If you want to fix the world, fix the men first

Mark Lamberti Picture: Simphiwe Mbokazi/African News Agency/ANA.

Mark Lamberti Picture: Simphiwe Mbokazi/African News Agency/ANA.

Published Apr 22, 2018

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Those concerned with the total emancipation of women in corporate South Africa must have developed a keenly observant eye on the oppressive events that manifest themselves from time to time in our country.

Notable is the adverse judgment which was delivered by the North Gauteng High Court early this month against Mark Lamberti, who is now the former Group chief executive of Imperial Holdings Limited.

One of the founding cornerstones of our democracy is to build a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society for the benefit of all South Africans. This democratic society was envisaged to ensure that your skin colour is not used as a determinant on whether you are destined for a progressive or miserable life in poverty.

Former president Thabo Mbeki once alluded in his State of the Nation Address in 2008 that, “the fundamentals that have informed our country’s forward march remain in place. They continue to provide us with a strong base from which we must proceed as we keep our eyes firmly focussed on the continued pursuit of the goal of a better life for all our people”.

The most unfortunate utterances that are attributed to Lamberti as cited in the North Gauteng High Court judgment have actually broken the camel’s back.

A reference to Chowan by Lamberti that she’s a “female and an employment equity” candidate pierced the corporate veil and posited precisely his posture on women empowerment and racial transformation in the workplace.

As the Bible says in Luke: “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart”.

Whether Lamberti in retrospect regrets his unfortunate utterances made to Chowan, South Africans now know where his heart is located on the plight of black women and black executives, their lack of representation within senior and executive management levels in corporate South Africa.

Perhaps a message to Lamberti and mini-Lambertis is that racial and gender discrimination in the workplace can no longer be tolerated.

The Black Management Forum argued in its press statement on the Lamberti judgment that, “business plays a critical and significant role in our society” and went on to suggest that, “we cannot let the scourge of racial and gender discrimination be left unattended”.

This is a call to every inhabitant in our land, business and civil society to play their role in addressing the oppression of black women in corporate South Africa. It is true that democracy transformed our country into a purposeful state hence it is important to refuse attempts by the likes of Lambertis to drag us backwards.

This Lamberti case seeks to challenge us as a nation and the female sphere in the corporate sector to articulate to the male sphere in particular Lamberti and many mini-Lambertis out there with fragile masculine egos that resistance on race, gender discrimination and sexual harassment will forever be amplified for as long as they are not a business imperative.

In addition, the fight against these atrocities will always be justified for as long as conversations on how best to deal with race, gender discrimination and sexual harassment that’s directed at women employees, is not on the table.

It must be noted, sadly, that above all, women are not merely differentiated from men but also subordinated to men as a class.

It is apparent in South Africa today that the subjugation of women as a class is underpinned by unequal career growth opportunities into senior and top management positions and unequal access to the means of production.

The extreme masculinity that’s waged by white males over career ambitions and progression of black women within corporate South Africa must be condemned as it seeks to drag us away from a future that speaks in a forward direction.

Thomas Sankara, the late Marxist revolutionary, a

pan-Africanist and late president of Burkina Faso argued that, “inequality can be done away with only by establishing a new society, where men and women will enjoy equal rights, resulting from an upheaval in the means of production and in all social relations”.

“Thus, the status of women will improve only with the elimination of the system that exploits them.”

The workforce profile at the top management level by gender, shows female employee numbers have been tracking significantly lower than male employee numbers as reported by the Commission for Employment Equity.

The calls by many sections of our society asking Lamberti to step down from all positions of authority that he holds are justified.

This is the background that has augmented the public outcry that it will be inconceivable to have Mr Lamberti sits on any board or position of authority when he holds such discriminatory views against black women executives.

The deeply held attitudes and beliefs on the potential of women, in particular black women in corporates, seeks to perpetrate economic inequality to say the least.

The dominant economic models and company structures which have seen women concentrated for many years in relatively low paying positions compared to their male counterparts must be dismantled.

It’s often argued that if you want to fix the world, fix men first.

This holds true given the entrenched patriarchal forms in our business society which, if left unattended, we could be denying ourselves of the knowledge that’s vital to business sustainability and that is the value of diverse views.

The objectification of black women in the workplace and recasting their experiences to serve the interest of white males perpetuates the masculinity world view that fosters her subordination.

Perhaps now is the time that we put women’s experiences at the centre of the analysis pact that offers fresh insights to the prevailing political, business and economic challenges.

The racial, gender discrimination and sexual harassment that is waged against women in the workplace needs a humane business society that will create new possibilities that will help women to explore and display their talents and skills without fear of failure or being judged.

The dictum of women empowerment within the corporate South Africa and equal participation of both males and females in the prevailing economic and business structures will inevitable address the issues of conceptualisation power. This power refers to the inherent strength and energy that’s personified in a female sphere and their utmost sense of family and community development.

Real empowerment efforts will also include rejecting all dimensions that perpetuate the objectification and dehumanisation of women employees within corporates.

This cannot be addressed solely by policies but by a responsible company leadership attitude and corporate systems that see black women as equal players in business and the companies they work for, as argued by the Black Management Forum.

Efforts by President Cyril Ramaphosa in bringing women into the fold must be commendable as seen when he appointed Khusela Diko as his spokesperson and now the recent appointments of Phumzile Langeni and Trudi Makhanya into his investment team.

Perhaps this is something for corporates to emulate.

* Wonci is the managing director of the Black Management Forum.

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