely dysfunctional; indeed it had
baby boom and unprecedented prosperity, able to deliver
called a halt to political activity for the duration of the war,
largesse to a shattered continental Europe in the form of an
which was commendably patriotic but frustrating for the
ultra-generous Marshall Plan. The region’s countries began
younger, more radical, less patient members. They resolved
to recover astonishingly quickly. Britain was another matter
to turn up the heat. ‘African nationalism was our battle cry,’
altogether: the nation was bankrupt, its people would live
The immediate post-war years played out in different
in austerity (a much-bandied word at the time) for years to THE COURAGE OF JOB
come, its empire barely held together by little more than
South African soldiers and airmen earned their fair share of Victoria Crosses and other high decorations during the second war, and generally fought with competence and sometimes with valour. Even Tobruk, a disastrous surrender, produced its heroes, and none more heroic perhaps than Lance-Corporal Job Mosego, a young black prisoner who took his life in his hands when he evaded the guards and crept aboard and enemy freighter tied up in the harbour. He had prepared well for his sneak attack, gathering gunpowder from the live ammunition still scattered around the prison compound. This he placed among the drums of petrol in the hold, then lit the fuse and retired (quickly) to watch the whole ship blow itself to bits. For the exploit he was awarded the Military Medal. According to the citation he had displayed ‘ingenuity, determination and complete disregard for personal safety, punishment by the enemy, and the ensuing explosion …’.
sentiment, and there wasn’t even much of that left. Britons carried ration cards for food, sweets, cigarettes, clothing, and the allocations were tight, ludicrously so of some goods (one egg per person per week). British bread grew ever darker, its wheat content eventually reduced to 1942 levels. The dominions remained happy enough with their status but Gandhi’s India was soon to gain its freedom, and most of the colonies and territories were clamouring for independence.
South Africa had fared better than most during the
war: the global demand for metals, munitions and food had kept the economy relatively bouyant. Immigrants began to arrive in number, many from the European mainland and
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THE NELSON MANDELA YEARS: GOBODO
“You have shown us how to build a country centered by truth, righteousness, peace, love, non-violence and morality – with a value system based on your example.”
Sathie Gounden CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Sathie Gounden CEO Gobodo Incorporated PO Box 87452 Houghton 2041
Dear Madiba
The King of Kings It has been the philosophies of visionaries – foremost among them yourself – that have guided us in developing and shaping the internal philosophies of Gobodo Incorporated, which we are building into South Africa’s black assurance and advisory services firm of choice. Gobodo Incorporated was established in 1996 by a group of black chartered accountants, under the leadership of Nonkululeko Gobodo - the first black African female chartered accountant in South Africa. From this first inspiring benchmark, we have grown to meet the challenges faced by black firms in a changing South Africa. Following various mergers, we currently have offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Mafikeng, Bloemfontein and Kimberley. Developing skills and competencies within the firm remains our top priority. Your personal sacrifices and perseverance in difficult times brought about equality in South Africa. The reward of your labour was the chance for people like us to build a normal and abundant life in the new, democratic South Africa. Your unfailing energy and strong-mindedness are the characteristics of a true leader. You stood firm in your belief in liberating our country. Your righteousness gave us hope over the years and we drew strength from the strength you showed, during your incarceration. May the lustre of magnificence always dwell in your heart. May you continue to share your wisdom, in order to make this world a better place. As an icon, may you always inspire the lives of the youth to follow in your footsteps. You have shown us how to build a country centered by truth, righteousness, peace, love, non-violence and morality – with a value system based on your example. In the words of Bhagavan Shri Sathya Sai Baba: “The honour of a community is based on its morals; without morality a community perishes; only a moral community is worth its name.”
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: Empire Park, 55 Empire Road, Parktown, Johannesburg Postal address: PO Box 87452, Houghton 2041 Telephone: (+27 11) 358 5000 Fax: (+27 11) 482 4660 Email: info@gobodo.co.za Website: www.gobodo.co.za
With best wishes and congratulations on your 90th birthday, from all at Gobodo Incorporated.
Sathie Gounden CEO
GOBODO TIMELINE
1996
2000
2002
2003
2008
Gobodo founded
Gobodo merges with Hansjee Patel and Gounden and Company
Expanded footprint across South Africa
Expanded service lines
Surpassed industry growth
CEO: Nonkuleleko Gobodo
CEO: Thabo Mosololi
CEO: Mveleli Booi
CEO: Sathie Gounden
CEO: Sathie Gounden
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MILESTONES
many more from a cold (1947 was the severest winter on
conditions and the denial of basic rights. ’Swart gevaar’, that
record), soggy and over-rationed Britain. A few travelled out
old terror of being ‘swamped’ by a hostile black horde, was
on the South African Airways’ new Avro Yorks and the even
firmly entrenched in the white psyche, and at the end of May
newer and larger Skymasters; the vast majority sailed south
1948 Daniel Malan and his Nationalists formed the country’s
on one or other of the famous Union-Castle mailships, which
first all-Afrikaner government.
prided themselves on the number of diversions offered to
their guests. The two-week voyage in the later forties differed
The day of institutionalised apartheid had dawned.
little from that of the pre-war years – gilded passenger-lists
The cult of personality
were no longer distributed, and ladies no longer banned
from the smoking room, but there was swimming and deck
headlines in the 1950s. The new United Nations flexed its
quoits, ceremonial ducking at the equator, games for the
muscles just before the start of the decade when communist
children, ten-course dinners, ballroom dancing, fancy-dress
forces crossed the 38th parallel dividing North and South
Far Eastern affairs grabbed a good number of the
INPRA
parties, bars which sold ridiculously cheap drinks. There was romance, and fun.
The white working classes viewed all this with deep
suspicion. Despite the virtual eradication of the ‘poor white problem’, the traditional fears and prejudices were still there. The flood of demobilised servicemen and immigrants coming onto the job market threatened their livelihood. Most of the new settlers were English-speaking, and Afrikanerdom feared again for its culture, for its very identity.
Moreover, industrialisation galvanised demand for
cheap labour. The African workforce had grown hugely and, despite its ‘temporary’ nature (migrant workers were denied permanent residence by law), it stayed in place, huddled around the ‘white’ areas, competing with unskilled whites for the lower paid jobs – and increasingly angry about living
Major Ernesto “Che” Guevara
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THE NELSON MANDELA YEARS: GOBA
“You have brought together and unified the resources necessary to complete the ultimate goal: a South Africa built on equality and understanding.”
Trueman Goba Executive Chairman Goba PO Box 180 Sunninghill 2157
Dear Mr Mandela
Our warmest congratulations on turning 90 years of age With your wisdom and your humanity, you forged for us the foundations for a lasting democracy. It now remains in our hands as a nation, to strengthen the structure of this democracy. All people to thrive within it, sheltered from crime, oppression, poverty and disempowerment.
Trueman Goba EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN
We are a company of 450 engineers, technologists and technicians, of all races and from all walks of life. As multi-disciplinary consulting engineers and project managers, we offer a range of services, including the planning, design, construction supervision and commissioning of engineering and building infrastructure. We are deeply committed to, and involved in, the upgrading of the infrastructure of our country. We are inspired by your life which has meant a great deal to us. You have brought together and unified the resources necessary to complete the ultimate goal: a South Africa built on equality and understanding. That such a thing could actually be achieved, after the mistakes of the Apartheid era, is a miracle rightly admired by the wider world. Closer to home, we remain awed and humbled by your continuing contribution towards a better life for all. You have stretched the global imagination, by showing what can be built with the raw materials of leadership, unity, humility, resoluteness and dedication. We are very proud of you and wish you all the happiness in the remaining years of your life. May they be many and full. Sincerely,
Trueman Goba Executive Chairman
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: Belvedere Place, 5 Eglin Road, Sunninghill, Johannesburg Postal address: PO Box 180, Sunninghill 2157 Telephone: (+27 11) 236 3300 Fax: (+27 11) 807 8535 Website: www.goba.co.za
GOBA TIMELINE
2001
2002
2003
2003 – 2008 2003 – 2008 2003 – 2008 2003 – 2008
Company forms with the merger of Goba Moahloli and Associates Inc. and Keeve Steyn (Pty) Ltd
Contributes to the successful completion of the Platinum Toll Highway Project, one of the largest ever privatised road infrastructure projects in South Africa
Involved in the Nelson Mandela Bridge (opened July 2003) - a project of national significance
Involved in the following prestigious projects: The Berg River Dam Project at Franschhoek, Western Cape
Goba-letter_template.indd 1
Four 2010 World Cup stadiums: Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit; Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town; Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban and Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth
The Vaal River Eastern Subsystem Augmentation Project (VRESAP); The Durban Harbour Tunnel Project; The Klipspruit Mine Project at Ogies
Three of the nine sections of freeway currently being upgraded for SANRAL New King Shaka International Airport – KwaZuluNatal; Transnet Capital Projects roll-out programme
11/25/08 8:26:46 AM
MILESTONES
Eva Peron leaving Ciampino airport, Rome, Italy Korea, and it authorised an international ‘police action’. In fact it was American muscle that the UN was calling on, although other nations did chip in (South Africa sent its ‘Flying Cheetah’ squadron of Mustangs). Intervention escalated into a bloody, three-year war in which China eventually joined. US General Douglas MacArthur, a god-like figure (with an ego to match) and hero of America’s stunning successes in the Pacific theatre during the second global conflict, led a fightback after brilliantly outflanking the North Koreans at Inchon but then, as Shakespeare would have said, he o’erstepped the modesty of nature. He threatened to nuke China. US president Harry Truman immediately dismissed him – not, he afterwards explained, ‘because he was a dumb sonofabitch, which he was, but that’s not against the law for generals, but because he would not respect the authority of the President’.
China, though, was the big issue at this time. It
had been two decades since Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) had taken his communists away on the Long March and now he was back, victor in the bitter wars against Chiang Kei-shek’s Nationalists. The latter fled to the tiny offshore island of Taiwan (Formosa), where a sophisticated modern economy evolved, among the first of the ‘Asian Tigers’. On 1 October 1949, speaking to a vast concourse in Beijing’s Gate of Heavenly Peace Square, Mao proclaimed that China ‘will no INPRA
longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation’. In the event, these wounds would be self inflicted.
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : H AT C H
“Hatch’s great success would not have been possible without the tremendous sacrifices you made, nor would it have been achievable without your perceptive leadership of a then fledgling democracy.” Rory Kirk Managing Director - Hatch Africa
Rory Kirk Managing Director Hatch Africa (Pty) Ltd Private Bag x20 Gallo Manor 2052
Dear Madiba
Best wishes from all of us at Hatch for a wonderful 90th birthday and many, many more Hatch provides consulting, design engineering, technology, environmental services, operations support and project and construction management to the global mining, metallurgical, energy and infrastructure sectors. We are intimately involved in the effort to upgrade South Africa’s mining and infrastructure countrywide to position South Africa as the port and rail benchmark in Africa. In 1950, Albert Einstein said, ‘’Everything that is great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labour in freedom.’’ When you gained your freedom, South Africa finally gained its freedom to trade freely with the rest of the world, for businesses to create jobs, stimulate the economy, thrive and grow. As the world watched South Africa begin its journey in 1990 to a truly democratic society, Hatch, who at that stage was a small engineering consultancy based in Canada, began exploring the immense potential of the South African market. This became a reality, when, in 1994, with only 100 employees, Hatch worked successfully with Rio Tinto who led us to officially commence operations in 1995 as Hatch Africa. Now, in 2008, we employ in excess of 1 500 staff from all sectors of society in offices and on various clients’ sites around the country. While you worked tirelessly to build this great nation, so our employees were working on taking Hatch from strength to strength. Hatch’s great success would not have been possible without the tremendous sacrifices you made, nor would it have been achievable without your perceptive leadership of a then fledgling democracy. As a company, we thank you, admire you and salute you. Warmest regards,
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 14 Harrowdene Office Park, Western Service Road Woodmead, Johannesburg, South Africa Postal address: Private Bag x20, Gallo Manor 2052 Telephone: (+27 11) 239 5306 Fax: (+27 11) 239 5676 Website: www.hatch.co.za
Rory Kirk Managing Director - Hatch Africa
H AT C H T I M E L I N E
1995
2005
2006
2007
2008
Established a permanent presence in South Africa
Completed the Anglo Platinum ACP Project
Embarked on the Transnet harbour and rail infrastructure refurbishment programme
Exceeded 1 000 employees
Established Hatch in Botswana
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MILESTONES
Mao was a big, coarse man of solid peasant stock,
by the richest and most generous of the local companies and
brutal but not bloodthirsty, sentimental, impulsive, gross in
ranging from holidays with pay to 13th cheques. In due course
habit and speech, given to flights of fancy. He needed drama
Eva died (bravely, of spreading cervical cancer) and Juan was
in his life, and he manufactured plenty with his gigantic land
kicked out. The country left behind became a militarised
reform programme (collectivisation), his Great Leap Forward
basket case.
(industrialisation), his Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution,
which unleashed feral juveniles called the Red Guards on the
people, Eva remained a paragon long after her untimely
educated classes.
death in 1952, her angelic image reinforced in biography,
film and musical. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita (1979) simply
Countless numbers died in these exercises; the
Still, despite the very real damage she did to her
misery inflicted is incalculable – but Mao is still remembered
embellished the myth.
with reverence in China, as Stalin is in parts of Russia.
Which illuminates one of those apparently inexplicable
Cuba. There, young Fidel Castro and his henchman Ernesto
quirks in the collective psyche of societies: the enduring
Che Guevara, an expatriate Argentine, came down from the
nature of personality cults. Over in the western hemisphere
Sierra Madre hills with their raggedy little army and took over
the same sort of thing was happening, though on a much
the misruled country (the hard work of the revolution, in fact,
smaller scale. Good-looking Eva Duarte was a moderately
had already been done by the quieter and more lethal urban
successful actress, a feminist and a trade unionist when she
communist cells). Castro couldn’t decide whether he was
married Colonel Juan Perón, the flashy playboy who had
pro-American or an uncompromising socialist and eventually,
become Argentina’s president in 1946, taking over a country
after the US snubbed him, he joined the Soviet Bloc.
run on sensible free-market lines and getting richer by the
month. Left alone, it could have become a beacon for the
abuse of human rights, Castro did create something
region’s other nations. But it wasn’t to be: together, the two
approaching an egalitarian state. Che was more committed,
incompetents set about wrecking the economy with their
less sensible, a dreamer with a prodigious sexual appetite,
eclectic mixture of nationalism, socialism and populism,
and a loser. He was also a qualified doctor who forgot the
nationalising everything in sight; giving the workers (the
ancient oath of his profession and he killed people with
misnamed ‘shirtless ones’, who were actually quite well off)
remarkably casual ease. On the other hand he was young,
all they wanted and more, benefits pegged to those offered
nicely bearded, wore his beret at a rakish angle – the perfect
Something similar was occurring far to the north, in
Although quite rightly vilified for his large-scale
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THE NELSON MANDELA YEARS: CHAMBER OF MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA
“We are thankful to have a man of your calibre among us. There is no other individual South African who has done more to enhance the reputation of our country.”
Mzolisi Diliza CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Mzolisi Diliza Chief Executive Chamber of Mines of SA PO Box 61809 Marshalltown 2107
Dear Madiba
Wise words to guide for all eternity Your life history; the challenges you faced; the suffering you endured; your personal sacrifice for the people of South Africa; your perseverance and everything you withstood in your decades-long struggle make us all proud to be South Africans. We are thankful to have a man of your calibre among us. There is no other individual South African who has done more to enhance the reputation of our country. The Chamber of Mines was greatly honoured to have you address its Annual General Meeting in 1994 and although this was a while ago, those who were with the Chamber then were humbled by your humility and sincerity. You indicated then that you were confident the industry would remain “robust, energetic and innovative, with a capacity to be a reliable economic generator for South Africa and the whole region”. Let me assure you that this industry remains an important provider of jobs for the people of our country and employs more than 500 000 people. It also contributes 7 percent towards GDP, thus helping to raise the standard of living in the country. A number of interventions have been introduced to ensure that the industry transforms, as you rightly pointed out, “to improve the quality of all” and we trust that the benefits of these efforts, which are now beginning to bear fruit, will continue and flourish. As you celebrate your 90th birthday, we at the Chamber of Mines believe we have reason to be grateful, as we too have benefited from your humility and leadership. As the chief executive of the Chamber, and on behalf of all members and employees, I wish to thank you for your selfless devotion to our great country. We wish you many happy returns as you celebrate your birthday. Enkosi kakhulu Tata. Siyabulela.
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 5 Hollard Street, Johannesburg 2001 Postal address: PO Box 61809, Marshalltown 2107 Telephone: (+27 11) 498 7305 Fax: (+27 11) 836 0735 Email: pmitchell@bullion.org.za Website: www.bullion.org.za
Mzolisi Diliza Chief Executive
C H A M B E R O F M I N E S O F S O U T H A F R I C A fa s t fac t s Mining accounts for 7% GDP directly, although indirect multiplier effects grow its contribution to about 18.4% of GDP in total
The mining industry directly employed an average of 458 600 workers in 2006, and 500 000 workers in 2007
Roughly another 152 800 workers are employed in associated industries that supply products to, or use products from, the mining industry
Around five million people are directly dependent for their daily subsistence on the income of mine employees
2006: Mining directly accounted for 6.5% of total fixed investment and for 9.1% of total private sector investment, versus 6.3% and 8.7% respectively in 2005
If multiplier effects are taken into account, mining helped generate about 16% of total investment in the economy
2006: R30-billion’s worth of empowerment deals were accounted for by the industry making the resources sector the largest contributor to BEE deals for the second year in a row
MILESTONES
The Captain’s Paradise, Alec Guinness, yvonne de Carlo poster boy for adolescent bedrooms. He remains so today, irrationally, despite the horrors. But then nobody really believes the human mind is rational.
Among the most significant events of the immediate
post-war years – one which had little to do with personality and everything to do with the urge for personal freedom – was the creation of the Jewish national state of Israel: the country won United Nations recognition in 1947. For once, the Soviet Union had backed its capitalist enemies (who were themselves nervous about the move, but perhaps for the last time in history they gave way to a moral imperative) but did so largely, it seems, to undermine Britain’s dominant influence within the oil-rich region. Straightaway, war erupted INPRA
between the fledgling nation and its Arab neighbours, and hostilities in one shape or another have continued ever since. They are the sporadic symptoms of the most stubborn
ankle-socks and a well-fed look about them. Brigitte Bardot
running sore on the global body politic.
personified kittenish allure; Errol Flynn and John Wayne won the war all over again. Britain also made its cultural contribution: Lawrence Olivier’s superb Henry V had stirred
Pretence and reality
national pride towards the end of the war and continued to
do so afterwards; other now-classics followed. On the lighter
Popular culture during the late 40’s and most
of the 50’s remained, by and large, faithful to its pre-war
side Alfred Hitchcock frightened happy audiences out of their
heritage, although now it was even more American, indeed
wits; Ealing Studios turned out a string of brilliant comedies
overwhelmingly so. Its dynamic was Hollywood; Rita
(Passport to Pimlico was one); Alec Guinness (Kind Hearts
Hayworth was one of a dozen glamorous screen goddesses;
and Coronets, etc.) charmed with his po-faced comedy, and
Frank Sinatra the idol of the bobbysoxers, which was the
Genevieve, whose heroine was a vintage car, seduced with its
name given to American teenage girls with pony-tails, white
gentle humour. ‘Cruising Down the River’ was top of the pops in 1947.
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : W S P G RO U P A F R I C A
“In 1994 you re-entered a country divided. In 1995, you led a victorious country united!”
AJ Mather Managing Director WSP Group Africa PO Box 98867 Sloane Park 2152
Dear Mr Mandela
A collective tribute to a unique humanitarian It is a great honour for me to congratulate you on your 90th birthday, on behalf of the entire WSP Group. Thank you for facilitating, for all of us in South Africa, the miracle of reconciliation and the birth of our “Rainbow Nation”. Your uncompromising values allowed you to forgive those who had wronged you so badly, and for so long. That single unselfish act created the platform for reconciliation and peace in South Africa.
AJ Mather Managing Director
Your inspirational leadership has left us with many unforgettable memories, such as seeing you take the “long walk to freedom” and seeing you holding the World Cup aloft in your No. 6 Springbok jersey. I was fortunate enough to be at the 1995 World Cup Final that day, and I personally will never forget the rousing reception that you received. It seemed to echo not just around South Africa, but also around the world. In 1994 you re-entered a country divided. In 1995, you led a victorious country united! You have provided South Africa with your own special brand of leadership. It instinctively and immediately earns the respect of every single person, whether they are a street sweeper or a world leader. You are unique in your ability to draw people together and are therefore truly the World’s Greatest Statesman. We salute you Mr Mandela, and pray that God will spare you for many more years, so that we may continue to benefit from your very special, very unique “Madiba Magic”. Yours faithfully,
AJ Mather (Pr. Eng) Managing Director
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: South View, Bryanston Place Office Park, 199 Bryanston Drive, Bryanston Postal address: PO Box 98867, Sloane Park 2152 Telephone: (+27 11) 361 1300 Fax: (+27 11) 361 1316 Email: wspsdt@wspgroup.co.za Website: www.wspgroup.com
WSP TIMELINE
1995
1997
1999
2002
2005
2006
2007
2008
WSP enters South Africa via the acquisition of a minority interest in two South African Firms; The WEVS Group and Mackintosh Bergh & Sturgess
WSP increases its stake in South Africa and takes a majority interest in the above two firms. The operations are later merged to form WSP Group SA
An environmental consultancy is started in South Africa
WSP launches a Structural Engineering Division and the Group expands into Africa
WSP Energy is started
WSP OHS and WSP Systems are launched
WSP Coastal is launched
WSP Refrigeration is launched
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MILESTONES
James Dean in Giant
in the 60’s was being laid; it’s next, seemingly modest but arguably most influential paving stone was Blackboard Jungle and its backing music, Bill Haley’s thumping, let-your-hairdown ‘Rock Around the Clock’.
Eli Weinberg, UWC Robben Island Mayibuye Archives
INPRA
The apartheid abyss
This was good stuff, clean, healthy and proper, in
tune with traditional family values – and it was all pretence, all image and no substance. It ignored the major issues of class, race and gender; minority rights were neglected (though that battle loomed); sexuality was sanitised; homosexuality never even mentioned; poverty ignored. Some creative folk
Over 3 000 representatives of resistance organisations made their way through police cordons to gather on a dusty square in Kliptown, Soweto. 26 June 1955,
thought hard about the massive unreality that lulled Western society and began to do something about it. There were writers and actors, producers, directors and others who were
committed to telling it as it was. Marlon Brando brought
Back in South Africa, reality could not be ignored.
audiences a little closer to earth with his performance in On
The new regime set about dividing the country along racial
the Waterfront; a short while later John Osborne led a lively
lines – straightaway, and with relish. Its first move was to
group of angry young men in Britain, and moody James
create a public service and military loyal to the Afrikaner
Dean’s Rebel Without a Cause struck a chord in mixed-up
volk, which it did quickly and efficiently. In this, its sharpest
middle-class youth. The path to all-out social revolution
tool was a regulation demanding bilingual capability, which
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : M U LT I C H O I C E
“Remember always the invaluable gift you gave us 14 years ago - that of liberty, peace and human dignity for all South Africans.”
Nolo Letele CEO MultiChoice South Africa PO Box 1502 Randburg 2125
Dear Madiba
Enabling us with the power to create Our heartfelt congratulations and best wishes on your 90th birthday. You are an individual who has enriched the lives of countless South Africans, Africans and citizens of the wider world.
NOLO LETELE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Whether times are difficult or easy, your example continues to inspire hope for today and vision for tomorrow, across South Africa and indeed the world. The impact of your devotion to democracy, equality and learning can be seen in the vibrant South Africa that both young and old enjoy today. May it be that, as you continue to enrich lives, so your own life remains rich in the people and places that are uniquely special to you. Although well recognised as the greatest moral and political leader of our time, we do hope that you are now able to enjoy the more simple things in life that you love so much - watching the sunset; listening to Handel or Tchaikovsky; being with your family. Remember always the invaluable gift you gave us 14 years ago - that of liberty, peace and human dignity for all South Africans. In our modern world, miracles are less prevalent than cynicism; but in 1994, it was certainly a miracle that you brought forth. I don’t think any one of us has forgotten that. Know that your spirit will continue to embolden the hearts of South Africans, encouraging us to reach beyond our capabilities and to recognise and honour the humanity in others. You have taught us that we are a nation unlike any other, with the power to create a very special, very colourful future. You gave us a choice. Now it is in our hands. We wish you many more days; not of struggle or of looking ahead to a better time, but days of contentment filled with laughter, love and peace - as you look back on a life well lived. With very best wishes,
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 251 Oak Avenue, Ferndale, Randburg 2194 Postal address: PO Box 1502, Randburg 2125 Telephone: (+27 11) 289 3000 Fax: (+27 11) 789 7804 Email: corporateaffairsupdate@ multichoice.co.za Website: www.multichoice.co.za
Nolo Letele CEO and the MultiChoice South Africa Team
M U LT I C H O I C E T I M E L I N E
1993
1995
2002
2003
2005
2006
2007
2008
MultiChoice is formed when the customer service division splits from M-Net
Launch of Digital Satellite Television
Launch of Interactive Television
Launch of Dual View decoder and Games channel on Interactive Television
Launch of the PVR (Personal Video Recorder) decoder; launch of DStv Compact bouquet
DStv Mobile trial launched in JHB, Soweto, Cape Town and Durban; PhuthumaNathi BEE Scheme launched
Video on Demand trial launched; launch of DStv Select bouquet; re-launch of entry-level bouquet ‘Easy View’; MultiChoice reaches 2 million DStv subscribers
Launch of XtraView Launch of HD PVR
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MILESTONES
Bitter Sweet Love Story, Sophiatown
crude formula for deciding race on the base of appearance (including how curly one’s hair was, a criterion met or otherwise by the insertion of a pencil). It was now possible to produce a race-based identity document, and to begin the process of segregation – ‘separate development’, it would be called – and the statutes flowed in abundance. Most far-reaching were the Group Areas Act, the monumental foundation of apartheid, and its logical extension, the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act. ‘Whites only’ signs went up all over the country. In due course came the toxic Bantu Education Act which, in its architect Hendrik Verwoerd’s words, was designed ‘to train and teach people in accordance with their opportunities in life … . What is the use of teaching a Bantu child mathematics when it cannot use it in practice?’. Those ‘opportunities in life’ were, in South Africa, minimal.
All this served as a powerful trigger for an explosive
reaction – literally explosive towards the end of the 60’s. In the vanguard was the Congress Youth League, its president effectively excluded most English-speakers from public-sector
Nelson Mandela, its mission to help mount what became
jobs and, since the majority of urban Afrikaners could also
known as the Defiance Campaign, a mass movement that
speak English, protected its own constituency.
drew its inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi’s successful
It then got down to business, passing in quick
‘passive resistance’ in South Africa in the early 1900s.
succession the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, the
Its launch was exquisitely timed to coincide with the
Immorality Act (which forbade all sexual relations across
tercentenary of Jan van Riebeeck’s landing at the Cape – the
the colour line), and the Population Registration Act
beginning of colonial rule. Protestors deliberately broke
defining ethnicity. This measure and its progeny set out a
the law, entering ‘forbidden’ areas without passes, joining
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12/2/08 12:21:30 PM
T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : A L T E R N AT I V E I N F O R M AT I O N & D E V E L O P M E N T C E N T R E ( A I D C )
“We remain humbled and ought to be reminded every day, that we dare not fail our country; because of the many sacrifices you made for it.”
Billy N Maseti Director AIDC PO Box 12943 Mowbray 7705
Dear Madiba
Our beacon of hope At a time when our country was perched on the edge of the precipice, good people everywhere prayed for a leader who could somehow pull us back from the brink. When you walked forth and raised your hand, on that first day of personal freedom, an entire country was freed with you. The hand was raised in peace; not in anger. A nation’s destiny turned on that moment. Thus, the history of South Africa will always be yours as well, Madiba.
Billy N Maseti Director
The beacon you have lit for social justice is an inspiration to humanity and to our organisation, which dedicates itself to constructive and uplifting change. Your strength and ability to lead have given us back our dignity as South Africans. Your message for us to learn to live together, as one country and one nation, is a message we must never forget. In this important year of your life, we celebrate the day when the Creator gave you to the world - and to South Africa’s historical architecture. We remain humbled and ought to be reminded every day, that we dare not fail our country; because of the many sacrifices you made for it. AIDC would like to wish you many happy returns and we pray that God may continue to give you strength and much love of life. We think also of your family, who supported you for many years during difficult times. Mini emnandi kuwe Tata, ukhule kodwa ungakhokhobi – Happy 90th Birthday Madiba - the Father of our Nation. Sincerely,
Billy N Maseti Director
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 129 Rochester Road, Observatory 7925 Postal address: PO Box 12943, Mowbray 7705 Telephone: (+27 21) 447 5770 Fax: (+27 21) 447 5884 Website: www.aidc.org.za
A LT E R NAT I V E I N F O R M AT I O N & D E V E L O P M E N T C E N T R E ( A I D C ) fa s t fac t s AIDC is a founder member of the SAPSN Network (Southern Africa People’s Network)
Registered as a NPO, with the number 039-768
Focused on research, public information, education/training and capacity-building in the development sector, across south and southern Africa
Helps community organisations actively address issues relating to reconstruction and development, social justice, globalisation, gender empowerment and more
Dedicated to the dissemination and encouragement of economic and social justice across a broad spectrum of society
Raises awareness and consciousness about the impact of globalisation on the development process
Has a dedicated Resource and Information Centre and a specialist library
MILESTONES
‘Europeans only’ queues, walking through ‘Whites-only’
Beatnik entered the English language, and a black woman
entrances. The police reacted sharply; thousands were
named Rosa Parks sat up front in an Alabama bus and in
arrested; Mandela was banned under the Suppression of
doing so triggered the American civil rights movement.
Communism Act and prohibited from holding office in the ANC, officially, until 1958.
Evelyn and Winnie
The ban was a pinprick. Mandela knew, as others
Those involved in the Freedom Charter, said the
did, that it was only a matter time before the ANC itself
authorities, had committed high treason, and in December
would be proscribed. He and Tambo set about planning for
1956 more than 150 people – including Mandela and Walter
a grimmer future, reorganising the liberation movement on
Sisulu – were arrested in sweeping raids across the country.
a cell basis with a word-of-mouth communication system,
This was the start of a legal process which stumbled on for
an exercise known as the ‘M-Plan’. This, they hoped, would
more than five years and which rarely rose above the level
ensure secrecy if and when activists were forced to go underground. Meanwhile, legitimacy had to be preserved, if only in the interests of international approval, and in 1955 the Congress of the People, a vast multi-racial gathering of delegates representing a score of anti-apartheid bodies, met in Kliptown, Johannesburg, to approve the ground-breaking Freedom Charter. The document was heavily socialist in tone, it stressed non-violence and non-racialism, and it was seen as a blueprint for the decades ahead.
That was the year after Roger Bannister broke the
four-minute mile barrier, Britain ended food rationing Tom Stoddart/Getty Images
after 14 years of dreary eating, and Jonas Salk produced a vaccine against the killer polio virus. It was the year the first Disneyland opened in Florida; blue jeans became the biggest selling item in women’s clothing; the first floodlit international match was played (England vs Spain); the name
Evelyn Mandela and her son
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12/2/08 4:24:06 PM
THE NELSON MANDELA YEARS: CITI
“At 90, you continue to attract people worldwide to your sustained struggle for justice and unwavering insistence on moral rectitude in all aspects of life – yet you remain a humble man.” ZDENEK TUREK
Zdenek Turek CEO, Africa Division Citi 145 West Street Sandton 2196
Dear Madiba
Our warmest wishes It is with great honour that we at Citi extend to you and your family our best wishes and congratulations, as you celebrate your 90th birthday.
CEO, AFRICA DIVISION
Citi joins a grateful world in celebrating your noble example and the invaluable inspiration you have given particularly to Africa, through your own personal achievements as well as your service to mankind and through your advocacy of peace and reconciliation. At 90, you continue to attract people worldwide to your sustained struggle for justice and unwavering insistence on moral rectitude in all aspects of life – yet you remain a humble man. As a global company with a presence in Africa since 1955, we consider you by far the greatest influence for good on the continent. You have brought faith, human rights, dignity and love to many nations and have given us all, across Africa, hope. We at Citi - all 275 000 of us across the globe - salute you: Africa’s moral giant. We unite in submitting our warmest wishes for many more years of life and health and for your continued service to truth and humanity. Sincerely,
CONTACT DETAILS
Zdenek Turek
CEO, Africa Division
Physical address: 145 West Street, Sandton 2196 Postal address: PO Box 1800, Saxonwold 2132 Telephone: (+ 27 11) 944 1000 Fax: (+ 27 11) 944 0839 Website: www.citi.com
CITI
TIMELINE
1812
1914
1958
1977
1994
2003
2004
2007
Citi founded in New York
Opens first overseas branch of any US national bank
Opens first branch in South Africa
Becomes one of the first signatories of the Sullivan Principles, a code of conduct for human rights and equal opportunity, for companies operating in South Africa
Citi reopens its branch in South Africa
Receives Star of Africa Award for Corporate Social Investment (2003 – 2006)
Named Best Global Corporate / Institutional Internet Bank (Global Finance; 2005: Becomes 6th largest bank in South Africa (by assets)
Named Best Investment Bank in Africa, Best Investment Bank in South Africa and Best Equity House in Africa (Euromoney)
citi_letter01.indd 1
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MILESTONES
Mass funeral: Uitenhage,1985 of a pointless exercise in legal niceties (the preparatory examination lasted a good two years). In the end, all the accused were acquitted. It was during this period that the still-young activist met his future second wife. In the run-up to the Congress of the People his first spouse, Evelyn, had given him an ultimatum: choose between me and the ANC. He chose the ANC and, when released after a short spell in prison, he Gideon Mendel/CORBIS
came home to an empty house. Three years later, during the treason trial and on a visit to Soweto’s Baragwanath hospital, he met a pretty young social worker – the country’s first black one to qualify as such – and he knew that, although he didn’t know if there was such a thing as love at first sight, he did know that the moment he first glimpsed Winnie Nomzamo [Madikizela], ‘I knew that I wanted her as my wife’. This she became. Winnie shared Nelson’s cause and his political passions, and they were to keep them apart for many long, lonely years in the future.
Mandela was all for the dynamic approach, but he
remained in the mainstream of the struggle, an advocate of non-violence and the non-racial approach. Not so some of
Sharpville, 1960
the younger, angrier activists, who wanted a revolution and
Ian Berry /Magnum
Massacre of the innocents
The liberation movement was now split, its two
factions vying for the hearts and minds of the black people – a
an Africa ruled exclusively by Africans, and who by definition
recipe for violent confrontation, and for tragedy. These were
rejected the Freedom Charter. The ANC splintered, its left
heady days; Harold Macmillan, the deceptively languid British
wing departing under the leadership of Robert Sobukwe to
premier, gave his famous ‘wind of change’ speech to a startled
form the Pan-Africanist Congress.
joint sitting of the South African parliament. The colonial
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12/2/08 12:22:11 PM
T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : G RO U P F I V E
“The country you have envisioned is the country that is our collective responsibility to build.”
Mike Upton CEO Group Five PO Box 3951 Rivonia 2128
Dear Mr Mandela
Building with greatness in mind Your long walk to freedom helped a turbulent nation to re-define and claim back its identity during extraordinary times. However your journey was not only your own – for you carried a little bit of all of us with you. Since emerging from incarceration in 1990, you have at last been able to share your life with all of us again.
Mike Upton CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
It is fitting, then, that we celebrate your 90th birthday with you and take this opportunity to thank you again for showing us that freedom lies within all of us, if we have the courage to open our minds and see that it is possible to live together; regardless of the colour of our skin, our class or our background. We also recall the momentous day when you led our nation’s delegation to receive the award of South Africa’s selection by FIFA to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Your support for this event was instrumental in making the construction industry an exciting place to be at the moment, as preparations for 2010 gain momentum and plans for economic growth stretch well beyond that. The country you have envisioned is the country that is our collective responsibility to build. On behalf of the Group Five board of directors, management and staff, we congratulate you on your 90th birthday and wish you and Graça many more years together. May you go forward in good health and long be an inspiration to us all. You remain a unique and special force in our world. Happy Birthday, Madiba!
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 371 Rivonia Boulevard, Rivonia 2128 Postal address: PO Box 3951, Rivonia 2128 Telephone: (+27 11) 806 0111 Fax: (+27 11) 803 5829 Email: info@g5.co.za Website: www.g5.co.za
Mike Upton CEO
G RO U P F I V E T I M E L I N E
1878
1974
1994
2005
2008
Richard Henry Morris starts his own construction company in Cape Town - this company was brought into the Group Five stable exactly 100 years later
Group Five Engineering Limited is formed as an amalgamation of CMGM, Peter Clogg Construction, MGC, McLaren and Eger & Basil Read
Group Five celebrates a new era as South Africa holds its first democratic elections
Group Five becomes the first company in its industry to announce its BEE and employee shareholding scheme
Group Five and its joint venture partners work against the clock to complete world-class stadia and airports to accommodate the 2010 Soccer World Cup
MILESTONES
era was over; Africa was on its own. Each faction decided on a direct assault on the apartheid regime generally and on the hated pass laws in particular.
The PAC got in first, its supporters gathering at
strategic points around the country and, most eventfully, outside Sharpeville police station near the southern Transvaal industrial town of Vereeniging. Stones were thrown by some in the 20 000-strong crowd, scuffles broke out and the police opened fire, killing 69.
The massacre marked a watershed in the course of
South African history. The international community was in no mood to forgive, and even less so when the regime David Goldblatt/CCA
outlawed the ANC, PAC and other extra-parliamentary groups, which promptly went underground. Prime Minister Verwoerd took his country out of a now-hostile Commonwealth, broke all remaining ties with the historic mother country (admittedly these were pathetically few) and, on 31 May 1960,
so forth). The die was now cast; saboteurs and their leaders
South Africa became a Republic.
would face the death penalty if caught – which, in light of the government’s sophisticated intelligence network, was
Arms and the man
something of an inevitability.
In June 1961 Nelson Mandela, finally recognising
Mandela, though, led his pursuers a merry dance.
the futility of peaceful protest, proposed that the resistance
He has not always been the super-calm, almost saintly figure
movement adopt armed struggle as the way forward to
we have seen in the past few years, although he always had
freedom. He and other activists formed Umkhonto we Sizwe
charm and a mischievous sense of humour. There was an
(‘Spear of the Nation’) as the movement’s military wing and
exuberant side to him, a love of sport and a taste for fast cars
launched its campaign, not of indiscriminate terror but of
and fun, for adventure. He flitted from safe house to safe
sabotage aimed at hard targets (government installations and
house, invariably in disguise, keeping in touch with family
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12/2/08 12:22:34 PM
T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : M B O M B E L A L O C A L M U N I C I PA L I T Y
“May people continue to follow your example of togetherness.”
Lassie Chiwayo Executive Mayor Mbombela Local Municipality PO Box 45 Nelspruit 1200
Dear Nelson Mandela
Our beloved former President Although we are now a decade and a half into the democratic nation you ushered in so miraculously, much work still needs to be done to change the legacy of the apartheid decades. The previous apartheid government did little to help those with the greatest needs - to an extent that the structure of the economy was designed, in fact, to create and reproduce these inequalities in favour of the minority.
Lassie Chiwayo Executive Mayor
And so our duty as the Municipality of Mbombela remains that of reversing these long-standing patterns of inequity and unmet human needs. Every month, we continue to take active steps to ensure that the overall economic and social conditions of the locality are conducive to the creation of employment opportunities and to the creation of a better life for all. In the words of a former Mpumalanga Premier, Ndaweni Mahlangu: “The Mpumalanga Provincial Government together with the people of this province is convinced that we have embarked on a journey that will deliver a better life for all. We are in the process of eliminating the legacy of apartheid policies and practice which cut-off the majority of our people from the mainstream of the economic activity… As our beloved former President, Cde Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, once said, ‘If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.’” The delivery of basic services, such as roads, water, sanitation, housing, social services and schooling, continues to be a major priority for the Mpumalanga Provincial Government. Then too, we have challenges of a different nature: Mbombela Stadium is rapidly being constructed for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and will become a much welcomed addition to the football life in Nelspruit even beyond the World Cup. We recall the joyous day when you led our nation’s delegation to receive the award of South Africa’s selection by FIFA to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup and hope that in 2010, the spirit of unity and optimism will equal that of South Africa’s famous win in the Rugby World Cup of 1995; when your support for the team brought a nation together across the divide. Your power to unite is revered here in Mbombela, whose name is siSwati and literally means ‘many people together in a small space’. May people continue to follow your example of togetherness, in spaces from municipal halls to soccer stadiums to whole countries.
CONTACT DETAILS Postal address: PO Box 45, Nelspruit 1200 Telephone: (+27 13) 759 9111 Fax: (+27 13) 759 2070
Lassie Chiwayo Executive Mayor
M B O M B E L A L O C A L M U N I C I PA L I T Y Fa s t Fac t s • The capital of the Mpumalanga Province
• Estimated population of 661 000
• A mixture of settlements which include three major cities: Nelspruit, White River and Hazyview
• Most spoken languages include Siswati, Xitsonga, Sepulana, English, Afrikaans and Portuguese
• Vast tracts of forestry plantations are owned by international paper makers Sappi
• Major attractions include the Sudwala Caves, the wild horses that roams the Kaapsehoop and in construction, the Mbombela 2010 Stadium
• Mbombela is a true gateway to the east and links South Africa’s economic hub with the port of Maputo
MILESTONES
Lilliesleaf farmhouse
and friends and daring the spooks to catch him. He also
spent six months abroad, in Addis Ababa for a conference, in
his vision, and did so in moving terms. ‘During my lifetime I
London to heighten his standing among British politicians,
have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people,’
in Algiers for some guerilla training. He became known and
he told the court and the world. ‘I have fought against white
admired as the ‘Black Pimpernel’. His stature was now that
domination, and I have fought against black domination. I
of a top leader of the African liberationists. And, of course, he
have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in
was eventually recognised, arrested and put behind bars.
which all persons live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to
Shortly afterwards the moving spirits of Umkhonto
In his statement from the dock, Mandela articulated
we Sizwe (or MK for short) met at a farmhouse in the Rivonia
achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared
area of Johannesburg and were also caught. Documents
to die.’
indicated Mandela’s complicity in the armed struggle, and he was one of those indicted on 200 charges of sabotage, of
The age of excess
preparing for guerilla warfare in and armed invasion of the
Republic. He entered the court in a traditional leopard-skin
earnest with a bang – literally. A gunshot from Dallas’s Texas
cloak; Winnie donned a beaded headdress and ankle-length
Book Depository killed charismatic President John F. Kennedy,
skirt; the spectators were electrified. After a trial lasting seven
darling of the young, of liberals, of romantics around the
months, he received a life sentence. He would spend the next
world. That was on 22 November 1963 (five years later both his
26 years in prison.
brother Bobby and the venerated African-American preacher-
The immense social upheaval of the 1960s started in
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : S O U T H A F R I C A N N AT I O N A L RO A D S A G E N C Y
“The honour of a community is based on its morals; without morality a community perishes; only a moral community is worth its name.”
SANRAL Board, CEO & Staff South African National Roads Agency PO Box 415 Pretoria 0001
Dear Madiba
Making a difference by just being you God gave a gift to the world when you were born: a person who loves and cares; who sees a person’s needs and answers them; who encourages and lifts people up; who spends energy on others rather than himself; who touches each life he enters and makes a real difference in the world. May the love you have shown to others return to you multiplied. We are indeed blessed to have you.
NAZIR alli CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
SANRAL was formed in 1998, during the time of your historic leadership. There are a number of occasions on which we had the honour of your company at the launch of various projects. From the launch of the Sithebe Komkulu Road in Qunu District; to the opening of the bridge named after you in Johannesburg; to the first ever PPP (Public Private Partnership) project – the acclaimed Maputo Development Corridor. We are honoured to be involved in this special tribute to you, our world-renowned leader. We feel that our work is still influenced by your leadership and ethos, and join with South Africa, and indeed the entire world, in wishing you a Happy Birthday. “Siziva sinenxaxheba enkulu yokuvuyisana nawe kwisikhumbuzo sokuzalwa kwakho kweli loMzantsi Afrika. Ubunkokheli nobu gorha bakho bugqamile kwilizwe lonke abusokuze bucime ngonaphakade kwintlanga ngentlanga.”
SANRAL Board, CEO and staff
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: Ditsela Place, Cnr Duncan & Park Streets, Hatfield Postal address: PO Box 415, Pretoria 0001 Telephone: (+27 12) 426 6000 Fax: (+27 12) 362 2117 Email: info@nra.co.za Website: www.sanral.co.za
S O U T H A F R I C A N NAT I O NA L ROA D S AG E N C Y T I M E L I N E
1998
2000
2001
2002
2003
2005
2008
SANRAL is established under the South African National Roads Agency Limited and National Roads Act 1998 (Act 7 of 1998)
Impumelelo Innovations Award for the ‘Road to Sitebe Komkulu’ Project
Project Finance Award for the Bakwena N4W Platinum Toll Highway
Opening of Nelson Mandela Bridge, Newtown Special Centenary Award from SAICE for the provision and maintenance of a superior primary road network in SA
Hosts the World Road Association PIARC Conference with 35 ministers and more than 3 000 international delegates
Mail & Guardian ‘Greening the Future’ Award; 2006: Intelligent Transport Systems piloted on the N1 Ben Schoeman Highway
SANRAL awards tenders for Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project and construction begins on Phase 1
85
YEAR
WHERE:
Nelson Mandela Bridge WHEN:
20 JULY 2003
A
joint project with other spheres of government, the bridge ensures access to the newly developed sections south of Johannesburg. Opened by Mr Nelson Mandela in 2003, the three span bridge connects West Street in Newtown with Bertha Street in Braamfontein by straddling the Kazerne railway marshalling yards. The structure is held in place by 52 diagonal cable stays attached to concrete-filled pylons. At 284 metres, it is the longest bridge of its kind in Southern Africa. Bridges are historically significant and hugely symbolic. They are architectural wonders that have come to symbolise the heroic overcoming of incredible obstacles to bring people together. In this sense, the Nelson Mandela bridge is an appropriate symbol of the rebuilding of our nation, encapsulating the role of Nelson Mandela in the triumph of South Africa’s transformation. “Having this magnificent bridge named after me makes me feel very humble indeed. I accept this honour not just for myself, but for everyone who was involved in our struggle for freedom”. Nelson Mandela 20 July, 2003.
T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : C e l l C ( P t y ) Lt d
“May we continue to live by the principles of reconciliation, trust and hope that you have paved as we build a brighter South Africa for generations to come.”
Jeffrey Hedberg CHIEF EXECUTIVE officer
Cell C Jeffrey Hedberg CEO Private Bag x36 Benmore 2010
Dear Mr Mandela
Paving a brighter future At Cell C, we are commemorating 90 years of courage, resilience, dignity and respect for all as we join you in celebrating your 90th birthday. I believe that when we grow impatient, judgemental or overly negative about South Africa, it is your example which inspires us to rise above the immediate and transitory and to strive for what is still beyond the horizon. It was greatly thanks to your ability to transcend the temptations of bitterness and revenge whose repercussions have plagued other African countries that South Africa’s transition to democracy was peaceful and conciliatory. This is a rich legacy which should light the candles on every birthday cake in the country for generations to come! As we all celebrate your 90th birthday with you, we unite in thanking you for the unparalleled contribution you have made to our own nationhood. May we continue to live by the principles of reconciliation, trust and hope that you have paved as we build a brighter South Africa for generations to come. I have the honour to be, Yours faithfully
Jeffrey Hedberg CEO
CONTACT DETAILS Telephone: (+27 11) 324 4000 Fax: (+27 11) 324 4004 Physical address: 150 Rivonia Road, Sandown 2196 Postal address: Private Bag x36, Benmore 2010 Email: custserv@cellc.co.za Website: www.cellc.co.za
C e l l C ( P t y ) LT D T I M E L I N E
2001
2003
2007
2008
2008
2008
Cell C launches
Cell C launches Take a Girl Child to Work Day®
Cell C successfully implements its turnaround strategy
Cell C migrates its customers onto a new core network
Cell C is awarded Isett-SETA accreditation
Cell C reaches the 5 million subscriber mark
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : S O U T H A F R I C A N B U R E AU O F S TA N DA R D S ( S A B S )
“In 2000, we awarded you with our most prestigious award of all, the SABS Gold Award; for your continued impeccable service excellence to the people of South Africa.”
SABS Private Bag x191 Pretoria 0001
Dear Mr Mandela
A shining example to world leaders A quote by Marianne Williamson, which has also been widely attributed to you, says: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure… And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Martin Kuscus CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
I know of no other human being today, who has lived these words better than you have. At the SABS our mandate is to ensure that the people of South Africa are subjected to the highest standards in product and service quality. We therefore award the SABS mark of approval to certified organisations that, by adhering to these high standards, are diligently serving our people. It was with this mentality in mind that in 2000 we awarded you with our most prestigious award of all, the SABS Gold Award; for your continued impeccable service excellence to the people of South Africa. Your relentless focus on the bigger picture, even under the direst of circumstances, continues to define, to this day, the leadership style and principles that govern the SABS – and many other successful organisations. I believe that your commitment to humanity in general should serve as a shining example to the world’s leaders to improve the lives of those they serve. Madiba, in you we have seen the manifestation of the glory of God that is within us. And we shall forever be grateful as a people. The SABS wishes you a Happy 90th Birthday and many, many more to come. Sincerely,
Martin Kuscus SABS CEO
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 1 Dr Lategan Road, Groenkloof Postal address: Private Bag x191, Pretoria 0001 Telephone: (+27 12) 428 7911 Fax: (+27 12) 344 1568 Email: info@sabs.co.za Website: www.sabs.co.za
SABS TIMELINE
1946
1947
1964
1996
2000
2007
SABS implements the 1st SABS certification mark
SABS becomes founding member of ISO
SABS elected to the ISO council
Dr Cliff Johnston is elected Vice President of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and goes on to serve a seven year term - the first time such an honour is bestowed to a South African in the field of standardisation
Nelson Mandela is awarded the first SABS Gold Award
SABS is awarded hosting privileges of the 2009 General Assembly by the ISO Council, to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, in October 2009 - the 1st time this event is hosted on the African continent
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MILESTONES
Ernst Haas/Getty Images
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
the growing general perception that their elders were making a thorough mess of the world and they had to do something about it. That perception hardened as more and more troops got sucked into the mire of Vietnam.
Whatever the dynamic, the young people of the
West gave their establishments the finger and, like their grandparents of the 1920s, went their own way, challenging received wisdom and hitherto accepted morality, indeed all the conventions of fashion, thought, behaviour. The introduction of The Pill made it much easier for them to do so.
The revolution had its gurus of course, notably one
Timothy Leary who advised his converts, known as Hippies, to ‘Tune in, turn on, drop out’, which they did with gusto. INPRA
protestor Martin Luther King, who dreamed of brotherhood, also fell to the assassin’s bullet).
The earlier part of the decade had been grim enough,
and dangerous too. The CIA-led Bay of Pigs invasion ended in
humiliating failure; the Cuban missile crisis led the world to
the very edge of a nuclear holocaust; the Berlin Wall went up
and remained a highly visible symbol of ideological division
for the next 30 years; the newly independent Congo slid into
chaos; super-sexpot Marilyn Monroe took a fatal overdose
and; to add to America’s woes, the Soviet Union sent young
Yuri Gagarin into orbit and so won the space race.
None of this in itself actually provoked youth to
rebel. Perhaps it was just coincidental; more probably it was
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Marilyn Monroe
12/2/08 4:25:31 PM
T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : I T H A L A D E V E L O P M E N T F I N A N C E C O R P O R AT I O N
“We at Ithala applaud the fine example you have set through your commitment and valuable contribution to the people of South Africa.”
Ike Nxedlana Chief Executive Ithala Development Finance Corporation PO Box 2801 Durban 4000
Dear Madiba
Bearing hardships to create hope for our nation You have seen and experienced much throughout your 90 years. Certain passages in your autobiography Long Walk to Freedom prove, beyond any doubt, that you were prepared to endure extreme hardship to ensure freedom for all South Africans.
Ike Nxedlana CHIEF EXECUTIVE
I quote: “More powerful than my fear of the dreadful conditions to which I might be subjected to in prison is my hatred for the dreadful conditions my people are subjected outside prison throughout this country.” Also, “After a time in solitary, I relished the company even of the insects in my cell and found myself on the verge of initiating conversations with a cockroach.” I found these sentiments especially touching, because there are very few of us, particularly in these times when we now enjoy the benefits of your struggle, who could honestly say that we have the courage and conviction you so willingly displayed in making sacrifices to improve the lives of others. As Chief Executive of Ithala Development Finance Corporation - KwaZulu-Natal’s development agency mandated to drive economic development and empowerment in our province - I extend warmest 90th birthday greetings to you, from our Board of Directors and staff. We at Ithala applaud the fine example you have set through your commitment and valuable contribution to the people of South Africa. We trust that you will enjoy many more birthdays in our Rainbow Nation, for you are an inspiration to us all; a true African and a role model for future generations. Yours sincerely,
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 17 Isilo Drive, V Section, Umlazi 4066 Postal address: PO Box 2801, Durban 4000 Telephone: (+27 31) 907 8911 Fax: (+27 31) 907 5685 Email: clientservices@ithala.co.za Website: www.ithala.co.za
Ike Nxedlana Chief Executive
I T H A L A D E V E L O P M E N T F I NA N C E C O R P O R AT I O N T I M E L I N E
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Completion of Wilson’s Wharf, an Ithala Commercial Property development and Durban’s first true waterfront and marina leisure venue
Insurance Services Division established to benefit clients and add value
Launch of a youthfocused programme – Mayibuye - aimed at encouraging a culture of entrepreneurship among learners in KwaZulu-Natal
Introduction of a debit card and installation of ATM’s throughout the branch network, bringing first-world banking services to the communities serves
Community-based Cooperative Fund launched, as a proactive initiative to eradicate poverty and enhance economic development
Accelerated Economic Development Unit established to drive the empowerment mandate at local community level
ithala_letter01.indd 1
12/1/08 11:55:47 AM
MILESTONES
Woodstock Festival 1969 Overcome’), Bob Dylan (‘Blowin’ in the Wind’) and Scott McKenzie (‘San Francisco’) sang to and for them. So too did Don McLean, whose ‘American Pie’ mourned the death of early rocker Buddy Holly but on a deeper level spoke of a changing, darker America. The new breed had its critics, of course, a great many. One of them fastidiously defined it thus: ‘A hippie wears his hair long like Tarzan, walks like Jane, and smells like Cheetah.’ Meanwhile Elvis was performing for a different, rather more conservative audience, but he too was a rebel of sorts. So was fighter supreme Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay, who refused to be conscripted for military service in Vietnam because the real enemies lay elsewhere. ‘I got nothing against no Viet Cong. No Viet Cong ever called me Nigger,’ he said.
From England’s Merseyside came a mop-topped
quartet who called themselves The Beatles. They introduced a new sound to the world and quickly conquered it. Their first single, ‘Love Me Do’, was released late in 1962 and from then on they hardly looked back. That was the year the BBC lifted its ban on references to religion, sex, politics and royalty in INPRA
comedy shows. Two years later London was swinging, its Carnaby Street and its designers (Mary Quant) and models Their meeting place was San Francisco and
– notably winsome teenager Twiggy and The Shrimp (Jean
specifically its Haight-Ashbury area, where they gathered to
Shrimpton) – setting global fashion trends. In clothes as in
smoke cannabis (and sometimes to take acid), make love,
much else there was a charming kind of anarchy. Bikinis had
wear headbands, put flowers in their hair and talk about
already shocked the traditionalists; mini-skirts delighted
personal freedom, peace, compassion and brotherhood.
voyeurs. One South African sectarian churchman warned his
‘Psychedelic’ was their buzzword. Joan Baez (‘We Shall
countrymen that as long as women showed their knees in
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12/2/08 12:23:52 PM
THE NELSON MANDELA YEARS: NETCARE LIMITED
“You have restored not only a nation - you have restored the pride and dignity of millions of South Africans, stripped of their’s during apartheid.”
Richard Friedland CEO Netcare Limited Private Bag x34 Benmore 2010
Dear Madiba
An inspiration to mankind! You have lived a humble and meaningful life filled with grace, dignity and compassion. You are a human being with the heart and the will to rise above the rest of us - a source of forgiveness and reconciliation despite your personal suffering and that of millions of South Africans under apartheid.
Richard Friedland CHIEF EXECUTIVE officer
Your release from prison and the subsequent events of 1994 heralded the start of South Africa’s days of ‘Miracle and Wonder’ and the birth of a proud new nation that can stand united as one. You have restored not only a nation - you have restored the pride and dignity of millions of South Africans, stripped of their’s during apartheid. Through your selfless actions and humility you have taught us the true meaning of ubuntu, which is your greatest gift not only to South Africans but to people the world over. You have also given us our own constitution and equality for all. At Netcare, where we deal with individuals and their dignity on a daily basis, we have made the word ubuntu our own. Care, dignity, participation, truth and passion are what we stand for. These values embody the culture of Netcare as an organisation and as a group of individuals, no matter how different our cultural backgrounds may be. May we extend to you, the greatest statesman of our time, our most sincere thanks for all that you have done for us as South Africans and for people the world over. We wish you, Mr Mandela and those near and dear to you a long, healthy and happy life filled with joy. May your star continue to shine ever brightly. May God continue to bless you and your family. With love and profound appreciation,
CONTACT DETAILS
Richard Friedland, CEO On behalf of the staff and management of Netcare
Physical address: 76 Maude Street (Cnr West), Sandton Postal address: Private Bag x34, Benmore 2010 Telephone: (+27 11) 301 0000 Fax: (+27 11) 301 0499 Email: info@netcare.co.za Website: www.netcare.co.za
NETCARE LIMITED TIMELINE
1994 Netcare is founded
netcare-letter_template.indd 1
1996 Netcare lists on the JSE Limited on 4 December 1996 with six hospitals; since 1996 several other small and independent hospital groups in South Africa are acquired, notably Clinic Holdings and Excel Medical Holdings Limited
1999
2001
2004
2005
2006
Netcare commences its medical emergency services business, Netcare 911
Enters into the primary care market with the acquisition of Medicross; turns its attention to the UK to provide specialised healthcare services on contract to the National Health Service (NHS)
Becomes the largest listed private hospital group outside of the USA and employs 27 000 staff members
Channels more than R1-billion towards black community and employee upliftment through its ‘Health Partners for Life’ initiative
Acquires the controlling interest in General Healthcare Group (GHG), a group owning 49 hospitals in the UK with 107 hospitals under management
11/24/08 8:27:43 AM
MILESTONES
Mandela revisits his old cell on Robben Island public God would not allow the Vaal Dam to fill. The skirts continued to rise, and so did the waters of the Vaal Dam.
Not that the wild ones made a wholesale takeover
of popular culture. This was also the decade, one must remember, of Frank Sinatra and sunshiny Doris Day, of Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music, of The Seekers and young Cliff Richard. Sean Connery played the first over-thetop James Bond (Dr No) in 1962; Star Trek was becoming a cult. And technology advanced: Christiaan Barnard transplanted a human heart, at Cape Town’s Groote Schuur hospital. And, at the end of the 1960s, Neil Armstrong imprinted the first human foot on the surface of the moon.
By then, American society was in turmoil. For the
first time in history a war – in this instance the dirty Vietnam conflict – could be seen in all its horror, from your living room. So could racial injustice, and the mood of the people was growing angrier by the month. Two great movements, the Jurgen Schadeberg / Getty
civil rights and the anti-war, came together to spark a series of ferocious campus and street riots, and the nation divided along generational lines.
The 19-hour non-stop open-air music festival which
Mandela endures
was held at Woodstock near New York, at the very end of the decade, was graced by Jimmi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin,
While all this was going on, Nelson Mandela
Jefferson Airplane, The Who, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and
languished in prison, although ‘languish’ may be quite the
Young. It attracted half a million young Americans, who were
wrong word. Mandela was never idle, always the leader. In
said by the local sheriff to be ‘the nicest bunch of kids I’ve
the early years life on The Island was hard. His cell measured
ever dealt with’. They were the last of their kind.
two by three metres and, in that cold first winter, it was damp and bitterly cold; for the first 13 years he laboured long and
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12/2/08 12:24:45 PM
T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : S O U T H A F R I C A N W E AT H E R S E RV I C E
“Little did we know that a Noble Man was about to emerge, a Visionary Leader that would be known by generations to come.”
Linda Makuleni Chief Executive Officer South African Weather Service Private Bag x097 Pretoria 0001 Dear Madiba
What was the weather like? The South African Weather Service Board and staff extend their warm wishes! We would like to take you down memory lane in remembering what the weather was like in some of your most eventful days of the 90 years you have lived!
DR Linda Makuleni CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
In March 1918, the Springfontein Dam in Beaufort-West burst its banks, after 200mm of rain fell in 12 hours. A day later heavy rains over the Eastern Cape caused flooding of the Great-Fish River, in the Cradock region. Little did we know that a Noble Man was about to emerge, a Visionary Leader that would be known by generations to come. When you were born, at Mveso village on 18 July 1918, the closest recording station was Mthatha, which at that time only measured temperature and rainfall. It was a very cold day, with the mercury rising from a low of 4°C to a maximum of 8°C. Let us salute Noqhaphi Nosekeni who beared the birth pains that have presented us with a Father of Nations. On 18 and 19 June 1964, six days after you were sentenced to life imprisonment, the heaviest snowfalls in 30 years were recorded in Pretoria. For 27 years we were frozen in anguish yet filled with subtle hope. On 11 February, 1990 the day of your release, strong gale force south-easterly winds lashed the Cape Peninsula. Widespread damage occurred, trees were uprooted. It was a day that brought light and new beginnings. July 18, 2008 Nelson Mandela turned 90 years! In QUNU, the morning was cold starting at 6°C, warming up slightly during the day reaching a maximum of 21°C with light northerly wind and sunny conditions but no rain. What a wonderful day!
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 442 Rigel Avenue, Erasmusrand 0181 Postal address: Private Bag x097, Pretoria 0001 Telephone: (+27 12) 367 6000
For the last 149 years South African Weather Service continued to employ advanced technology to predict weather and climate to safeguard life and property. In paying tribute to you Tata, we will continue embracing the leading role in the SADC region and participate on equal footing at international level, observing the planet for a better future for all. MADIBA, YEMYEM, VELA BAMBENTSELE, NGQOLOMSILA, WE SALUTE YOU!
Linda Makuleni Chief Executive Officer
S O U T H A F R I C A N W E A T H E R S E RV I C E T I M E L I N E
1880
1949
1969
1994
2001
2006
South Africa becomes one of the first countries in the world to establish a national weather service
South African Weather Bureau is officially named as a directorate in the Department of Transport
First Super Computer for Numerical Weather Prediction is installed
The Government of South Africa resumes full membership in the World Meteorological Organisation
The South African Weather Service is established as a public entity residing under the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
A Lighting Detection Network, one of three in the southern hemisphere, is launched; it can detect both flash and stroke data across the entire network
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2008 Severe Weather Forecasting for southern African countries becomes operational
2009 Climate databank is 149 years old
12/1/08 11:42:18 AM
Winnie Mandela at her house in Orlando, 1970
Baileys Archives
MILESTONES
paper and circulated. Debate behind the grim grey walls was INTRODUCTION TO ALCATRAZ
always lively, often acrimonious.
Mandela’s first days in Robben Island’s maximumsecurity prison were grim. The flight over in a creaky old Dakota transport (known to generations of airmen and soldiers as ‘the Gooney-bird’) had been frightening. As its passengers stepped off the plane the bitter Cape wind whipped through their thin prison uniforms. Mandela and each of the other black inmates were given a canvas jacket and an ‘insubstantial’ jersey to wear – plus a pair of shorts. The sole Indian among them (Ahmed ‘Kathy’ Kathrada) got a pair of long trousers: the shorts were to remind the Africans that they were ‘boys’. Guards stood about with automatic weapons but, refreshingly for the prison-experienced Mandela, they were polite enough. The cell walls were dripping with moisture; three ‘practically transparent’ blankets failed to keep out the cold. The new inmates slept fully dressed.
The men planned for the distant and far from certain
future, which in Mandela’s mind still embraced a non-racial democracy. His seniority was assured by his experience, his knowledge, his sheer presence – even when younger, violently revolutionary Africanists joined the prison population after the 1976 Soweto rebellion. He became the spokesman for his colleagues and advocate of better living conditions; he led go-slow strikes; he represented some of his fellow inmates in their appeals against their sentences. He was respected, even admired and always liked by the prison authorities. Gradually, his days became richer: by the mid-1970s rock-breaking at the quarry had given way to hours of talk, study, even sport. Mandela became an enthusiastic if rather mediocre tennis
wearisomely in the local limestone quarry. He found the work
player and, because he loved the hobby so much, an excellent
‘invigorating’.
gardener.
Maximum-security incarceration is not for the
Winnie Mandela suffered less, but not all that
weak. Mandela missed his family terribly, and the denial of
much less and at times more than her husband. She had
information about let alone participation in the affairs of his
been ‘banned’ in 1962, later suffered 17 months’ solitary
country was hard to bear. And time played tricks with the
confinement, detained again under the Terrorism Act,
mind: as one of his fellow prisoners recalled, ‘The minutes
imprisoned again (for receiving guests into her Johannesburg
can seem like years, and the years go by like minutes’. But
home). Her visits to Nelson were pitifully few; he endured the
even in prison, or especially in prison, there is a sense of
separation, as he endured everything, with stoicism.
community, and word about the outside world did filter
via from the warders, whose discarded newspapers could
world, and in due course it became clear to the decision
sometimes be salvaged from the rubbish bins. Reports of
makers that this upright man, central to but for the moment
interest would then be laboriously copied out on scraps of
outside the fray, would be needed if there was ever to be a
Meanwhile, big things were happening in the wider
solution to race conflict.
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : L E B O N E E N G I N E E R I N G ( P T Y ) LT D
“When you walked free armed only with that smile, you brought our entire nation together. With your smile shining so bright, it lit up our entire continent.�
Raj Dhunlall Managing Director Lebone Engineering PO Box 418 Kelvin 2054
Dear Madiba
Leading by inspiration RAJ DHUNLALL
90 years ago when you graced this earth with your presence, and radiated your first smile, little did anyone know that 90 years on, it would still be as radiant, a true testament to our rainbow nation. You had a long walk to freedom, which is nothing to smile about. However, when you walked free armed only with that smile, you brought our entire nation together. With your smile shining so bright, it lit up our entire continent. It is from this bright smile that we draw our inspiration to burn bright. It is from this bright smile that we draw hope and mentor our young engineers to go forth and light up our land. We can only hope that 90 years on, Lebone will still be as bright as your smile.
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Lebone Engineering was formed in 1995, during the time of your historic leadership, and it is from you that we draw our belief system and company ethos. Madiba, you are a living legend amongst men, who still have much to learn from your legacy, and indeed owe so much to you. You represent all that is honourable and positive about South Africa. You offer a beacon of hope for people of all nations of the world. Your 90th birthday is testimony of the deep love and respect you command from all corners of the globe, because your life is a gift to humanity. We are honoured to be involved in this special tribute to you, our world-renowned leader. We feel that our work is still influenced by your leadership and ethos, and join with South Africa, and indeed the entire world, in wishing you a Happy Birthday. On behalf of Lebone Engineering, we salute you, Madiba. Yours sincerely,
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: Cedarwood Office Park, Mount Lebanon Road, Woodmead Postal address: PO Box 418, Kelvin 2054 Telephone: (+27 11) 802 6370 Telefax: (+27 11) 802 6371 Email: info@lebone.com Website: www.lebone.com
Raj Dhunlall Managing Director
LEBONE ENGINEERING TIMELINE
1995
1997
1999
2000
2004
2006
2008
Company formed
Part of a consortium responsible for the Upgrade of the Port of Richards Bay
Appointed as one of the consultants to the Gauteng Rapid Rail Link Feasibility Study Project
Nominated as one of the Impumelelo Top 300 Black Empowerment Companies in South Africa
Appointed as electrical engineers for the New Natalspruit Hospital being built in Ekurhuleni
Earns its ISO9000 Quality Management Certification
The Gautrain Project wins a coveted award as the Best Global Project to Sign, earning the respect of the international PPP industry at the 10th annual Public Private Finance Awards
Lebone engerning-letter_template.indd 1
11/24/08 11:40:05 AM
MILESTONES
Comrades involved in township wars between conservative and progressive parties
Cracks in the wall
After the Sharpeville massacre, South Africa was
a pariah state, subject to a growing litany of international sanctions, and to a very real and intensifying risk of internal disintegration. By the 1970s, the ANC was in exile and running a fairly successful international operation. Neighbouring countries – notably Namibia, newly independent Angola, and a tottering white Rhodesia – were highly unstable. At home, there were boycotts, protests that occasionally turned violent. Prime Minister Verwoerd had been assassinated Louise Gubb
in 1966 (by a demented parliamentary messenger), his place taken by John Balthazar Vorster, a squat little man with an unsmiling face who had been interned during the second world war for his Nazi sympathies. But whatever his prejudices, and they were deep, no-one gets to the top of a political tree without a touch of pragmatism, and Vorster realised he would have to bend. He did so by holding out the hand of friendship to Free Africa to the north while keeping the pressure cooker at home tightly clamped.
It didn’t work. Vorster’s military adventures in
Angola in the mid-1970s destroyed his efforts at détente. And the situation was unravelling in South Africa. The young Steve Biko, destined for an early death in police custody, was fanning the flames of black nationalism; Soweto erupted in 1976 (this was the famous and pivotal Student’s Revolt), violence spread around the country, and Vorster, his policies in tatters, resigned after his complicity in a financial scandal was revealed.
His successor, P.W. Botha, fared no better, although David Goldblatt/South
his stance was rather more complicated and arguably more reformist. Behind the ill-tempered bluster and finger-wagging admonitions, he too was a pragmatist. He launched a
B J Vorster, Pietermaritzburg, 1977
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : C O LU M BU S S TA I N L E S S ( P T Y ) LT D
“We were very fortunate
Dave Martin CEO Columbus Stainless (Pty) Ltd PO Box 133 Middelburg 1050
to have you with us at the start of this world-class company’s voyage”
Dear Madiba
Your investment in South Africa is treasured Our expanded company is younger even than South Africa’s democratic government; but as South Africa’s brightest and dynamic producer of stainless steel flat products, our product goes into everything from kitchen sinks to wristwatches, automotives and wine tanks. We’re dedicated to becoming one of the leading suppliers of stainless steel domestically and abroad and our drive has not flagged since day one. We have, in the last decade and a half, created a modern, efficient stainless steel production facility that meets the changing demands of users in the local market and around the world. We were very fortunate to have you with us at the very beginning of this company’s story. I still recall, as if it was yesterday, some of your inspiring words at the special opening of our Middelburg production facility on 8 February 1996. I think they still ring in many ears here: “…A bold investment in the future of South Africa, based on a decision some years back when investor confidence stood in need of such examples. If we are to realise South Africa’s full potential and discharge our shared commitment to create a better life for all South Africans, then increased investment, domestic and international, is of critical importance.” We continue to explore and support ways to grow our domestic and regional market consumption of stainless steel and in the past 15 years have increased the size of the SA market.
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: Hendrina Rd, Middelburg 1050 Postal address: PO Box 133, Middelburg 1050 Telephone: (+27 13) 247 9111 Fax: (+27 13) 246 1681
As we forge our way through 2009 and the troubled waters of the international economy, we at Columbus Stainless (Pty) Ltd are heartened to know that we have men and women of inner strength and conviction to help guide us and that you continue to stand at their forefront. May your steel shine for many years yet and may your power to inspire, unite and bridge the gaps continue to be appreciated by all who are lucky enough to benefit from it.
Dave Martin CEO
C O L U M B U S S T A I N L E S S ( P T Y ) L T D VA L U E S A team with respect for the individual
columbus-letter_template.indd 1
Safety as a way of life
Know customers and add value to their business
Recognition for sustained superior performance
Practical care for the environment
Freedom in thought, courage and discipline in action
Vision: To become the best operation in the Acerinox Group
12/2/08 9:42:59 AM
MILESTONES
battled it out with the older, more peace-loving residents
THE HOUSE OF DEATH
(the ‘vigilantes’). Botha, too, had failed, and he began to think of real political compromise.
One sunny afternoon in April 1966 Hendrik Verwoerd, the South African premier and chief architect of ‘grand apartheid’, walked into the House of Assembly in Cape Town with his wife Betsie at his side, He was well prepared to give the opening address to the new parliament – an important speech, it was thought, one in which he would reveal a new and friendlier approach to the country’s black neighbours and to the wider world. But before he could start, a parliamentary messenger walked across and stabbed him four times in the chest.
The turbulent planet
In 1971 computer users were offered a new tool:
they could now store information on a flat, easy-to-handle IBM memory bank. It soon displaced the punched cards and magnetic tapes of the 1960s, and it was called the ‘floppy
The old tyrant died almost instantly. His killer was identified as Dimitri Tsafendas, a disturbed man of GreekAfrican origin who had been shunned by white society. He was later adjudged unfit to stand trial. Many South Africans wanted to see the end of a leader perceived to be an enemy of democracy, but not in this way.
disk’. Not too long afterwards the grandfathers of the ‘internetwork’ made their appearance, and in 1975 a 20-year-old Harvard student named Bill Gates and his partner Paul Allen formed their backroom Microsoft venture and contacted a leading microcomputer firm with a bit of software they’d invented, which they called BASIC. The techno revolution
‘total strategy’ against what he called the ‘total onslaught’
was on its way.
mounted by communist-inspired Africa, a stick-and-carrot
policy to bribe neighbouring countries on the one hand
Water’ was among the top singles of the early 70’s, and
and destabilise them on the other. At home, he came up
perhaps appropriately so. The Vietnam war had got out of
with a labyrinthine constitutional scheme to allow Indians
hand; America’s President Richard Nixon was heading for
and coloured people a modicum of political influence – an
impeachment after the Watergate scandal hit the headlines;
almost unworkable system which divided government into
the country was in turmoil; Arab armies struck at Israel
racial compartments, but with the whites hanging on to
during Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish days; Mao’s
real power. The black majority, fatally, was again ignored. A
‘Cultural Revolution’ was grinding its dismal way to a halt;
total meltdown, it seemed, was inevitable, and indeed by the
the global oil crisis was just around the corner and, at the
mid-eighties the country had become virtually ungovernable
end of the decade, Margaret Thatcher, aka the Iron Lady aka
– the initially moderate United Democratic Front did its best
Attila the Hen, assumed the British premiership to show the
to control the situation but most of the extra-parliamentary
world a new and unkind, if seductive, face of governance. The
opposition was either in exile or in prison, and townships
joyously eclectic fashions of the 60’s gave way to the midi,
Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled
went up in flames as out-of-control youth (the ‘comrades’)
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12/2/08 12:26:08 PM
BAHA
to knee-high kinky-boots, platform shoes and hot-pants. In 1974, the visiting Lions taught the Springboks all about running rugby. The feminist movement had been galvanised by Germaine Greer’s bestselling The Female Eunuch (1970).
As the grungy 70’s made their way into the greedy
80’s, US president Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher both dished up a regime of tough love and to help usher in a period of unprecedented prosperity in the western and other parts of the world.
When our descendants look back and assess the
historical significance of this era, they will focus on two seismic developments – the expanding disparity of wealth between the two superpowers, capitalist America and the socialist USSR; and, second, the exponential growth of technology. In the geopolitical realm, the two were closely linked. Not only was the gulf reflected in comparative military strength, the crucial element in the cold war, but in standards of living too, a state of affairs which became quite obvious to everybody courtesy of global television, the internet and email. For those behind the Iron Curtain, the grass was indeed greener, life infinitely richer – and now entirely visible – on the other side. The Berlin Wall came down; communism capitulated.
The demise of the Soviet empire had a global impact,
but the shock was perhaps most obviously discernible in the Third World and especially in Africa, where many fragile states suddenly lost their sponsors. There was to be no moiré propping up for strategic reasons, as the Congo’s Mobutu and others found to their cost. The South African government could no longer claim to be a capitalist bulwark against the Kremlin’s ambitions. By the same token, the liberation movement, although drawing immense moral backing from anti-apartheid activists and the ordinary citizens of other countries, could no longer count on hard political support from their leaders. Both sides knew they had to come to terms. This, for the embattled Pretoria regime, was a matter of urgency.
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12/2/08 12:26:36 PM
MILESTONES
Mightier than the sword
the especially talented foursome: Todd Mathikiza (music) novelist Harry Bloom; Pat Williams (lyrics) and producer
The South African creative scene
Leon Gluckman. It had an all-black cast; Dorothy Radebe and,
during these decades, no doubt envigorated by the adrenelin
when she fell pregnant, Miriam Makeba filled the female role
of the times, was lively and in some instances memorable.
as queen of the Sophiatown’s Back-of-the-Moon shebeen;
Among highlights were Margaret Singana’s performance in
10-year-old kwela king Lenny Mambaso played the penny
the hugely popular all-African (though white-authored) Ipi
whistle and the Jazz Dazzlers provided the backing sounds.
Ntombi stage musical (1974) and Mbongeni Ngema’s much
The opera told the story of Ezekiel Dlamini, a gangster and
later and more authentic Sarafina, which vied for 1980s best-
boxer who killed himself rather than face life in prison, and it
on-show with the David Kramer/Taliep Petersen production
was the first local theatrical production to gain international
Selwyn Tait//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
acclaim.
Beyers Naudé
Among the most notable instrumentalists of the day
were Kippie Moeketsi and trumpeter Hugh Masekela.
The music’s generic name was mbaqanga, its
origins a mix of American jazz and big-band, of the vibrant local marabi and the Zulu choral mbube (best exemplified by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, who collaborated with Paul Simon in his Graceland album) plus a dash of pennywhistle kwela, reggae and soul. The music has many other ingredients and styles, and it defies any simple definition, but nearly all of it was fresh, innovative, exciting. Mbaqanga is the name for African maize bread and, like the food to which it refers, it filled a void, a deep need. Meanwhile, popular South African groups like Mango Groove and ‘White Zulu’ Johnny Clegg’s Juluka and its successor Savuka toured overseas with splendid success.
Literature, drama and journalism also thrived.
Welcome Msomi’s Umabatha (the Zulu version of Macbeth; of District Six. The talents of Jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim
1970) was adjudged one of the best ever adaptations of
(aka Dollar Brand) and singer Miriam Makeba (‘Wimoweh’)
a Shakespeare work; Athol Fugard wrote an acclaimed
continued to impress.
succession of starkly realistic plays peopled by characters
drawn from the Cape underclasses; Nadine Gordimer and
And all the while there were marvellous sounds
coming out of the townships, a new cultural era which had
J.M. Coetzee published subtle, sparely worded novels which
dawned back in 1959 with the première of the jazz opera King
earned them international status. Both eventually won Nobel
Kong, a exuberant celebration of township life created by
prizes. Less rarified, more earthy was Drum magazine, which
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12/2/08 12:27:21 PM
MILESTONES
Miriam Makeba
BAHA
Alf Kumalo
had been founded in 1951 by J.R.A. Bailey, son of the magnate and aviation pioneer Sir Abe, and which was now turning out lively, imaginative, highly opinionated and hugely effective material (often though not always on political issues) under a succession of editors, including Anthony Sampson, who went on to write the best-selling Anatomy of Britain books. Among Drum’s editorial staff were such notable figures as Lewis Nkosi and the photographers Peter Magubane and Alf Kumalo.
Even more important, at least politically, was the
sea-change within Afrikaans literature. Writers like Etienne le Roux (Magersfontein, O Magersfontein!), André Brink, cultural icon N.P. van Wyk Louw, the poets Adam Small, Ingrid Jonker and Breyten Breytenbach were powerful voices of liberalism in an illiberal society, and they struck at the heart of the establishment. So did those of such eminent Dutch Reformed churchmen as Beyers Naudé, once a member of the secret right-wing Broederbond and now a passionate advocate of full democracy. And Afrikanerdom, especially its younger and brighter members, was listening.
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : F R E E W O R L D C O AT I N G S L I M I T E D
“As a symbol of positive change for all of us at Freeworld Coatings, each day we try to follow your principles and values.”
Andre Lamprecht CEO Freeworld Coatings Limited Post Net 263, Private Suite x85 Bryanston 2021
Dear Madiba
A symbol of inspiration and positive change
Andre Lamprecht CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
I have personally had the privilege to work with you on several occasions from the turbulent days of the National Peace Accord in 1992, the ’94 election process, the National Labour Market Commission, through to the more recent Mandela Barloworld Agricultural School in Modjadji in northern Limpopo Province. You are an inspiration to me, to our nation and to the world. Every interaction I have had with you has been an opportunity to appreciate your patience and wisdom. As a symbol of positive change for all of us at Freeworld Coatings, each day we try to follow your principles and values. While you have been successful at giving hope to many South Africans, we hope that our leadership in our industry provides similar inspiration and opportunity for our customers, employees and investors. Like most South African citizens, Freeworld Coatings looks upon you as an inspiration for our ongoing success. You are our country’s finest example of the power of the individual, the promise of hope and the opportunity for change when these are harnessed in the interest of all. You have given us international respect and the ability to proudly raise the South African flag in Africa and the rest of the world. Your face and warm smile have become symbols of the new future that South Africa is building for itself. While transformation continues to take place across various sectors of South African society, you have not only been a symbol, but the influential trigger for this change. In a similar fashion, Freeworld Coatings also believes that our products and brands are catalysts for change. What we produce not only protects and creates attractive décor for a better living environment, it also adds economic value. Ranked among some of the top companies of its kind in the world, our experience, product offering and leading-edge technologies, make us the leaders in the markets we serve. Our industry leadership is therefore based on reputation for innovation, quality and a loyal customer base.
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: Balvenie Building, Kildrummy Office Park, Umhlanga Drive, Paulshof 2056 Postal address: PostNet 263, Private Suite x87, Bryanston 2021
It has been almost 15 years since our country began its move toward non-racial democratic rule - a new paradigm which we at Freeworld Coatings support and plan to help sustain by driving further economic growth and human progress also by our contribution to more attractive living spaces for all. The directors of Freeworld Coatings are committed to the development of a free thinking and prosperous South Africa. Thank you Madiba for your service to our nation and for being an inspiring role model who continues to be a shining example of hope for so many at home and around the world. The team at Freeworld Coatings warmly salute you and look forward to celebrating your 91st birthday in 2009.
Andre Lamprecht Chief Executive Officer
F R E E WO R L D C OAT I N G S L I M I T E D T I M E L I N E
1891
1949
1970
2001-2004
2004
2005
2006
Proud owner, Herbert Evans establishes his own paint manufacturing business known as Herbert Evans (Pty) Ltd in the bustling mining town of Johannesburg
The company combines its operations with Chrome Chemicals to form Plascon
Barlows Group acquires Plascon
Barlows Group changes its name to Barloworld leading to the formation of Barloworld Coatings and in 2004 enters the colourant systems market with the acquisition of ICC
Barloworld Coatings acquires Hamilton Brush and Midas /Earthcote; also in this time the group acquired Prostart Investments, a distributor of refinish products
Barloworld Coatings is unbundled from Barloword, renamed Freeworld Coatings and is listed on the JSE; the market leader in the manufacture of decorative, automotive and industrial coatings
Freeworld Coatings crowns 6 years of consecutive growth and becomes the world’s 24th largest coatings business; Plascon is awarded Deloitte’s Best Manufacturing Company to Work For
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11/14/08 4:27:33 PM
T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : B A R NA R D JAC O B S M E L L E T ( B J M )
“In these everchallenging times, your life is testimony that greatness lies within all of us – and that we do have the power to overcome any adversity.”
Andile Mazwai CEO Barnard Jacobs Mellet PO Box 62200 Marshalltown 2107
Dear Mr Mandela
The Greatest Living South African Andile Mazwai
On your 90th birthday, we at Barnard Jacobs Mellet salute you as a living treasure and national asset.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
The ‘Madiba Magic’ has worked wonders over many years, not just nationally and internationally but on a very human level. We have had personal experience of the difference you make, for example, whenever you go onto the field for a South Africa team. Eight years ago, you made time for us to support the launch of BJM Private Client Services. Today, it is a core pillar of our group and a recognised industry leader. Your presence on that occasion inspired a small team to believe in the dream that it could become a giant one day. The recognition you bestowed on us has meant more that the multitudes of awards that have followed since. In these ever-challenging times, your life is testimony that greatness lies within all of us – and that we do have the power to overcome any adversity. Tata, you are a genuine inspiration for the nation. Our country has much to thank you for and so do we. Enjoy your tenth decade among your people. The Greatest Living South African still has a lot of living to do; for which we are most grateful. Yours respectfully,
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 24 Fricker Road, Illovo Corner, Illovo Postal address: PO Box 62200, Marshalltown 2107 Telephone: (+27 11) 750 0000 Fax: (+27 11) 750 0001 Email: bjm@bjm.co.za Website: www.bjm.co.za
BJM
Andile Mazwai CEO
TIMELINE
1985
1991
1998
2000
2001
2003
2003
2008
BJM founded by Jan Silvis and Paul Barnard
Begin international expansion in New York and Edinburgh
Lists on the JSE Main Board at 400cps, shares open at 660cps
Former President Nelson Mandela officially opens Barnard Jacobs Mellet Private Client Services
BJM Securities ranks as the top research house, in the annual Financial Mail Stockbroker Survey
The BJM Fixed Income team ranks 1st in the Spire Awards for debt research - and wins again in 2004 and 2005
Andile Mazwai merges Mazwai Securities with Barnard Jacobs Mellet in a Black Economic Empowerment transaction
BJM Securities is voted the leading research and dealing house in the Financial Mail Stockbroker Survey
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11/27/08 12:31:26 PM
Seeing is believing and watching the effect of the Nelson Mandela touch is always illuminating. The great statesman was present at the birth of BJM Private Client Services and provided a unique source of inspiration ‌ as this photo display of the launch event confirms. The photo opportunities were over in a flash, but the Mandela effect continues to this day. For which we at BJM are eternally grateful.
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11/27/08 12:32:03 PM
T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : D R A K E & S C U L L FAC I L I T I E S M A NAG E M E N T
“We cannot possibly thank you enough for always imploring us to always ask the question, ‘how is this going to benefit the country’ in everything that we are anticipate.” Bonang Mohale CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Colour Specs CMYK: Blue = c100 m90 y0 k15 Grey = 30% Black
Bonang Mohale Chief Executive Officer Drake & Scull FM PO Box 3486 Randburg 2125
Colour Specs Pantone: Blue = Pantone 2748 Grey = Pantone 429
Dear Madiba
Our moral compass It is noteworthy that we are celebrating your 90 th birthday this year in the context of global economic turmoil. At a time when the ever-increasing volatility in uncertain international environments points towards hard times, precipitated by the sub-prime credit crisis; high crude oil prices that touched $147 per barrel; high interest rates and high food price inflation. Here at home we are also not immune to these forces but have our own home grown challenges of political uncertainty; electricity black-outs (credit must go to Jacob Maroga and his entire Team for keeping Eskom together under the most trying circumstance); the National Credit Act; signs of social unrest; acute skills shortage exacerbated by renewed emigration in spite of our very aggressive and continued investments leading up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup. We cannot possibly thank you enough for always imploring us to always ask the question, “how is this going to benefit the country” in everything that we are anticipate. How you still continue to inspire us to strive for success to achieve a shared purpose by being able to develop truly meaningful personal relations with all and by setting high personal standards for those around you. You demonstrated to us what authentic, ethical leadership is all about, what its essence is and what it requires – smart, capable individuals with special inner qualities of high principles, ideals, values and morals. In you and through you, we witnessed how leadership principles are simply values translated into action. Thank you for reminding us that “the best among us lead with a heart of a servant” - the strength of your character rather than just your charisma; the breadth of your substance rather than just your style and the depth of your integrity rather than just your image - for leading with your heart as well as your head – for acting as our internal moral compass, the touchstone of our personal path and for being our “True North”! Kindest personal regards,
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: Ground Floor, Block F, Hurlingham Office Park Cnr William Nicol Road & Republic Road, Sandton PO Box 3486, Randburg 2125 Telephone: (+27 11) 577 8600 Fax: (+27 11) 577 8671/2 Email: bonangm@drake-scull.co.za / fnkadimeng@drake-scull.co.za Website: www.drake-scull.co.za
Bonang Mohale Chief Executive Officer
D R A K E & S C U L L FAC I L I T I E S M A NAG E M E N T T I M E L I N E
1996
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
Formed a joint venture between Emcor Drake & Scull and Tsebo Outsourcing Group
Awarded a 15-year PPP at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital
Awarded PPP Healthcare of the Year in Africa
ISO 9001 : 2000 Accredited and SAFMA President’s Award
D & S became a wholly South African-owned company
Awarded the Maintenance contract of parliament, the ministerial and parliamentary complex; received a SAFMA award for Drake & Scull’s Contribution to Facilities Management in SA
Awarded The Logistics Achiever Award by 10 Industry Associated Organisations; Awarded PPP Contributor of the Year by SAFMA
Houses
of parliament 24 May 1994
A
s South Africa’s foremost company in Integrated Facilities Management, Drake & Scull (DSFM) touches thousands of lives on a daily basis, working quietly behind the scenes to ensure that hundreds of businesses or governmental departments run like clockwork. Sometimes the scenes behind which the company works and the lives it touches have a national prominence. This is especially the case at Cape Town’s Houses of Parliament, one of Drake & Scull’s most important contracts. And there’s no day more important for the on-site team than the annual State of the Nation Address, when a President rises to speak to his country. Behind the scenes a subdued storm of activity; as DSFM checks on security, rolls out red carpets and monitors all systems around the precinct. It was at the conclusion of his historic State of the Nation Address in May 1994 that a proud new President - Nelson Mandela - said: “Our road to that glorious future lies through collective hard work to accomplish the objective of creating a people-centred society through the implementation of the vision contained in our reconstruction and development plan. Let us all get down to work!” Every day, behind executives, doctors, history makers and the living legends of our time, Drake & Scull Facilities Management continues to get down to work.
T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : S O U T H A F R I C A N R A I L C O M M U T E R C O R P O R AT I O N
“Madiba, you have dedicated your life to serve the South African people.�
Tshepo Lucky Montana CEO SARCC PO Box X101 Braamfontein 2017
Dear Tata
Our pledge to you It is a great honour for us, your grandchildren and the beneficiaries of your historic sacrifices, to have an opportunity to pay tribute to you in honour of your 90th birthday.
Tshepo Lucky Montana CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
As a young chief executive officer of a South African company, I belong to a generation that has seen freedom in our lifetime, thanks to your sacrifices and the sacrifices of many South African men and women who fought for freedom inspired by your leadership. We at the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC) are doing the very best we can to ensure that your sacrifices were not in vain. We are spending over R18-billion on repairing the rail passenger system, so that fellow South Africans travel in dignity and comfort. This money is being spent on refurbishing trains, upgrading and building new train stations, securing our passengers and the rail assets among others. Madiba, you have dedicated your life to serve the South African people. We at the SARCC will do the very best we can to ensure that the 2.2 million passenger trips taken by fellow citizens are conducted in ever increasing conditions of comfort and safety. This is our pledge to you in this 90th year of a great life, lived in service to the people.
Tshepo Lucky Montana Chief Executive Officer
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 66 Jorrisen Street, Jorissen Place, Braamfontein 2017 Postal address: PO Box x101, Braamfontein 2017 Telephone: (+27 11) 773 1600 Fax: (+27 11) 774 6299
S O U T H A F R I C A N R A I L C O M M U T E R C O R P O R AT I O N T I M E L I N E
2007
2007
2007
2008
2008
2008
2008
Delivery of coaches increased by 57 percent year-on-year from 310 coaches to 489 in 2008
The SARCC and Bombela signed a Third Party Agreement to regulate the construction activities of the Gautrain Rapid Rail
The rollout of the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Policy of the Corporation approved by the Board of Control
Customer Service Index improved from 68 percent in 2006/07 to 71 percent in 2007/08
Allocated R250-million to Intersite in 2007/08 to implement the station improvement programme
Introduction of the Soweto Business Express and the Khayelitsha Express during 2007/08
A saving of more than R7-million achieved after factoring in premiums in respect of new policies
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THE NELSON MANDELA YEARS: OLD MUTUAL SA
“You have dedicated your life to restoring justice and dignity to our country, and to setting us free from the shackles of the past so that we can achieve a common destiny, freedom and nationhood.” Paul Hanratty Managing Director
Paul Hanratty Managing Director Old Mutual South Africa Mutual Park, Jan Smuts Drive Pinelands 7405
Dear Madiba
An icon to all South Africans and the world What an honour and an opportunity it is to pay tribute to one of the world’s most remarkable and most respected leaders! But you are more than that, Madiba. You have become an icon to all South Africans, and to millions of others around the world. You have dedicated your life to restoring justice and dignity to our country, and to setting us free from the shackles of the past so that we can achieve a common destiny, freedom and nationhood. This means a great deal to us as individuals and employees of Old Mutual South Africa. Old Mutual has been part of South Africa’s rich and often troubled history since 1845. As one of the leading financial services providers in southern Africa, we see our role as the custodian of our nation’s savings and investments as a critical one. As the first President of a democratic South Africa, and as a beloved elder statesman, you have continued to work towards the transformation of our society. We acknowledge the role you play, and we draw inspiration from your vision, as we set about making our own contribution. You are an inspiration and a big part of Old Mutual’s commitment to help drive economic transformation. As the managing director of Old Mutual South Africa, I personally take accountability for the implementation of these initiatives with my team. Our economic transformation is built on four pillars which are: investment in infrastructure and property in under serviced areas; enterprise development focused mainly on rural women; skills capacity building; and education focused on Mathematics and Science. On behalf of all of us at Old Mutual South Africa, I thank you, and wish that we will be honoured to have you around for many years to come.
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: CPT: Mutual Park, Jan Smuts Drive, Pinelands 7405; JHB: 93 Grayston Drive, Sandton 2146 Telephone: CPT: (+27 21) 509 9111; JHB: (+27 11) 217 1000 Email: contactdesk@oldmutual.co.za Website: www.oldmutual.co.za
Paul Hanratty Managing Director
Greenroom 10.2008 JB14501
Dear Madiba, You have been a truly powerful inspiration and source of motivation to each and every one of us at Old Mutual. Your commitment to the growth of our nation and your determined humanitarianism are what help to drive Old Mutual’s investment in the success of our country’s Economic Transformation.
Licensed Financial Services Provider
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : N AT I O N A L E M P O W E R M E N T F U N D
“We pledge allegiance to your ideals in our quest to promote and facilitate Black economic equality and transformation in South Africa.”
Philisiwe Buthelezi CEO National Empowerment Fund PO Box 31, Melrose Arch Melrose North 2076
Dear Mr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
A gift to humanity Madiba, you are the living legacy of all that is honourable and positive about South Africa. You light the way for people of all nations of the world. You are an icon of humility and wisdom, a bastion of courage and human dignity, and the embodiment of grace.
Philisiwe Buthelezi CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
We, as South Africans, have much to learn from your legend and much to thank you for. Your 90th birthday is testimony of the deep love and respect you command from all corners of the globe, because your life is a gift to humanity. As we wish you many happy returns, the National Empowerment Fund is confident that the scores of blackempowered businesses which it has funded, as well as the black investors who have participated in its saving and investment initiative, Asonge, will continue to enjoy meaningful return on their investments. In the year of your 90th birthday, Madiba, we are proud to report close to R1-billion worth of support for black businesses, in meeting our mandate of promoting black participation in the economy. Over 86 000 black investors can take pride in the knowledge that their investment in Asonge has grown by over 65 percent. For this we are grateful to you and many other heroes, both at home and abroad, for having inspired and willed our freedom as a nation. We pledge allegiance to your ideals in our quest to promote and facilitate black economic equality and transformation in South Africa. Ours is a mandate rooted in the brave and epic narrative of a people determined to play an active and integral role in the ownership, management control, skills development and overall growth of the economic heritage of this nation. On behalf of the National Empowerment Fund and its beneficiaries, we salute you, Madiba. Yours sincerely,
CONTACT DETAILS
Philisiwe Buthelezi CEO
Physical address: West Block, 187 Rivonia Road Morningside 2057 Postal address: PO Box 31, Melrose Arch, Melrose North 2076 Telephone: (+27 11) 305 8000 Fax: (+27 11) 305 8001 Email: info@nefcorp.co.za Website: www.nefcorp.co.za
NAT I O NA L E M P OW E R M E N T F U N D T I M E L I N E
1998
2002
2004
2005
2006
2007
•NEF is established by National Empowerment Fund Act 105 of 1998
•Operations established
•Initial capitalisation and launch of NEF products and services
•Appointment of new CEO and executive team •NEF Board is appointed
•More than R500-million disbursed to over 100 blackempowered enterprises
•NEF Asonge Share Scheme is launched •13% oversubscribed •Over 86 000 investors •Over 12 million shares allocated
2008 •124 transactions worth R932-million have been approved, of which 117 transactions worth R699-million have been disbursed
THE NELSON MANDELA YEARS: INM OUTDOOR
“The consistency that you have demonstrated has encouraged the business environment within Africa to mirror the attributes that you possess.”
Bazil Lauryssen Managing Director INM Outdoor Private Bag x91 Bryanston 2021
Dear Mr Mandela
Thank you Madiba Bazil Lauryssen
Napoleon Bonaparte is quoted as saying “A leader is a dealer in hope”. You’ve not only led South Africa from hope to democracy, but remained the one icon the world recognises as the symbol for integrity.
Managing Director
The Outdoor Advertising industry, a highly regulated environment, has much to thank you for. The phenomenal growth our industry has shown over the past 15 years is not coincidental. The consistency that you have demonstrated has encouraged the business environment within Africa to mirror the attributes that you possess. The confidentiality, excellence, praise-giving and support that you give the nation permeates into all our business dealings throughout South Africa, and indeed Africa. You have provided all business with a solid foundation for growth underpinned by trust and stability. We know that the world will continue to be inspired, encouraged and motivated by your massive contribution for the next 90 years and beyond. Inkosi eku Busise.
Bazil Lauryssen Managing Director
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 66 Peter Place, Hurlingham, Extension 5 Postal address: Private Bag x91, Bryanston 2021 Telephone: (+27 11)348 1800 Fax: (+27 11)348 1904 Email: info@inmoutdoor.com Website: www.inmoutdoor.com
INM OUTDOOR TIMELINE
1990
1997
2002
2008
Amalgamation of the operations of Rent-a-Sign and Maister Outdoor Media
CorpGro, established CorpCom, an outdoor division through the acquisition of the Rent-aSign group, Inter-Africa, Sayer & Associates and SuperSigns Polska (Poland)
Corpcom taken over by Clear Channel Independent (jointly owned by Clear Channel Outdoor and Independent News & Media)
INM Outdoor emerges after the acquisition of Independent News & Media (South Africa) of Clear Channel Outdoors’ 50 percent share, taking their ownership to 100 percent
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : O F F I C E O F T H E P U B L I C P RO T E C T O R
“Our freedom and democracy came at a very high cost to those who fought in the liberation struggle that eventually ushered the new order in South Africa.” AdvocatE ML Mushwana
Advocate ML Mushwana Public Protector South Africa Office of the Public Protector Private Bag x677 Pretoria 0001
Dear Madiba
A beacon of democracy and hope It is often easier to fight for freedom and democracy but perhaps more difficult and onerous to maintain and sustain them both. Our freedom and democracy came at a very high cost to those who fought in the liberation struggle that eventually ushered the new order in South Africa. Countless people died while fighting to liberate our country, some were maimed while others were permanently displaced. Some lay buried in foreign countries where they had fallen during combat and others like you, served long prison terms in the quest for our freedom. Drafters of our Constitution of which you played a pivotal role, ensured that South Africa does not relapse to the apartheid era where rights and privileges were violated with impunity. Structures that help protect, develop and sustain our hard-earned democracy were created. The Public Protector was established alongside the Human Rights Commission, Commission for Gender Equality and others. These structures are meant to protect Constitutional democracy. The mandate of the Office of the Public Protector embodies the ideals you stood for. You committed the Office of the Public Protector to work hard at restoring faith in the public service by ensuring that state administration enforce and maintain good governance. We will therefore continue to ensure that citizens are treated justly, promptly and courteously and that government is dedicated to a culture of efficiency and transparency in the public service. May your wisdom continue to inspire all of us. Happy 90th birthday!
Advocate ML Mushwana Public Protector South Africa
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 175 Lunnon Street, Hillcrest Office Park, Pretoria Postal address: Private Bag x677, Pretoria 0001 Telephone: (+27 12) 366 7000 Fax: (+ 27 12) 366 3473 Toll-free: 0800 11 20 40 Website: www.publicprotector.org
O F F I C E O F T H E P U B L I C P RO T E C T O R Fa s t Fac t s •The Public Protector is also known as Ombudsman, Mediator, or Commissioner, etc.
• It is empowered by legislation to assist in establishing and maintaining efficient and proper public administration
• The idea originated in Sweden, but did not spread to other countries until the 20th Century
• In the early 1960’s, various Commonwealth and other, mainly European countries, established such an office
• By mid-1983, there were about 21 countries with Ombudsman offices at national level and about six other countries with Ombudsman offices at provincial, state or regional levels
• By 1998, the number of Ombudsman offices had more than quadrupled to encompass offices both in states with well established democratic systems
• During the multi-party negotiations that preceded the 1994 elections, it was agreed that South Africa should have a Public Protector
MILESTONES
Towards understanding
accommodation, with the rooftop garden he was allowed
In March 1982 the authorities moved Nelson Mandela
He was pleased with his spacious new
from Robben Island to more comfortable accessible quarters
to cultivate; with the freer and easier way of life. He was
in Pollsmoor prison just south of Cape Town city. This had
even taken on trips to town – mainly for discussions with
nothing to do with any deal he had made. Indeed he had
Kobie Coetsee, the enlightened minister of justice but once,
steadfastly refused to compromise on his principles all
astonishingly, on a sightseeing jaunt accompanied by prison
through the years of isolation, though he had been offered
governor Gawie Marx. There was no-one else with them, no
plenty of bribes to bow out of the armed struggle with
warder, no bodyguard, just the two of them, and when Marx
honour. For example he would not renounce violence, he
stopped at a corner shop and went in alone, Mandela was
said, until the apartheid government renounced violence.
sorely tempted to make a run for it. It was a fleeting thought,
Still, the regime needed him; he was too crucial to any peace
quickly dismissed. He also visited President Botha, and was
process.
received respectfully, even cordially – among other things
Louise Gubb
these two men from different cultures, different worlds, one an Afrikaner and the other a Xhosa, spoke of commonalities: each was a nationalist, each belonged to a people who had struggled against perceived oppression.
When Mandela was diagnosed with tuberculosis in
1988 he was taken to the ‘white’ Tygerberg hospital northeast of the city, and spent six weeks as its first black patient. He got on famously with the staff and the young nurses who almost overwhelmed him with their care and spontaneous affection. When it was time to leave, he was taken to a pleasant house within the wooded grounds of Victor Verster prison in the heart of the Cape’s lovely winelands. His ‘warder’ was a young Afrikaner policeman who cooked and cleaned for him, and the only quarrel the two had in the long months they were together was triggered by the old man’s insistence on making his own bed.
South Africa. Defiance Campaign protest for the Release of Nelson Mandela and various other anti apartheid measures, Capetown, February 1990
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12/2/08 12:28:09 PM
T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : M OT J O L I R E S O U RC E S
“We are fiercely proud of our South African roots and can trace the source of that pride to the relentless struggle that you and your comrades pursued over many years and against overwhelming odds.” Nonkqubela Mazwai CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Nonkqubela Mazwai CEO Motjoli Resources PO Box 454 Parklands 2121
Dear Mr Mandela
Making the impossible possible I was told some time before 1990 that a black woman succeeding in the South African mining industry is about as likely as South Africa having a black president. How times have changed! Your resolve and sacrifice has made it possible for me and other previously disenfranchised fellow citizens to follow the road less travelled. Your acceptance, tolerance and grace have taught me that all philosophies and social systems can be used for the greater good. In South Africa much of a company’s competitive advantage is wrapped up in alignment with government’s agenda for transformation, direct value addition and growth. This is achieved through an appropriate balance between business, government and public interest objectives. Four years ago we founded Motjoli Resources and to date business activities span across exploration, mining and discard dump processing. Motjoli Resources business portfolio comprises coal, iron ore, manganese and diamonds. We capitalised our business sustainably, with no reliance on traditional instruments that deliver value to everyone but to the intended beneficiaries of our policies. We are fiercely proud of our South African roots and can trace the source of that pride to the relentless struggle that you and your comrades pursued over many years and against overwhelming odds. Thank you seems inadequate for what you have done for us. My gratitude will be expressed by following to the best of my ability your extraordinary example of humility, strength, acceptance, integrity and courage: In short, outstanding leadership.
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 6th Floor, 11 Diagonal Street, Johannesburg 2001 Postal address: PO Box 454, Parklands 2121 Telephone: (+27 11) 838 4200 Fax: (+27 11) 838 4201 Email: nkqubs@mweb.co.za Website: www.motjoli.co.za
Wishing you your heart’s desires in your 90th birthday year!
Nonkqubela Mazwai CEO
M OT J O L I R E S O U RC E S T I M E L I N E
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Nonkqubela Mazwai and Nchakha Moloi founded Motjoli Resources; the founding members acquired a stake in Exxaro
Motjoli Resources commences exploration activities in respect of coal in Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces
Motjoli Resources acquires equity in Lafarge Mining and Industries; Motjoli Resources acquires 32% of Coal of Africa
Nonkqubela Mazwai establishes coal business for Coal of Africa
Motjoli Resources sells a portion of its equity in Coal of Africa to Signet Mining; Motjoli Resources buys Seven Falls and holds its interest directly in Tawana Resources; Motjoli Resources holds interest in Aquilla iron ore and manganese projects
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11/24/08 11:17:24 AM
MILESTONES
The Star newspaper front page showing president Thabo Mbeki, ex President Nelson Mandela and F W de Klerk at FIFA announcement of South Africa winning the soccer/ football 2010 world cup bid
Graeme Williams/South
Moving forward How P.W. Botha would have handled the inevitable
transfer of power will never be known. In January 1989 he suffered a mild stroke and, after a bitter and rather unseemly rearguard action – against those in the governing party who believed that both the anti-communism strategy and apartheid itself were anachronisms – the old warhorse bowed out.
His place was taken by P.W. de Klerk, considered one
of the hard men of the right but in reality someone who, as the ANC said a little later, ‘we can talk to’. On 2 February 1990, De Klerk stood up on the opening day of parliament prepared, it was generally expected, to report on progress in the bid for a new dispensation, perhaps to announce a few modest reforms. Instead, in an astonishing speech, he announced the Graeme Williams/South
unbanning of the ANC, the PAC, the SA Communist Party and 31 other organisations and the imminent release of political prisoners. In Johannesburg, crowds of black demonstrators shouted ‘Viva Comrade de Klerk’.
Nine days later a grey-suited, white-haired Nelson
Mandela, incarcerated for the past 26 years, walked to freedom through the gates of Victor Verster prison, his wife Winnie at his side, the image beamed to millions around the world. Tens of thouands of his countrymen patiently awaited his arrival at Cape Town’s Grand Parade, where he delivered his first public address and where, among other things, he called on ‘our white compatriots to join us in the shaping of a new South Africa’. It was the voice of reconciliation.
Celebrations in Joburg Streets after the unbanning of the African National Congress
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MILESTONES
Nelson Mandela with Joe Slovo and others at a South African Communist Party rally in Soweto, 1990
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : P E T RO L E U M A G E N C Y S A
“Just as the
Mthozami R Xiphu CEO Petroleum Agency SA PO Box 1174 Parow 7499
development of young people is very close to your heart, it is also an issue close to ours.” Dear Mr Mandela
Many happy returns on the occasion of your 90th birthday! Mthozami R Xiphu CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Your unequalled statesmanship continues to inspire our diverse peoples to strive for unity, tolerance, prosperity and a shared nationhood. Petroleum Agency SA is continuously motivated by these goals as we set forth on our mission to actively promote exploration for natural oil and gas resources and their optimal development for the benefit of South Africa. Our vision remains the development of a vibrant upstream industry in South Africa, benefitting all her peoples. Security and diversity of energy supply is vital for the continued growth of our economy and the resulting eradication of poverty, and Petroleum Agency SA is proud to be playing an active role in achieving this goal. Just as the development of young people is very close to your heart, it is also an issue close to ours. We support an internship programme that equips young graduates for careers in the upstream industry and also administer the Upstream Training Trust. Funds from this trust are utilised directly in nurturing interest in science and engineering among young learners, further education for educators as well as direct funding of tertiary studies for young South Africans in the fields of science and engineering. We lend continuous support to many academic institutions and fund lectureships in Earth Science at the University of Fort Hare. As you celebrate this landmark year, know that your life has encouraged countless individuals who make up this nation to look to the future with the confidence that we shall become what you have always envisaged.
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: 151 Frans Conradie Drive, Parow 7500 Postal address: PO Box 1174, Parow 7499 Telephone: (+27 21) 938 3500 Fax: (+27 21) 938 3520 Email: plu@petroleumagencysa.com Website: www.petroleumagencysa.com
Thanking you,
Mthozami R Xiphu CEO
P E T RO L E U M AG E N C Y S A T I M E L I N E
1999
2002
2004
2005
2007
2008
Petroleum Agency SA incorporated under a ministerial directive and a sub-lease is granted to Forest Oil International to explore Block 1
Exploration sub-leases is granted to Sasol and BHP Billiton to explore blocks 3A/4A and 3B/4B off the west coast
The Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act is implemented and Petroleum Agency SA is identified as the ‘designated’ agency
Conducts a joint seismic survey over the Del Cano Rise in cooperation with the Government of France
The first onshore Exploration Right is granted and first Production Right is granted to PetroSA for the South Coast Gas Project
Over 100 applications received for onshore exploration
petroleum-letter_template.indd 1
11/25/08 8:25:43 AM
MILESTONES
Roelf Meyer and Cyril Ramaphosa bridging the gap at CODESA
End game
The story thereafter is well known. In due course
Nelson and Winnie were divorced – the years apart had taken their toll. He later married Graça, widow of the late Samora Machel, who had presided over a newly liberated Mozambique.
For four years the two sides bargained with each
other, mostly in respectful fashion, sometimes acrimoniously as they trod a path littered with pitfalls. Major sticking points were De Klerk’s insistence that no one group should dominate another (a euphemism for white minority rights); Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s demand for special status for the Zulu people; and the merits of a centralised as opposed to a federal form of government. There was violence, much of it attributed to a myserious ‘third force’. A crowd of protestors seeking to enter the ‘independent’ republic of Ciskei were mowed down in their scores. Chris Hani, hero to the black youth, was murdered by two white men.
But statesmanship prevailed, and a concensus was
eventually reached. There were free and, in the light of past enmities, surprisingly good-humoured national elections. The ANC won a convincing if not a landslide victory, and on David Goldblatt/South
a sunny day in October 1993 the world’s luminaries gathered at Pretoria’s Union Buildings to witness the swearing in of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela as the first president of a free South Africa.
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A unique image of Nelson Mandela’s speech at the Cape Town Parade on the day of his release from Victor Verster prison, Cape Town, 1990
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Chris Ledochowski / CCA
MILESTONES
Ian Berry / Magnum
Election Day 27th April, 1994: Voters queue at dawn at a polling station north of Pretoria
If one were to choose a single word to describe
Graeme Williams/South
David Goldlblatt / CCA
Bantu Holomisa and Roelf Meyer staying afloat together
Rugby icon Morné du Plessis, who was watching,
Mandela’s five-year executive administration, it would be
recalled that although he felt ecstatic he was also ‘filled
‘masterly’. He brought the races together. When South
with sadness. I knew I would never experience anything like
Africa clinched victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, he
that again. I knew I had had my moment. It was gone’.
strode onto Johannesburg’s Ellis Park ground sporting
the green-and-gold No.6 jersey – also worn by Springbok
bowed out with honour to enjoy his retirement with his
captain Francois Pienaar. Together the two men, the old
wife Graça, his children and grandchildren, and to share his
African maestro and the young white athlete, raised the
wisdom with the world. He will never be forgotten.
So too, at the end of the century, was Mandela. He
Webb Ellis trophy high to the cheers of the entire country.
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T H E N E L S O N M A N D E L A Y E A R S : T H E E S T AT E A G E N C Y A F F A I R S B O A R D
“You continue to inspire us to reach beyond ourselves to become better human beings and better leaders.�
Nomonde Mapetla CEO The Estate Agency Affairs Board Private Bag x10 Benmore 2010
Dear Madiba
Leadership with integrity We wish to extend our heartiest congratulations and best wishes to you on the wonderful occasion of your 90th birthday. We consider ourselves privileged as a nation that God deigned some 90 years ago, to give us a world icon, an international symbol of freedom, equality, peace, justice and reconciliation.
Nomonde Mapetla Chief Executive Officer
We pray that you will continue for many years to come, to enjoy contentment, happiness and good health that you so richly deserve after a life so fraught with peril yet so blessed and well lived. As you continue to inspire us to reach beyond ourselves to become better human beings and better leaders, may you always be surrounded by love and family, by the laughter of your children and grandchildren and by the good wishes of a devoted nation. MPILONDE YEM-YEM, VELABAMBHENTSELE, NGUBENGCUKA. Warm regards,
Nomonde Mapetla Chief Executive Officer
CONTACT DETAILS Physical address: Cnr Jan Smuts & Albury Roads, Dunkeld Crescent, Hyde Park Postal address: Private Bag x10, Benmore 2010 Telephone: (+27 11) 731 5656 Fax: (+27 11) 880 1449 Website: www.eaab.org.za
T H E E S TAT E AG E N C Y A F FA I R S B OA R D T I M E L I N E
2005-2008 2005-2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
Increased the Fidelity Fund from R386-million to R501-million in three years
Introduced a new Educational Dispensation and Framework
Introduced measures to expedite the timeous re-issuing of Fidelity Fund Certificates to estate agents
Increased estate agents compliance with the establishing statues by conducting inspections
Outsourced call centres to expedite and improve communication with stakeholders
estae-agency-letter_template.indd 1
Increased the number of registered estate agents from 38 000 to 82 000.
11/28/08 10:54:26 AM
R E S E A RC H
Mandela leads billions back to new South Africa By Clayton Swart
…As soon as the Transitional Executive Council (TEC) is established, backed up by the appropriate legislation, we will be calling on those engaged in the anti-apartheid struggle to act swiftly to ensure that the remaining sanctions are removed. I am personally very concerned that the economy here has been worsening as we enter the third year of a devastating recession. Nearly half our people have no jobs, no homes, and little hope. For these reasons, we believe that a political solution must be accompanied by a quick return of foreign investors to our country. We hope that the cities and states that were the firm backbone of the anti-apartheid movement in the United States will commit themselves to actively supporting re-investment in the South African economy in a socially responsible manner which will help address the devastating legacy of apartheid. Sanctions played a critical role in bringing us close to freedom day and I will be forever grateful to the American people you work with, to help us as we seek to establish a new democratic order on a solid foundation. Yours sincerely NELSON R. MANDELA President c.c. Lindiwe Mabuza, Chief Representative, ANC. Washington DC
The People Shall Govern! Nelson Mandela, then president of the ANC, to Ms Jennifer Davis, Executive Director of The Africa Fund, in New York on 27 July 1993.
man_swart01.indd 3
David Goldblatt/CCA
This is a major part of the content of a letter sent by
12/2/08 8:23:12 AM
T
Louise Gubb
his short plea and gentle allure of American investors back to South Africa is a clear indication that after 27 years in prison - Mandela, not only brought about the gift of political freedom to black South Africans, but an equally large gift to the South African business community. Just how big and how important Mandela’s gift has been to business South Africa is the subject of this chapter, which I have written using historical articles, references and figures during the years when South Africa was a pariah of the international community due to the system of apartheid enforced by minority white rulers. The white minority government’s involvement in establishing international bodies such as the United Nations as stewards of freedoms for all the peoples of the world despite opposite practices on home soil - caused it to sink into an abyss due to the dehumanising system of apartheid. In the period between 1945 and 1960 South Africa was considered an ally in the fight against communism, and the west - especially America - was also dependant on the mineral wealth of this country on the southern tip of Africa. Consecutive US presidencies, Nixon and Eisenhower, did not succumb to domestic and international pressure to impose real punitive measures on South Africa because of this supposed alliance. America as the biggest world market after the Second World War was the most significant in imposing sanctions against South Africa due to the sheer size of the economy of this superpower. Despite India’s brave efforts in 1946 as the first nation seeking to impose sanctions against South Africa, without the help of the giant America and to a lesser extent Europe, any sanction campaign was likely to be negligible. According to the doctoral thesis of L.E.S. De Villiers (senior South African diplomat in America and Canada during the sixties and seventies, and later, the Deputy Secretary of Information in Pretoria), the Sharpeville massacre was a major turning point for the anti-apartheid movement both inside South Africa and abroad.
On 21 March 1960 a rock-throwing crowd of 20 000 protesters gathered in Sharpeville, where the police went on to massacre 67 people and wound another 178. The protest had been part of the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) arranged country wide action against the hated passbook system, and designed in order to invite arrest. These shocking mass killings drew the attention of the international community. Three black people also died in Langa (Cape Town), and a few days after the killings the government declared a state of emergency following violent strikes across the country undertaken in protest against these mass murders. The giant America was suddenly awakened and – in stark contrast to its previous policy towards South Africa and apartheid - it deplored the Verwoerd government’s slaughter of blacks by way of the State Department’s issuing of a strong statement of condemnation. America not only issued this statement but acted at the highest level by permanently placing apartheid on the UN’s Security Council agenda in 1960. De Villiers writes: “American investors joined the capital flight from South Africa in the wake of the Sharpeville shootings causing the South African foreign exchange reserves to plunge by $64-million. Gold slumped.” This is confirmed in a 1986 master’s thesis in
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R E S E A RC H
changed his mind on divestment and “would now approve a law requiring divestment of the state’s ten-billion-dollar public employee pension fund”. “There are instances in human history when the gravity of an evil is so clear, and the cost of its continuance so great, that governments – at every level – must use every tool at their disposal to combat it,” said governor Kean. Massie writes that - despite the “verbal fireworks” after the Rubicon speech - it was the economic effect and not the political effect that was the most profound on South Africa. The apartheid regime was buffeted from many fronts internally through actions such as making the country ungovernable through mass protests, strikes and stay-aways organised by the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the 80s. The South African economy was in shambles, with high inflation, huge military spending made to quell internal unrest, fighting in frontline states by the defence force and slow consumer spending with the overall annual growth rate slipping to less than 1 percent writes Massie. But the Rubicon speech also came in the midst of a debt crisis for the South African government. A leading American bank, Chase Manhattan, unexpectedly announced it did not intend to extend a credit line to the South African government, and the bank demanded payment of a $500-million loan. Other international banks followed suit, giving the once proud and supposedly independent and untouchable apartheid government a massive blow, and leaving it with an outstanding debt of $14.3-billion to be paid within a few years. These large international banks usually rolled over loans. Massie believes that the debt crisis was already underway two weeks before Botha gave the Rubicon speech, but with it, his stubborn stance caused a major sense of disgust in the US. “…within twenty-four hours the value of South Africa’s currency plummeted. Capital was withdrawn at an alarming rate and at the end of August the Rand had fallen to thirty-four cents to the dollar.”
Louise Gubb
economics by Carolyn Jenkins in which she reports that South Africa’s net international indebtedness increased in the period 1961 to 1963 as a result of the withdrawal of foreign capital following the Sharpeville massacre in 1960. This was again the case after the political disturbances and Soweto uprisings in 1976 which led to net international indebtedness rising in the period 1977 to 1980. One of the stalwarts of the anti-apartheid movement
in America, Richard Knight, of the Africa Centre, who along with many others - vehemently campaigned for disinvestment by US firms, wrote that the mid-80s was another turning point in the history of South Africa. A separate tri-cameral parliament for “different races” was setup, and this gave enormous momentum to the anti-apartheid movement across the USA. According to Robert Kinloch Massie, P.W. Botha’s Rubicon speech on August 15, 1985, broadcast to the homes of the most influential people across America, was a huge disaster. This was due to the prior expectation of real changes that he was supposedly going to announce. It caused even the staunchest supporters of anti- divestment to open their eyes to the apartheid government’s wrongs. Massie quotes Thomas Kean, governor of New Jersey at the time as being so disgusted by the speech that he
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Gerhard de Kock, the South African Reserve Bank governor at the time, estimated the cost of Botha’s speech to the country to have been between R8-billion and R9-billion in terms of foreign exchange losses due to the depreciation of the Rand. American anti-apartheid campaigners seeking large scale disinvestment by US companies smelled blood and were now extremely positive that these measures would break the back of apartheid. The disinvestment campaign was fought on many fronts in the USA, in Congress, on university campuses, through debates and through protests. Concerts were also held to raise awareness and to bring an increased awareness of the involvement of hundreds of American companies in apartheid South Africa. It was all out war to ensure that not a single part of America was involved with the apartheid regime or in any way supportive of it. “…by the end of 1989, 26 states, 22 counties and over 90 cities had taken some form of binding economic action against companies doing business in South Africa,” writes Knight. This economic action was to include refusing bids or tenders from companies in their home towns if they were directly involved in South Africa or involved in South Africa via subsidiaries. Due to the scale of these contracts in much larger American cities and due also to the value of the dollar compared to their South African operations turning a profit in Rands, companies were forced to rethink their operations in South Africa. According to him it was not only American companies, but - due to growing student protests universities and colleges that were also forced, to disinvest from South Africa. “…after 1984 the number of colleges and universities at least partially divesting jumped from 53 prior to April 1985 to 128 by February 1987 to 155 by August 1988.” All this pressure led to a major victory for the antiapartheid movement and - with the adoption by the American parliament of the 1986 Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act (CAAA) - no doubt for the mass democratic movement in South Africa. It was the nail in the coffin for many American
companies hoping the tide would be turning in their favour as the Act disallowed new investment in South Africa, sales to the military and police and a whole host of other restrictions on the importation of goods such as agricultural goods, textiles and steel. The following table shows disinvestment (the withdrawal of US & other foreign firms operating in South Africa) by companies and the divestment (the sale of shares held by pension funds and other organisations in companies that do business in South Africa). It also shows the country of origin of these companies as well as those companies from other countries that adopted sanction measures. Cumulative disinvestment from South Africa and/or Namibia, with number of corporations at end of 1987 Disinvestment
Divesting
Remaining Number
Australia
17
—
32
Canada
21
3
12
France
6
1
15
West Germany
10
—
12
Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark
12
3
27
Switzerland
2
—
32
UK
92
7
266
USA
250
21
178
Total
410
35
690
Source: Business International, based on UN Economic and Social Council E/1988/23, 8 February 1988 as illustrated in Knight’s chapter in the book Sanctioning Apartheid (Africa World Press)
Major American companies that disinvested in the period 1982 to 1989 include Pepsi, Mobil – albeit at the bitter end when conditions were such that profits were not nearly enough to be repatriated to the USA – IBM, Xerox, Nabisco, Black & Decker, GM, Proctor and Gamble and even Weight Watchers. Some companies like Coke, KFC, IBM and many others either sold their South African businesses to managers or local Afrikaner businessmen, while many other companies
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R E S E A RC H
that disinvested also added re-entry clauses which would allow them back into South Africa were conditions ever to change. Franchising, distribution and selling rights were also negotiated, as a result of which many American brands remained available, thus allowing some businesses to retain a foothold in a lucrative market - despite the harsh conditions under which the majority of South Africans lived. De Villiers reports that the exact number of American and other companies that disinvested from South Africa during the period 1985 to 1989 varied according to different sources but the Investor Responsibility Research Centre (IRCC) based in Washington, DC and the International Chamber of Commerce were widely quoted by many leading South African publications during this period as having reliable statistics on disinvestments. At UN hearings in Geneva during September 1989, the Chamber reported that
more than 550 firms had disinvested since 1985. American companies lead the way with more than half of these disinvestments.
US Economic Involvement with Apartheid South Africa The following table drawn up by Richard Knight shows the extent of US economic involvement in South Africa during apartheid. One can see the decline in US economic involvement as the democratic movement grew inside South Africa and campaigns for sanctions and divestment grew outside South Africa. The dollar value shown here is for the end of the year shown. The table does not include the value of U.S. portfolio investment (stockholding by U.S. investors of shares traded
US Economic Involvement with South Africa Number of US Parent Companies with South African Affiliates
Number of South African affiliates of US parent Companies
Number of Employees
1993
N/A
N/A
1992
N/A
1991
$ millions
Annual
End-Year Total US Direct Investment
US Bank Loans Outstanding
US Merchandise Exports
US Merchandise Imports
N/A
N/A
1 050
2 196
1 847
N/A
N/A
871
1 650
2 433
1 719
88
104
39 700
857
1 878
2 113
1 733
1990
90
108
35 700
767
2 062
1 732
1 701
1989
99
123
36 000
699
2 297
1 659
1 529
1988
N/A
164
61 600
1 252
2 510
1 688
1 513
1987
N/A
189
87 700
1 497
2 888
1 281
1 345
Year
1986
N/A
226
99 500
1 517
2 957
1 158
2 364
1985
N/A
262
115 600
1 394
3 240
1 205
2 071
1984
N/A
273
119 700
1 440
4 704
2 265
2 488
1983
N/A
279
126 800
1 987
4 637
2 108
2 417
1982
203
287
136 300
2 281
3 676
2 368
1 967
1981
N/A
N/A
N/A
2 619
576
2 912
2 445
1977
N/A
414
126 300
1 792
2 277
1 054
1 261
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on the South African stock Exchange). It has been estimated that in 1987 that U.S. investors owned between $4-billion and $6-billion dollars of shares of companies traded on the South African Stock Exchange. The value of such holdings is volatile both because of changes in share prices and because investor trade into out of shares depending on market conditions. In a Financial Mail story of 1 July 1988 on the divestment tally, Alison Cooper of the IRCC is quoted as saying companies from non-USA countries cited their decisions to disinvest as having been influenced by anti-apartheid pressures within their home countries. “While most disinvesting companies that give reasons for their withdrawal cite the weak SA economy, some companies told us that domestic pressure had become too difficult to withstand. One company, Atlas Copco AB, of Sweden, said in December that it would disinvest due to Swedish sanctions legislation against SA and especially the fact that Atlas Copco was denied exemptions from recent trade legislation,” Cooper wrote in the FM article. According to De Villiers, the importance for South Africa of trade with America can be seen in 1985 estimates by the IRCC which indicate that trade between the two countries amounted to $3-billion while South Africa accounted for less than 1 percent of total USA trade, the USA in turn was the top export market for South Africa with 15 percent of its 1985 sales going to the superpower. In American terms the $1.3-billion in direct investment it made in South Africa was small compared with other investments in the rest of the world, it “gave the US more than a 70 percent share in that country’s [SA’s] computer industry, half of its petroleum sector and about one third of its automobile industry,” writes De Villiers. What stopped America from a total trade ban and the breaking of all ties with South Africa was the existence in South Africa of the strategic minerals - chromium, platinumgroup metals and manganese - it needed for producing armaments. South Africa supplied almost 50 percent or more of the US imports of these minerals. The only other major supplier was the Soviet Union, arch-enemy of the USA at that time.
According to Stephen R. Lewis, Jr., former adviser to the Botswana government, another sanction measure which was very significant in slowing down South Africa’s apartheid regime was an oil embargo imposed in 1973 by Arab oil-exporting countries. It is estimated that the short-term effects of this oil embargo was around R22-billion or $1-billion -$2-billion per year for the duration of the embargo. Shortly after his release Nelson Mandela undertook a successful world tour. He showed a deep understanding of the importance of foreign direct investment even before his appointment as the first democratically elected president of South Africa. He made sure he used the public platforms to attract foreign investors in order to rebuild the country into a home for all. This he did to lift millions of people out of extreme poverty and save the country’s economic system from spiralling out of control. His acute understanding of this requirement – a requirement which, if left unsatisfied, would scuttle the efforts of a newly elected government - is evident in his countless pleas to overseas governments, and his understanding that South Africa was dependent on foreign capital and technology for its growth. Mandela made these pleas at the UN, as well as on both domestic and foreign platforms after his release, during his time as president of the ANC and also during his tenure as the first democratically elected president. With the release of Mandela and other leaders and the unbanning of organisations such as the ANC and PAC, conditions for the lifting of America’s CAAA Act were eventually met, and President Bush was able to lift the sanctions that had been imposed under this Act. Nevertheless remaining sanctions at city level in 30 American states and 39 counties including the Virgin Islands the IRRC reported - forced big multinationals to stay away from South Africa. While former state president FW De Klerk repeatedly stated that it was not economic sanctions that drove his apartheid government finally to accept that the country had to
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R E S E A RC H
David Goldblatt/South
transform, he eventually acknowledged that they caused great hardship for the apartheid regime. After returning from Washington where he had urgently sought to solicit the agreement of American president in lifting sanctions (although he had not expressed the purpose of his visit quite so explicitly), without publicly directly naming it as such, De Klerk (De Villiers writes)
acknowledged the effect of sanctions in a speech to the South African Business Chamber. “There is no doubt that sanctions, boycotts and disinvestment have had a debilitating effect. They have impeded our growth rate, eroded our currency and deprived many South Africans of the educational and employment opportunities needed to make a decent living.” In an interview with Time magazine on 14 June, 1993, Mandela was posed the question: “So did sanctions work? “Oh, there is no doubt,” came the assured answer from Mandela. Addressing the United Nations on September 24, 1993, and making a decisive historic announcement before this great body of international representatives, Mandela asked for an end to the massive sanctions effort that helped to bring the system that was a crime against humanity to an abrupt end. “We therefore extend an earnest appeal to you, the governments and peoples you represent, to take all necessary measures to end the economic sanctions you imposed and which have brought us to the point where the transition to democracy has now been enshrined in the law of our country.” In the same speech Mandela also called on individuals and organisations involved in the anti-apartheid movement to continue supporting South African citizens both socially and economically, and he made the following special plea to investors: “We hope that both the South African and the international investor communities will also take this opportunity themselves to help regenerate the South African economy, to their mutual benefit.” Just over four months into his presidency, during a presidential tour of America in October 2004, Mandela showing a great understanding for the need of foreign investment to help address the imbalances of the past, addressed the National Foreign Trade Council in America as follows: “What role can you play in these endeavours, which are based on values that we all share? “Urging you to invest in our country we are not engaging in special pleading. That is why I speak of a partnership, to signify a relationship of mutual benefit. “We are acutely conscious of the fact that the whole world is
F.W.De Klerk, 1988
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competing for investment capital. We are therefore keenly aware of the importance an economic and social climate that will create opportunities for investors.” On the same tour president Mandela in a speech on 5 October 1994 harnessed support from the Congressional Black Caucus of the White House. “In this regard, we shall rely on the Congressional Black Caucus to help promote South Africa for its objective qualities: its natural beauty, its sophisticated infrastructure and financial system and its realistic policies to ensure economic growth and equity.” This shows Mandela also understood that this powerful group could spread its influence to a wider group of potential investors across America and further afield. In a 1993 interview with Marshall Loeb of the US Fortune magazine Mandela reinforced the call he had made on his earlier visit to America in 1991 to urge business people again to consider doing business with South Africa. Mandela was hard at work ensuring that investment would flow once he took over. “I went to the US toward the end of 1991 - to New York, Washington, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta. I invited businessmen in all these places to visit our country, to inspect investment opportunities, because I said a settlement is about to be achieved and we know that you need to do some research before investing. Now I am making that appeal again, and I do hope that by the time companies come it will not be a question of preparing for the future, but that the field will be open.” The first reward for Mandela came on the day following his historic speech asking for the lifting of sanctions in the UN in September 1993 in the form of a pledge of $850-million in economic aid from the IMF. This was announced by Michel Camdessus of the IMF after a breakfast meeting with Mandela, recounts De Villiers. But, under the great leadership of former president Mandela, how successful was the new South Africa in attracting foreign capital back to the golden shores of a black majority ruled country? It can be seen in the figures of the South African Reserve Bank. In a 1996 address, barely two years after the arrival of democracy, Dr Chris Stals, governor of the Reserve Bank, gave
a very positive evaluation of the South African economy. “Over the 18 months from July 1994 to December 1995 a net amount of more than R30-billion flowed into the country from the rest of the world. This exceeded even the most optimistic expectations at the time of the election of the Government of National Unity in April 1994.” Stals said the financial markets had generally exploded since 1992. This was due to the expectation of change, the release of Mandela and other political prisoners, and the emergence of a genuine sense of hope for a new South Africa. Based on the groundwork Mandela did in appealing to investors to help rebuild the country in the US and other nations, the figures of the Reserve Bank speak for themselves. “In 1992, the total value of shares traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, for example, amounted to R22billion, but then increased to R63-billion in 1995. The increase in the turnover in the bond market was even more spectacular, having risen from R496-billion in 1992 to R2 006-billion in 1995. The average price of all classes of shares listed on the Stock Exchange increased by 18.2 percent per annum from 1992 to 1995. In the market for foreign exchange, the average daily turnover in the first five months of 1996 amounted to US $6.8-billion.” In another address, this one on 3 March, 1996, on the Integration of SA in the World Financial Markets Stals said net capital outflows to the rest of the world for a decade beginning in 1984 placed an effective ceiling on the growth potential of the South African economy “The capital outflows, however, suddenly switched into net inflows as from April 1994. After registering a net capital outflow of R15-billion in the balance of payments for 1993, net inflows of R5.4-billion and R22-billion occurred in 1994 and 1995, respectively. This reversal had a major impact on the growth potential of the economy, and last year’s growth rate of 3.5 percent was the best South Africa experienced since 1988,” said a delighted Stals. In the same speech Stals said that the mighty South Africa - the world’s biggest gold producer - effectively had a depleted official gold and foreign reserve by the time the apartheid regime had come to an end. “…the Reserve Bank also started replenishing the
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R E S E A RC H
country’s depleted official gold and foreign exchange reserves. In April 1994, when the election for the Government of National Unity took place, the Reserve Bank had about R8.5-billion in foreign reserves, but also outstanding short-term borrowings of a like amount. The net foreign reserves therefore were at a zero level. At the end of January 1996, the Reserve Bank held R15.5-billion in foreign reserves, and had repaid all its foreign liabilities.” Since Mandela took office foreign investors dramatically increased their commitments, Massie details. Other nations such as Japan, Germany and Great Britain also stepped in to do increased business with South Africa. When calling for investors and the international community to help in rebuilding the country, Mandela also ensured he highlighted the extreme poverty millions of blacks suffered due to the inequalities brought about by apartheid. They responded well, and the IMF approving about a billion dollars for drought relief and economic support. In particular the Clinton administration stepped in with increased foreign aid and investment assistance, and American pension funds which widely supported divestment campaigns by withdrawing billions of dollars of funds started returning in droves, writes Massie. By the end of 1994 American companies which were back in South Africa included Ford, IBM, Honeywell, Polaroid, General Electric, Sara Lee as well as Citibank and arch rivals Coke and Pepsi. “By early 1996… the number of American companies operating in South Africa had risen from 184 to more than 500, with total asset value of $3.5-billion and more than 45 000 employees,” writes Massie. In a Financial Mail special report of September 1997, three years into a democratic South Africa, “an average of six overseas companies opened offices in SA each month last year (1996).” Quoting a report by McGregor Information Services the FM report states that between 1994 and May 1996, the rate of influx of US firms was almost double that of all other countries; in other words, about 57 percent of returning companies were American. Other US corporates and brands arriving in South Africa were McDonald’s, Levi Strauss, Nike, Silicon Graphics, South Western Bell, Microsoft, IBM, Compaq and Dell.
The rest of the world did not lag the US investment. According to the McGregor report, companies from Britain, Malaysia, the Asian tigers, India, Japan, Canada, France, Sweden, Greece, Australia and many other countries returned or were new investors. These companies brought billions in investment, and global brands such as Ericsson, Electrolux, Volvo and Proctor & Gamble. According to the FM report, investment totalled R12billion in the first half of 1997. Instrumental to the return of these billions of dollars in direct investment, financial flows, increase in foreign reserves – to say nothing of the latest technology and international trade - was former president Nelson Mandela. Through his impassionate plea for the international community to “produce that magical elixir” of the marketplace, and “by achieving success not only in politics but also in the socio-economic sphere” Mandela ensured the hype around South Africa’s transition to democracy and the collective sacrifice of thousands of blacks was honoured in material terms by his hardhitting invitation to the international business community to invest in this country for the benefit of all. By keeping the issue of a healthy economy through foreign and domestic investment firmly on the agenda, especially during the transition, Madiba – the living embodiment of the struggle against apartheid - gave a huge gift to subsequent generations of South Africans. Sources - L.E.S. de Villiers, PhD thesis Stellenbosch University, US sanctions against South Africa, 1994. - Knight, R. R. E. Edgar, ed, Sanctioning Apartheid (Africa World Press), 1990. This book, edited by Robert E. Edgar. - Massie, R. K. Loosing the bonds The United States and South Africa in the apartheid years (Doubleday), New York 1997. - Stals, C. Dr. 1996-07-11: South African Economy: An Evaluation Address by Dr Chris Stals, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, at a Conference on “South Africa in the Global Economy” arranged by The South African Institute of International Affairs Johannesburg. South African Reserve Bank archive. - Dr Chris Stals. 1996-03-07: The Integration of SA in the World Financial Markets. Address by, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, at a breakfast to celebrate the First Anniversary of “Business Report” Durban. - Address by Dr Chris Stals, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, at a breakfast to celebrate the First Anniversary of “Business Report” Durban. - Address by deputy president F.W. De Klerk at the Johannesburg chapter of the UCT GSB association, Sandton, 27 October 1994. The implications of South Africa’s integration into the global economy. GCIS archive. - Statement of the president of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela, at the United Nations: New York, September 24, 1993. - Loeb, M. MANDELA REACHES OUT TO BUSINESS, The man who may well be South Africa’s first black President says his once militant African National Congress is eager for sanctions to end and for Western companies to come back. Fortune. 12 July, 1993. - President Nelson Mandela’s address to The National Foreign Trade Council, 03 October 1994. GCIS archive, accessed 14 October 2008, 10:58am. - President Mandela address to Congressional Black Caucus luncheon, White House: 5 October 1994. GCIS archive. - Address of the President of the Republic of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, to the UN General Assembly, New York, 3 October 1994. GCIS archive. - Lewis, S. R. Jr. The economics of apartheid. Council on Foreign Relations, Inc., New York, 1990. - Financial Mail, July 1, 1988. Divestment tally Spreading wound, page 49, 50. - Time, 14 June, 1993.
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Triple M Mandela’s lessons f o r M ot l a n t h e By Ryland Fisher
M
zwakhe Mbuli (Double M), known as “the people’s poet” during the struggle years, used to perform a poem called Triple M which was very popular in the 1980s. He referred to three homeland leaders (Patrick) Mphephu (of Venda), (Lucas) Mangope (Bophuthatswana) and (Kaizer) Matanzima (Transkei). More recently we have had another Triple M in South Africa, in the form of Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe.
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OPINION The major difference between Mbuli’s Triple M and the most recent Triple M is of course that the former were homeland leaders, while the latter are democratic South Africa’s first three Presidents. Homelands, for the benefit of those who have already forgotten that part of South Africa’s history, were places where, according to the government of the day, African black people had self-rule because the rest of South Africa was under white control. Homelands were run by mainly discredited leaders while the concept itself was considered abhorrent, because it assumed that African black people did not belong in especially urban South Africa. They were welcome only to provide cheap labour. All the homelands were in the deep rural areas and had very little resources. While Mbuli’s poem about Triple M was derogatory towards the homeland leaders, one suspects that he would probably have been more respectful towards Mandela, Mbeki and Motlanthe.
initial honeymoon period was over and when the not-sonewlywed couple would have their inevitable first arguments. This is probably the most difficult period in the history of any new democracy. It was not the perfect situation for anybody to take over the running of South Africa, and in some ways Mbeki was set up for failure. All three Presidents have had very different tasks. Mandela had to reconcile a divided nation, and reach out quite aggressively towards white people to avoid them leaving the country in droves, potentially leaving mainly unskilled black people behind. Mbeki had to deliver for the majority of people who had patiently waited for the “better life for all” promised in ANC election posters. Motlanthe will have to convince a sceptical public that he deserves to be President, and that he can deliver better than Mbeki. After what was perceived as his failure to deliver by the new ANC leadership, Mbeki was “recalled” by the ANC and replaced by Motlanthe, who is effectively a caretaker President. All indications are that ANC president Jacob Zuma will be the ANC’s choice for President of South Africa after next year’s election. In terms of the law, the elections have to be held between April and July next year. The government could also call an early election. So, in a short few months, Motlanthe will have to put his mark on the highest office in our country. While everyone acknowledges the contribution made by Mandela, they are also very clear on his successor’s shortcomings. For instance, while Mandela always exuded a warm and fuzzy feeling in many South Africans, Mbeki developed a reputation for being aloof and out of touch with the majority of South Africans. Many people are saying that already Motlanthe has shown that he is more concerned about ordinary people than Mbeki has ever been. Some argue that this is not difficult to do because their natures are very different. Mbeki was always the aloof intellectual, while Motlanthe naturally has a common touch. What many people don’t know is that Mbeki was the ANC’s best diplomat while the organisation was still banned. I have vivid memories of how especially Afrikaners were swayed
Greg Marinovich
President Kgalema Motlanthe
But what other similarities are there between Mandela, Mbeki and Motlanthe, apart from the fact that they are Presidents and that their surnames start with an M? There are many similarities but there are also many differences. In some ways, Mbeki and Motlanthe will always have the noose around their neck of having to follow in the footsteps of a formidable predecessor. Mbeki, especially, had the unenviable task of following up after Mandela. Not only did he succeed a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, but he also took over the running of South Africa after the
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Mandela did try to have a discussion of sorts but it seems like the rest of South Africa did not want to join in this discussion. Even before he became President, Mandela made the following commitment in March 1994 at a meeting of the International Press Union in Cape Town: “If the people of South Africa elects us to office, we firmly undertake that an ANC government will strive for an open society in which vigorous debate is encouraged through a free press and other media, in which equal status is accorded to all languages, cultures and religious beliefs, in which women will receive recognition as equals, deserving of the respect and the dignity intrinsic to being human.” One of the huge differences between Mandela and Mbeki was Mandela’s willingness to talk about issues and to get to know people who were considered to be different to him. For instance, Mandela used to meet regularly with the leaders of the opposition political parties and the media. He also had tea with people such as Betsie Verwoerd, widow of the apartheid architect Hendrick Verwoerd. In particular, he tried to make the Afrikaner community feel welcome in South Africa. Mandela was severely criticised in some quarters for this approach but it was probably the best approach to take in a divided society such as South Africa. We cannot under-estimate the impact of apartheid and colonialism before that on our society. We have been divided for so long, and we have so many prejudices and misconceptions about each other. The only way we are going to deal with these prejudices and misconceptions and prejudices is by talking about it to each other. In my very humble opinion, this was where Thabo Mbeki went wrong – a lesson that Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma should learn. Talk with people, but more importantly, listen to people. Mandela always used to give the impression that he was listening to people. He would make you feel like you are the only person in the world when you spoke to him, even if the room was full of people. I was fortunate to be editor of the Cape Times while Mandela was President and interacted with him probably at least 20 times. My interactions with Mbeki, when he took over as President, could be counted on one hand.
by this young man who had been personally chosen by Oliver Tambo to become President of the ANC, and by extension the country, at some point. Everybody seemed to be charmed by this pipesmoking diplomat who could speak authoritatively about so many interesting topics and who enjoyed fine whiskies. Mbeki also, ironically, always played a key role in communication for the ANC in exile, and communication is one of the areas where he is accused of failing. That Mbeki eventually developed an image for being aloof is probably the potential subject of a doctorate. At what point did this amenable diplomat turn into the lonely and aloof person that many people perceive him to be? How much of this image is self-inflicted and how much of it is deserved? The pressure will of course be immense on President Motlanthe to deliver and to be different to Mbeki, but also to bring back some of the hallmarks of Mandela’s presidency. Is this necessarily a bad thing? Or has our country slipped backwards so much that it is important enough for us to revisit what was good about the Mandela years? My belief is that many South Africans got so caught up in the euphoria of the “new” South Africa that we did not interrogate some of the issues that had dogged this country for so long. We so desperately wanted to be a success that we did not want to deal with the issues that could scupper this success. For instance, we did not talk enough about issues of race and racism, about what it means to truly transform our country and the best ways to do so, and what are the requirements to be considered excellent in an environment where the global community is getting smaller and smaller by the day. We did not quite examine the damage done by our apartheid legacy or how long it would take to undo this damage. In some ways, we felt that, because of our past, we deserved a special place in the international community. After all, we were South Africa, we had just gotten rid of apartheid, one of the most vexed problems in the world. And we had Nelson Mandela, considered by many to be the greatest statesman of the 20th Century. Surely all of this made us special?
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OPINION Mandela was the quintessential “people’s President”. One of my recollections is when we had invited Mandela to visit the offices of Independent Newspapers, home of the Cape Times. We had tried to keep his visit quiet, but word soon leaked out that he was in the building. When he left the building, a few hundred people had congregated outside. Despite being warned by his security, Mandela made a beeline for the assembled people and greeted several with his customary: “How are you? So good to see you.” Mbeki’s major failure, in my opinion, is that he discouraged debate and created an environment of fear. People around him feared telling him the truth about what was happening in our society. Instead they told him what they thought he wanted to hear. President Motlanthe would do well to revisit the commitment made by Mandela a month or so before he became President of South Africa. It is important, for the growth of our society, to encourage vigorous debate. The more we listen to contrary viewpoints, the more we could potentially learn and the more our country could potentially grow. What happened at Polokwane in December last year was good for our democracy. Branch members of the ANC decided to depose a sitting president who had made himself available for another term. But the nature of the debate at that ANC conference was cause for concern. There was clearly little intention to listen to the other side. What has been worrying about the ANC under Jacob Zuma has been the reinforcement of cultural and sometimes even tribal identities. It is worrying when the most important fact about a person’s identity is that s/he is “100 percent Zulu”. What should matter is that the person is South African and that the person is committed to making our democracy work. Whether one is Zulu, Xhosa or Sotho should not be the most important thing. Elevating cultural and tribal identities to primary identities often betrays a lack of tolerance of other cultures. What role can business play in all of this? During the dark days of apartheid, there were many progressive business people who sought out the views of the ANC and others opposed to the government of the day. These same business people put pressure on the National
Party government to talk to the ANC and to move towards the resolution of the problems in our country. Over the past 10 or more years, we have seen how business has forsaken that role. Business needs to ask critical questions of government and the ruling party. They need to make sure that the growth of our country and our economy remains the priority of government and the ruling party. They need to hold government and the ruling party to the commitment made by Nelson Mandela in March 1994, that the ANC would welcome robust debate. Business needs to use its economic might to point out to the ruling party the folly of creating a culture of fear and of elevating cultural and tribal identities to primary identities. One often hears business people saying that they are not interested in politics. However, politics permeates every part of our society and has the potential to impact on every part of our society. It is so easy for a ruling party, and especially one who is elected by a huge majority, to become arrogant and out of touch with the electorate. It is up to the business community to help keep the ruling party in check, to help the ruling party stay in touch with the electorate. It is not easy going up against a government and a ruling party, especially when one depends on them for contracts, but it needs to happen in the interest of our democracy and in the interest of the country. I am not advocating a situation of criticising government for the sake of criticism. Rather, I am trying to encourage a situation where, before things go wrong, business people need to warn government and the ruling party that things are going to go wrong. It is not good enough just to praise the ruling party for the things they are doing right – and there are many – it is also important to point out their mistakes. This needs to happen in the interest of the country and not in the interest of individuals. It is essential that we return to the situation where business people and others concerned about our democracy are able to make their voices heard without fear of repercussion. This, I believe, will be the greatest gift that we would be able to give to Nelson Mandela and his legacy.
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90 The Nelson Mandela Years
thE NELSON mandela years
It also features independent editorial in which important writers reflect in new and in interesting ways upon Madiba’s living legacy to all of us. 90 The Nelson Mandela Years is therefore a necessary and a vital component in the written record of Madiba’s great contribution firstly to South Africa, to its greatness and to its business prosperity, but also to the international community of nations.
90
Yes, a great deal has been written about Nelson Mandela, especially in this, the year of his 90th birthday. And so the question can be legitimately asked: is there either space or need for yet another tribute commemorating the life and the achievements of this great man? By way of an answer, the publishers of this publication invite you to take a look inside it – indeed, to take some time to review its contents. The publication consists of 45 messages from companies and other organisations that wish to place on record their special sense of appreciation to Madiba for his creation of the environment in which business in South Africa - deep in the doldrums in the late 80s and in the early 90s – could recover, and finally take its place in the global business community. In the post-apartheid euphoria, we quickly came to forget that, right up to 1992, it was not “business as usual” in South Africa - in fact - that business South Africa had already long since gone into terminal decline. The return to a state of normalcy, which was also a return to the many good things that business does – deliver products and services to eager consumers, create employment, pay taxes and dividends , grow international market share, and help create South Africa’s competitive advantage amongst nations – is something we tend to take for granted. But the fact that business could return to normalcy is in overwhelming measure attributable to the role Mandela played, and this publication exists to provide a platform to allow organisations to recollect their debt to Madiba, and to thank him for what he has done for business South Africa.
Contributors Elleke Boehmer R y l a n d Fi s h e r Pe t e r Jo y c e C l ay t o n Swa r t
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THE NELSON MANDELA YEARS