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Comment by teramai makumbe on March 22, 2012 at 11:05am

Very interesting. I still remember learning these lessons at the Peter Bloch seminar, it is very practical. We have lot to learn from these guys.

Comment by Admin FSSA on March 22, 2012 at 10:12am

More interesting was the speech he gave on the 8th of March 2012 during Gibbs Graduation in Illovo.

Exact quote: 

The reason why I’m standing here is directly connected to my involvement in the South African transition two decades ago. I was privileged to be at the coal face of the South African process for seven years from 1989 to 1996 – from start to end, without missing a day.

I’m speaking to you, the next generation of leaders, some of you already in leadership positions others on your way there. I think I was asked to speak to share some of the lessons we have learned during the remarkable change from apartheid to democracy – an achievement which is still regarded as a benchmark globally for peaceful settlement of conflict.  That is however history and it is therefore rather my desire to share with you how I think we can utilise some of those lessons in the current and future environments which we live and work in.

I’m still convinced that there were three principles or key factors that helped us to overcome the impossible and to reach settlement: inclusiveness, trust building and ownership. There were many more – Fink Haysom who was one of the co-authors of our constitution once recorded 42 factors that were key to our success. But, I maintain that if it were not for these three we would have struggled a long time longer to reach settlement. I also say this because of the international experience in other conflicts around the world.

So how can we make use of these three factors in meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow?

Inclusiveness:  what it meant during our time of negotiations was that it helped us to bring everyone to the negotiating table and thereafter to follow a transparent process in which every South African became part. The result was a confluence of ideas and acceptance of the product (the new constitution) to the extent that it didn’t even require a referendum to find approval for the constitution.

If we do apply the same criteria today we might make bigger strides towards nation building, developing a collective interest, finding common ground on matters like job creation, economic growth and the eradication of poverty. During that period it was never a question of us and them but in the same room we became equals. I read in some of today’s statements by individuals and organisations dividedness instead of inclusiveness. This is taking us back to apartheid era politics instead of ubuntu politics. We have a collective responsibility to stop such talk.

But, we also often today hear the call for an economic codesa, which I read as a positive reflection on what worked in the past. My own reaction to that is that we should rather look at the process which established the Peace Accord of 1991 – a document that is often overlooked in terms of its value in the South African settlement. The main point is that it was a process led by civil society and business in which government and political parties participated and which resulted in an agreement on how to address political violence in SA at that stage. We need the same concept today to address economic growth and job creation.

Comment by Admin FSSA on March 22, 2012 at 10:09am

Trust building:  this aspect addressed the human factor during the negotiations  - the one of mutual respect that led to mutual understanding and then mutual trust. It was not an easy road if one thinks about the distance and anger that prevailed for so long in our society prior to the change - in fact it had been there for three hundred years. It still remains amazing that we have succeeded in breaking down the distrust and replaced it with a sense of belonging to each other. This happened at the personal level through mutual relationships that developed and at the national level through the agreements we had signed.

Have we lost something of this notion on the way here? Maybe not, but let us concentrate on the spirit of engaging with each other, to soften our attitudes towards each other instead of looking for the differences in each other and to finally eradicate the notion of superiority versus inferiority which was the paradigm that dictated apartheid thinking.

Inter-connectedness is a prime driver in the business environment of today and I would suggest that we can take lessons from our own past in developing best practice models for this. I suppose social media in particular creates such creative opportunities, as we have already started to see in business marketing and competition.

Ownership:  During our negotiations and the transition that followed we were particularly focused on taking responsibility for our own process and its outcome. That means that we took ownership for creating the model for the negotiations, the ongoing challenges we had to face to keep the process on track, the content of the negotiations and the desired result.

I still get goose bumps when I think of the daunting challenges we had to go through simply because we had to rely on each other to produce success: there were no facilitators or mediators, just us. But, that helped to ensure commitment and focus, a desire to achieve, it made us target orientated and decisive. It helped to develop confidence and to raise the levels of competence.

When I notice the sense of entitlement that comes across nowadays I’m getting worried: simply because that demonstrates the exact opposite of ownership. I really think we should have an inclusive debate on the need for a mental shift: what it is that all of us can contribute in a spirit of owning our destiny?

But, let me not leave you on a negative note, I remain the eternal optimist: South Africa is one of the most dynamic environments on earth. We have everything to go for and most of all our people. If we succeed in giving the right leadership we as a country can perform according to our potential. Our leaders of two decades ago from politics, business and civil society brought about a miracle through their dedication and hard work, against all expectations. It’s now the time for the next generation.  

 

Comment by Sakhile on March 20, 2012 at 1:05am

cul, wonder what change and how much of it uncle cyril would bring to south africa as mr prez!

Comment by teramai makumbe on March 16, 2012 at 12:10pm

so inspiring, thanks for this interview.

Comment by Roelf Meyer on March 16, 2012 at 10:57am

I really enjoyed my time in Upington and Pabalello. I was inspired by the young leaders like Colin, Bashin, Captain, Douglas and others. Keep it up.