Listening to the silent majority

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Journalist and assistant editor of The Sowetan, Sam Mabe, knew both professor NC Manganyi and psychiatrist Solly Rataemane well. He expressed the general view that they were the type of leaders who have a very important role to play in the resolution of South Africa's problems. Too many people tend to believe that ostentatious politicians who catch the headlines are in fact leaders. This is not so. There are countless black intellectuals and professionals in a variety of fields, who do not consider themselves as leaders, but are leading already, whether they are aware of it or not. They are leading by the research or intelligent

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work they are carrying out in their respective fields. They are actually contributing in their own quiet and modest ways to a future South Africa. They do not recognize themselves as leaders. They are often not even aware of the important roles they already play. Suddenly, it seems that ever more people are discovering that South Africa is indeed producing an authentic wealth in leadership represented in the brains of the Manganyis, Rataemanes and others I have spoken to in this report. From talking to Sam Mabe, and others, I gathered the distinct impression that moderates who use their brains do not necessarily want to do away with some non-violent policies followed by the anc, pac, udp, azapo or others. They are saying that these organisations should buy some of their ideas. ‘We are of the opinion that we should be grooming and educating future leaders, instead of burning the country down.^72. It's genuine leaders we need in this country. We need people who are intelligent and can do things properly. There are revolutionaries now who are ready to flatten the country in order to obtain black feedom. We say to them, ‘If that is the route you want to follow, fine, but you have got to be aware, that at some stage in the future, when peace breaks out, you will still need leaders. Somebody will have to lead this country. When are we going to prepare ourselves for that?’

‘There are people who solemnly believe in revolutionary change,’ they would tell me. ‘There are equally sincere people who believe in evolutionary change. We say to both of them, “Okay, but some day you will need negotiators to be empowered by the people. Future leaders need to be groomed with information and knowledge. Our future negotiators must develop the strength to know how to negotiate on behalf of the people. One shouldn't be dispatched to the negotiating table unprepared, resulting in nothing but shouting empty slogans and hurling insults at people. Future leaders must be properly supplied with facts, with solid and sound information, so that they are fully equipped to properly and intelligently support their arguments. That is the kind of brain power future negotiators need. Only then we can speak of empowerment of the people all the way. This is what we are saying. This is what we are preaching. Everybody needs to develop skill to think, to reason, to argue and to negotiate, whether you are in the anc, the udf, Inka-

72. I asked them what they meant by the word ‘we’ and they explained it meant the majority of the black South African masses and the view they took

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tha, wherever. Once you are in a position of leadership, you need to develop the necessary skills. And we are saying, let's begin to develop and apply these skills now”.’

Conscious and unconscious interaction is an inevitable result of all human encounters. In interacting, people constantly perform, endeavouring to project a favourable image of themselves while at the same time having to process the information coming their way. Students of social skills say that all humans are in need of cognitive and behavioural skills. Each person needs to be able to place himself in the other's position, be prepared to improvise, and adapt to the circumstances when necessary, in order to convey the desired image. I guess this is what Sam Mabe and other serious-minded blacks were talking about: the need to teach the young the art of communication between individuals, groups and organisations, including those that are predominantly white. Negotiation is actually an every-day occurrence between people. All social encounters undergo subtle forms of manipulation or ‘negotiation’.^73.

I support the Sam Mabes for training young blacks to negotiate concessions and compromise. It's what Mayor Mothlaping advocated during the first few lines of this report. There is no way for South Africa other than to negotiate. However, formal negotiations between parties are embedded in a complex system of rules and relationships, and in South Africa, negotiators have an added component to reckon with: the customary way of performing, which has been determined and firmly established along racially-oriented lines.

73. Some of the information used here was taken from pp 508-510 of The Oxford Companion of the Mind