WORLDVIEW: Understanding popularity of benevolent dictatorship – African style

A quarter century back, South Africa was flooded with futurists offering proposals for the way ahead. Clem Sunter, then at Anglo American, made his name by offering his famous High Road, Low Road suggestions. Most famous of them was sponsored by Old Mutual and Nedbank.

This offering, entitled SA: Prospects for a Successful Transition, was presented by the pioneer of scenario planning, former Shell Oil executive Pierre Wack and Harvard Business School's Bruce Scott. There were queues outside their sessions around the country, with almost 50,000 attending in person.

A recurrent theme in these scenarios was how the route to economic nirvana was best achieved through a "benevolent dictatorship". This was a system where an all-powerful leader had the ability to effect politically difficult structural changes. The argument was supported by numerous examples from history where dictatorial leadership delivered significant economic benefits.

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