🔒 Boardroom Talk: When despondency on SA’s corruption hits, see perspective for the young democracy.

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By Alec Hogg

When despondency sets in over examples of blatant corruption in South Africa, one way of retaining sanity is through perspective. My point of departure is that SA is a young democracy. And that any society requires time to mature. Especially where money is involved.

There are continuous reminders in one of my favourite and most often-referenced books, Engines That Move Markets by Alasdair Nairn. I imported my copy via Amazon. Good news for those attending BNC#5 is Exclusive Books will bring a few copies to the event which will be available for sale at their Drakensberg pop-up shop. 

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Among many stories Nairn shares that provide context for us in SA is the battles fought by Alexander Graham Bell whose company went to court against hundreds of copy-cats. Among its challengers was the Pan-Electric Company which claimed to have invented the telephone before Bell, but whose case was later shown to be ”about 1% inspiration and 99% tracing paper.”

The Pan-Electric company relied exclusively on political influence – it spread equity among prominent politicians most notably 10% to one Augustus Garland, who was President Cleveland’s Attorney General. Garland himself, as AG, filed for an annulment of Bell’s patents. Truth prevailed in court; Garland and Pan-Electric’s scheme was exposed. That was in 1886 – 110 years into the US’s democratic era. 

SA is not quite 30 years into its democracy, and we haven’t seen anything quite so blatant. Small mercies……And context. 

The founder and leader of Action SA is confident his party will benefit hugely from a silent revolution among ‘gatvol’ South Africans who had previously never bothered to become registered voters. Herman Mashaba says his party’s army of volunteers is helping thousands of previously apathetic citizens sign up – a factor he says is ignored in recent polls which rates the party’s national support in low single digits. As evidence, he cites the 10% ActionSA polled in a recent by-election in rural Limpopo despite only entering the contest two months before the vote. The successful entrepreneur turned politician says the party has spread nationwide by drawing on the distribution strategy used to build his hugely successful BlackLikeMe business. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.

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