A letter from Business Report reader Richard Gruning.
Can Africa be saved from itself? The short answer is NO. Why would this be so? After all, Africa is the resource-richest continent, it should be at least in striking distance with the rest of the world with regard to living standards.
But Africa has one major draw-back that none of the other continents have: a selfish and corrupt leadership class. Most of Africa has been released from the perceived colonial bondage for more than half a century now.
Population growth is explosive, but development is spectacularly lacking, in some countries more than others. Part of Africa was at war with itself for decades.
Are the African people inferior? Are they not as inventive as others elsewhere? One may come to that conclusion, but it would be completely wrong.
There are as many competent and incompetent people in Africa as there are elsewhere. That is not the issue.
The problem lies with the leadership class. They are concerned only about retaining power and having access to all the goodies that go with such a position. African leaders, as a rule, are not interested in uplifting their own people. For a simple reason.
Keeping them uneducated will not allow them to escape from poverty, and people trapped in poverty are very easily manipulated. This is very evident in South Africa. Amazingly, those people will normally support the political organisation responsible for their plight. That’s why “keeping them stupid” works well. Being in charge gives the ruling group direct access to state resources which can be looted for the benefit of the members of the group.
Most African states are nominally a democracy, with regular elections. In many instances those election are rigged, as happened in Zimbabwe a few years ago.
It was clear that the opposition had won, but Mugabe was not willing to hand over power. But the fact of losing the election, in spite of many shenenigans by the ruling party, so shocked Mugabe and his henchmen that they were unable, for several weeks, to come up with a suitable spin.
When they eventually did it was decided that new elections were to be held. By now they had their ducks in a row and the result of a Mugabe victory was announced within hours of the election booths closing. Mugabe has been supported by the likes of Thabo Mbeki and the presidents of the SADC countries. This underscores my point: African leaders do not care one bit about their own people, only about themselves and about each other.
Angola is another case of corruption on a massive scale. It is a very large oil producer. And while the country was engaged in a civil war for decades, peace has now been restored for at least a decade. Oil revenues are substantial. But very little has been spent on infrastructure developement, which should be a high priority after the destruction of the civil war.
South Africa is hardly any better. After the transition and Mandela’s presidency the situation deteriorated to an alarming degree under the leaders that followed Madiba. While Thabo Mbeki does not seem to have benefitted personally from some large-scale dodgy deals, under his presidency the ground rules for major corruption were developed. It will only change when Africa produces a new leader of the stature of a Nelson Mandela.
It is a tragedy indeed that Mandela could not influence the direction of the continent due to being incarcerated. It is time that a new groundswell is created, an “African Spring” if you will. That Africans themselves will stand up against their corrupt and incompetent, selfish leaders and demand education first. Otherwise there is no hope for Africa.
Unless there is change, the release from colonial rule, some sixty years ago, will have been nothing more than the end of one system of suppression “by others” and the beginning of another one “by their own”. The new one substantially more brutal than the colonial one, considering the change in awareness and the much more enlightened state of the world. Now Africans are being suppressed by other Africans.
That seems to make it more acceptable, even in the eyes of Africans themselves.
Africa is the only continent that uses a permanent begging bowl. Is this not embarassing for the leaders of Africa?
Are there none that would work together for the upliftment of the people of Africa, that would put pressure on rogue leaders such as Mugabe and many of his ilk? Are there no men/women of honour?
If such people do not emerge soon then there is no hope for Africa.
Richard Gruning
Jet Park