By Pali Lehohla
FORMER president Thabo Mbeki, addressing the annual lecture of Tata Walter Sisulu last Saturday held at Walter Sisulu University, asked why our education system was failing us on the question of intergenerational equity and what was to be done.
From sports there are important lessons and these can be deployed to galvanise our national effort.
Jomo Sono wrote thus on the online platform in anticipation of the impending Africa Soccer Spectacular between Pitso Mosimane of Al Ahly and Arthur Zwane of Kaizer Chiefs, "Congragulation to two products of jomo cosmos Pitso Mosimane and Arthur Zwane. I was humbled last night. Now what is strange they are playing on the day i was born. God is great. Good luck boys, I am a proud father of a team called jomo cosmos".
By so saying he addressed a deep question of our political edifice and of intergenerational equity.
The UN committee of experts on public administration is wrestling with this matter as regards the 11 principles of good governance.
Africa has been entertained to a soccer spectacular under the leadership of an unfolding public policy question led by Pitso Mosimane.
When Arthur led Kaizer Chiefs to victory by beating Casablanca, it meant that Pitso as he leads Al Ahly against Chiefs, will face Arthur. Thus putting paid the Cape to Cairo metaphor and Jomo is deservedly pleased.
What then are the lessons for the decades gutter politic of our country? The relevant theme to reference for our systemic failures in our ever-floundering political system is what South African politics can learn from soccer club level leadership in South Africa.
The Bapedi say Khaka kholo sena mabala, ha e fofa e nts'o, mabala a na le likhakana, which translates into a deliberate ethos of implementing intergenerational equity through continuous development.
Black South Africa has one industry it created and excelled in. While the full value chain is not in its control, but the basic tenets for transforming it into full control of the value chain are in place; we can pride ourselves of how soccer as big industry driven by blacks can be poised even for higher stakes if our policy makers can wake up to this fact.
In this regard, Jomoand Kaizer stand out as innovators of all times. Crown jewels in industry and business leadership deploying superior technology to reach heights.
Jomo in the instance of Arthur versus Pitso on the Africa spectacular, represents a classical self-liquidating catalytic role. The question is how the value chain is captured end-to-end. It can be because of the organic unity of soccer with the historically oppressed of South Africa. It illustrates that by investing in the most disadvantaged of communities, not only hope, but material benefits accrue to those societies.
Soccer and sports relies on team and individual exertion with the world avidly assessing and critiquing. Unlike political parties whose soccer players are concealed deep and away from spectators, in soccer the evaluation is immediate, with remedy and consequence management immediately implemented and felt. That ensures integrity and continuous improvement in the players and the management of the system to the delight of South Africans.
In Jomo and Kaizer, we witness the proceeds of intergenerational equity in Pitso and Arthur and these are filtering with even bigger waves in the Cape to Cairo journey the two will be leading us into.
If only politics can learn from these authentic home-grown economic and governance lessons and plant them in organic systems such as education, South Africa would be different and can deliver the promise to Tata Walter Sisulu of intergenerational equity. The Bapedi knew better and these real leaders in soccer have grasped why intergenerational equity is an objective to live and die for.
Dr Pali Lehohla is the former Statistician General and the former head of Statistics South Africa. Meet him at www pie.org and @Palilj01
*The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL or of title sites
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