BEE Favours The ‘Westernised’

I REFER to the opinion piece written by Dr Leake S Hangala (The Namibian, Friday, August 24 2007).

I think the Doctor mapped out the problems of the BEE system very well, cronyism, nepotism and racism. His solution to these inherent problems of BEE was not as clear – forgive me, I do not pun – transparency and an honest attempt at fair play.All very well Doctor, but can you guarantee that with all the transparency and fair play will come with competence? (The BEE track record in Namibia and South Africa is shockingly bad, not to mention Zimbabwe).And how is justice defined within the context of BEE? Is it just a matter of numbers – that is, until we have the proportion of black people in successful businesses as white people? The question in my mind is, will it ever end? Has it occurred to you, Doctor, that you might be trying to build the house of Namibia the wrong way up.One never builds from the roof down.One builds a house from the foundations up.The legacy of poverty in the black community is not limited to the apartheid past, as so many black southern Africans would have us believe.The legacy stems back much further than that.Cultural and political institutions come from a ‘world view’ and the most successful of these have come about through many millennia of culturisation in Western societies (there can be no argument here.it is manifestly so).To think that it is merely a matter of giving black people an ‘opportunity’ in the marketplace is misguided at best.The reason white people are wealthy and black people are not, is not because white people ‘own’ the means of production, and have kept black people away from ownership.It is because they (whites) ‘manage’ the means of production.Am I saying that black people cannot manage? No, I’m not.What I’m saying is that black people have a cultural legacy different to white people and because of this it is much more difficult for black people to compete.The truth is that BEE will only ever favour those black people who have ‘westernised’ – a small elite.For true justice for all the ‘redistribution’ of wealth must be broader based than the BEE system implies.I think this is where your analysis is most useful, Doctor.Government’s job in sophisticated democracies has always been to redistribute wealth.The best way to do this is to concentrate on those aspects of life that ‘create wealth’, such as education, housing, infrastructure such as water, power and the ease with which a man or woman can set up a business.In other words, getting rid of red tape.I think BEE will fail, not because black people are dumb, but because it is predicated upon false ideas.BEE is racist, elitist and unfair.BEE does not favour the most competent, but the most connected.To grow the economy so that the average man may have a job and prosper his family, the market must be set free.Laissez faire is absolutely imperative for business to prosper.Do not force business in to the mould of government, you cannot.In so doing you will pervert government and you will destroy business.Business creates wealth, Government distributes it.Primarily the redistribution of wealth is done through taxation and the spending of those dollars on the most needy in society.This calls for patience, perseverance and wisdom.With goodwill and patient perseverance, Namibia can prosper.The legacy that black people live with will not be gone in a generation, or even two.It will take much, much longer than that to change cultural values and a lot more courage and honesty than is presently being displayed by the black power elites.Thabo Mbeki once asked a packed conference of white business people how long the ‘dream could be deferred’? The question held an implied threat.My answer to the Mbeki’s of the world is stark, but true.The truth is that the dream can be deferred forever.It is a lack of black wisdom that will do it, not white greed.Andrew Wright AustraliaHis solution to these inherent problems of BEE was not as clear – forgive me, I do not pun – transparency and an honest attempt at fair play.All very well Doctor, but can you guarantee that with all the transparency and fair play will come with competence? (The BEE track record in Namibia and South Africa is shockingly bad, not to mention Zimbabwe).And how is justice defined within the context of BEE? Is it just a matter of numbers – that is, until we have the proportion of black people in successful businesses as white people? The question in my mind is, will it ever end? Has it occurred to you, Doctor, that you might be trying to build the house of Namibia the wrong way up.One never builds from the roof down.One builds a house from the foundations up.The legacy of poverty in the black community is not limited to the apartheid past, as so many black southern Africans would have us believe.The legacy stems back much further than that.Cultural and political institutions come from a ‘world view’ and the most successful of these have come about through many millennia of culturisation in Western societies (there can be no argument here.it is manifestly so).To think that it is merely a matter of giving black people an ‘opportunity’ in the marketplace is misguided at best.The reason white people are wealthy and black people are not, is not because white people ‘own’ the means of production, and have kept black people away from ownership.It is because they (whites) ‘manage’ the means of production.Am I saying that black people cannot manage? No, I’m not.What I’m saying is that black people have a cultural legacy different to white people and because of this it is much more difficult for black people to compete.The truth is that BEE will only ever favour those black people who have ‘westernised’ – a small elite.For true justice for all the ‘redistribution’ of wealth must be broader based than the BEE system implies.I think this is where your analysis is most useful, Doctor.Government’s job in sophisticated democracies has always been to redistribute wealth.The best way to do this is to concentrate on those aspects of life that ‘create wealth’, such as education, housing, infrastructure such as water, power and the ease with which a man or woman can set up a business.In other words, getting rid of red tape.I think BEE will fail, not because black people are dumb, but because it is predicated upon false ideas.BEE is racist, elitist and unfair.BEE does not favour the most competent, but the most connected.To grow the economy so that the average man may have a job and prosper his family, the market must be set free.Laissez faire is absolutely imperative for business to prosper.Do not force business in to the mould of government, you cannot.In so doing you will pervert government and you will destroy business.Business creates wealth, Government distributes it.Primarily the redistribution of wealth is done through taxation and the spending of those dollars on the most needy in society.This calls for patience, perseverance and wisdom.With goodwill and patient perseverance, Namibia can prosper.The legacy that black people live with will not be gone in a generation, or even two.It will take much, much longer than that to change cultural values and a lot more courage and honesty than is presently being displayed by the black power elites.Thabo Mbeki once asked a packed conference of white business people how long the ‘dream could be deferred’? The question held an implied threat.My answer to the Mbeki’s of the world is stark, but true.The truth is that the dream can be deferred forever.It is a lack of black wisdom that will do it, not white greed. Andrew Wright Australia