The legacies of colonial rule, both generally and in particular categories of colony, have and still continue to affect post-colonial economic development in Africa through the extraction of resources and illicit funds. The new agency for this is the “Corporation”, which has its origins in the East India Company sanctioned by Queen Elisabeth I as a royal charter. 

On the 18 July 2018 the world celebrated the international centennial anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth. It was a significant moment in history for us to pause and reflect on the intrinsic values exhibited by one of Africa’s greatest sons, our very own global leader and icon – Madiba.

The urgent need for South Africa’s rehabilitation may only begin with a united voice of the people that speaks and acts on behalf of all who live in the country and gives the highest priority to the elimination of a political regime that has gone rogue. As former minister of finance, Pravin Gordhan, said, “We did during apartheid, we can do it again”.

It was Michelangelo, the world famous sculptor, painter, architect and poet who once articulated that, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it”. All it required was imagination. So, join me in a journey of imagination about South Africa.

Minister Pravin Gordhan is a man of unshakeable will – one of the very few people within ANC family whose integrity is untouched - and sincerely believes that as a public servant he is obligated to fight for the soul of the nation.

If the South African political economy continues to be ‘privatised’ by large business, it will weaken the state through corruption and cronyism and undermine good governance and the rule of law. It will systematically deter new private investment, both foreign and domestic, and create obstacles to small and medium-sized enterprises, the backbone of any competitive economy.

The ‘gurus’ of South Africa’s business education sector need to learn to be increasingly adaptable – making sense of uncertainty and managing complexity. The qualities of openness, empathy, integrity and self-awareness should replace harmful elitist posturing.