CEOs tell it like it is to Mr Do Nothing

One of the weirdest things about Africa is that we produce good business leaders yet suffer under the yoke of poor politicians. Just this month, the cream of our high street — Ralph Mupita (MTN), Sim Tshabalala (Standard Bank) and Nombasa Tsengwa (Exxaro) — have been on full display as their companies were on the investment circuit, presenting company results and related announcements.

While investors at Tsengwa’s Exxaro are rubbing their hands with glee in anticipation of great earnings, Mupita and Tshabalala this week delivered telling blows about the negative state of the country.

Mupita, group CEO of MTN, warned that South Africa could become a failed state. “I’m not saying we’re there [yet] but inaction could lead us there.”

Mupita is a highly regarded businessman in Africa, leading its largest telecom company based on revenue and number of users. He is surrounded by an astute executive layer and board, and enjoys continental exposure, helping him to authoritatively tell the difference between a country on the up and a floundering one.

South Africa is in the latter category.

Mupita’s alert came after another warning alarm from Tshabalala, Standard Bank Group CEO. Tshabalala is surrounded by great leaders in his group and board.

Leaders such as Lungisa Fuzile, CEO of SBSA, enjoy recognition in both “high street and Wall street”. Standard Bank recently appointed former Deloitte Africa CEO Lwazi Bam to its board, representing a coup.

There is plenty of leadership potential in

South Africa. There is no reason people like Dikgang Moseneke, the best chief justice we never had, could not be roped in for a genuine discussion about our future.

Thinking that President Cyril Ramaphosa can help us is to be misguided. He is not interested and is unable to free himself from the clutches of the ANC. The party is long broken, like a boat off the Horn of Africa taken over by pirates. Its control of the state can only lead to more pain for South Africa and the continent at large.

This week, it was officially announced that presidential political adviser Bejani Chauke had resigned from his post but would somehow carry on working in the presidency — for free.

It’s madness, isn’t it? What is odd is that someone like him existed at all, as the president has been in desperate need of political advice. Then he quits but chooses to work for no pay.

The risk is that he will use his continuing official proximity to the most powerful man in the land to bolster his private activities. This arrangement demonstrates an enormous lack of awareness at the highest levels of the Presidency.

Meanwhile, the perception of Rampahosa as Mr Do Nothing is growing across the business sector, but the fear of what or who may come after him cripples the mind.

We fear for worse when Ramaphosa goes. But the question needs to be seen differently. Having an uninterested leader at the helm is not moving South Africa forward. Instead, it creates false hope.

This situation renders the country vulnerable to further state capture and other negative consequences that could prove worse than the Zuma years.

Business is well positioned to contribute to determining our future. In no election since 1994 has the ANC faced the realistic prospect of falling below 50%. With a year or so to the next elections, it is possible that a scandal or two could drag it down further. And it’s possible that several political parties could gang up on the ANC and form a minority government.

In addition, there’s a scenario in which the ANC needs the EFF or DA as coalition partner. Either permutation has potentialy troubling outcomes.

What is guaranteed is more uncertainty and even volatility. Ramaphosa will have been at the helm for six years when next year’s elections come. That’s ample time to have turned the party into a better electoral choice.

But he has not. Instead, he has spent his time as an investment envoy — a Zakumi of some sort — trying to sell a structurally declining country.

Seeds of serious discord are being sown in the current period. In the not so distant future we will be talking about two wasted decades instead of the ruinous nine years — five of which he was part of — of his predecessor, he who does not deserve a name.

History will be harsh on Ramphosa. So will it be on business leaders who worship at the altar of false dawns. As big business considers which parties to fund, realism and pragmatism may be more appropriate than hard positions based on hope.