Listening to the silent majority

[52]

Moeketsi Shai (31), director of the Black Management Forum, shared with me his insight in the struggle for liberation. He explained that a mentality was developing among blacks to simply fight for their basic democratic rights. The Black Management Forum, of which he is director, was founded 12 years ago. Of the estimated 15 000 black managers in South Africa today, some 1 500 opted for BMF membership. The number, he said, was steadily growing. The British publication The Economist estimated that a third of the middle managers in South Africa were now non-white.^34.

Shai: ‘People began to fight for liberation within their own arenas. We have lately seen a lot of black professional organisations coming up. Why? Because people are beginning to say, I am ready to fight within the framework of my own professional club. As a result of this development, we now see also the international community play its phase in the South African struggle for liberation. The international world is playing an important role. In the sport arena, the outside community has already participated for a long time. Now, they have moved into the economic sector. They are also getting engaged in social activities, providing education and scholarships to black students from South Africa. So, the international community is playing an increasingly important role.’

Shai continued: ‘I see sanctions, and all these moves, as part of our struggle. The consequences of each phase of our fight for liberation are very costly. It is irrelevant what country you are in. The students that

34. The British Economist, May 20, 1989, p 19

[p. 64]

fought apartheid in 1976 are the testimony of all these consequences. Some died. Some skipped South Africa. Some are still running away from the system today. Some spend their lives in and out of prison. These are all consequences of one phase of the armed struggle. You join the armed wing of the ANC, the PAC or whatever. What are the consequences?’

He supplied his own answer to this question. ‘People will die. All the rhetoric about sanctions, that this will cause blacks to starve can be summed up as follows: the war of liberation will cause blacks to starve. Poor education has also caused blacks to starve. Tell me, what is the difference? The entire sanctions debate is an undeniable part of the struggle. It is just like an automobile, like one wheel is added to the struggle for freedom.’

I was intrigued by Moeketsi's thinking. He is just over 30 years old. He had never been outside the country, which led me to ask, ‘Your personality could be called a compliment to South African educational processes.’ This he laughed off. ‘My mother was a teacher. My father was a teacher. Since 1978. I taught myself part-time physics and mathematics, because I very much believe, that what I have learned, I should share as much as possible with the next generation.’

‘Input through proper education remains the key,’ I said. ‘Your BMF can talk till doomsday about black empowerment, yet, how can you achieve your goal with untrained minds?’ ‘I said the same thing this weekend during a discussion,’ replied Moeketsi, ‘In order to empower our people, we have got to follow a very strong educational track. And, by education, I don't mean, of course, getting people to read or write.’ ‘Output depends entirely on input,’ I ventured and my friend replied, ‘That indeed is the sole key to black empowerment. Economical empowerment, to get control of the means of production does demand trained minds, skilled labour and employing the best brains available. Black brains we got. We need to train them.’