We’ve heard experts say the president has a prerogative to appoint and dismiss whomever he/ she pleases. The notable condition being that those appointed should consent to taking an oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the Republic. The less said about how we perceive some to have carried out that oath, the better, for each tree is and shall be known by its own fruit. Some grape trees, among the appointed, bear thorns instead of luscious fruit. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 31 March 2017.

My interest in discussing the reshuffle is not about the merits and demerits of the change itself and ministers appointed and dismissed, but more about drawing parallels in the business world, we owners of small, yet growing businesses can learn.

We, the citizens, are shareholders to the entity called South Africa Inc. Our shareholding is owing to rights granted to us as written in the Freedom Charter, which says:

“We, the People of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know: that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people; that our people have been robbed of their birthright to land, liberty and peace by a form of government founded on injustice and inequality; that our country will never be prosperous or free until all our people live in brotherhood, enjoying equal rights and opportunities; that only a democratic state, based on the will of all the people, can secure to all their birthright without distinction of colour, race, sex or belief; And therefore, we, the people of South Africa, black and white together – equals, countrymen and brothers – adopt this Freedom Charter. And we pledge ourselves to strive together, sparing neither strength nor courage, until the democratic changes here set out have been won.”

We understand that political parties in parliament act more like board of directors. As Members of Parliament (MPs), their responsibility is to promote, among others, our interests through the governance of South Africa Inc.. Ordinarily, as shareholders, we exercise our will through votes at set times, but the Chief Executive (the President) works with Directors on the Board (MPs) to provide leadership and ratify important decisions for implementation.

In the morning of Friday, 31 March 2017, one of the senior leaders belonging to “the group of the Board of Directors working with the Team of Executives leading different aspects of South Africa Inc.” Mr Gwede Mantashe, admitted on Talk Radio 702’s Breakfast Show hosted by Xolani Gwala, that the President (Chief Executive) never held a detailed discussion with the Party’s leadership[1] about the list of names of ministers he wanted to appoint.

The Chief Executive Officer of SA Inc. is thus accused of having made a unilateral decision that required prior Board Sub-Committee resolution to be effected. Considering the Market’s reaction to the news, the decision is considered too risky and its adverse economic impact does not seem to have peaked yet. We need to closely watch developments in the next few weeks and hope and pray for stability so we could remain focused in improving prospects for a better future.

Ladies and gentlemen, if indeed the President no longer wishes to involve his co-leadership team in making such decisions, we face a serious problem already. Depending on how one feels about the President’s move, we either have a regressive Board of Directors hindering the Chief Executive of SA Inc. from achieving successes much sought after by shareholders, or we have a Chief Executive that has gone “rogue”. I don’t know what we are really facing, save to say, such high-impact changes should, under normal circumstances, not have been carried out the way we are told they were.

The statement from the Presidency says the reshuffle is about having “[newly appointed ministers working] tirelessly with their colleagues to bring about radical socio-economic transformation and to ensure that the promise of a better life for the poor and the working class becomes a reality.”[2]

If indeed change was about this objective, why are we not given clear and specific goals the radical socio-economic transformation aims to deliver? As shareholders, why are we not taken into SA Inc. leadership confidence and told clearly what the strategy entails?

Any strategy that cannot be translated into simple and measurable outcomes cannot be managed and successfully delivered. Actually, lack of clarity creates room for obfuscation. Anything can be claimed as originally being the intended goal. Failures could also be explained away as unrelated to the strategy under implementation.

Objectives must be clearly defined. The articulation should be as clear as almost saying, “We would DO THIS and THIS BY DOING THIS and THAT.” And measurable goals should, likewise, be clearly specified as almost saying, “We plan to deliver SUCH QUANTITY of THIS and THAT by THIS DATE for SO and SO’s benefit at SUCH a PLACE.”

In that way, we would, as shareholders, be able to give our support and be involved in successfully delivering identified programmes. More concerning is details of the said radical socio-economic transformation are not disclosed to us the shareholders, not even to all SA Inc. directors, but are kept as top secret as if there is a risk of losing them to competition. Details are not given, and the strategy is defined using vague terms that mean different things to different people. To some, the term means everything and to others, nothing.

Maybe I am naïve. Perhaps details of such highly intensely transformative programmes are not meant to be published, but kept confidential for one reason or another.

But the democratic South Africa Inc. our greatest democratic Founders established is one premised on unity, understanding, selflessness, love, sacrifice and service to others among other principles. Any business run along such principles has a good foundation on which to build success. The antithesis of these founding principles cannot produce good fruits as envisioned by the Founders.

Implementation of major programmes bring with them complexities. These require starting change management interventions to ensure global acceptance of the programme, readying impacted people to expect and deal with adverse impact of the change, and continuing encouragement of affected people to ensure difficulties are overcome.

The recent leadership change coupled with the introduction of or emphasis placed on a change programme not well-known by many affected people are bound to backfire. Glaring errors should be corrected earlier. A house divided cannot stand. If it cannot stand, set goals cannot be achieved and failure would be inevitable.

We should thus brace ourselves for difficulties before us, not necessarily because there are faults with the programme of change our leaders embarked upon, but that the governance and approach taken to materialise this large complex programme are found wanting.

Retrofitting measures to win-over hearts and minds of affected people would not be easily and successfully implemented. The way out and best approach under such circumstances would be to acknowledge grave errors, halt the programme and humbly start the process afresh. But the situation we are in now, makes retreating difficult more so without grossly undermining confidence shareholders have in the Chief Executive.

As owners of small yet growing business outfits with intentions to corporatise them one day, let us keenly observe and take lessons from unfolding current socio-political situation. Aim is to reflect and draw parallels on how successes and failures in our political landscape can be applied in our business environment context.

While we can expect difficulties ahead, let us not be apathetic thinking our businesses would not experience similar difficulties in future, and that its context differs from the political one, and that we are more competent to resolve such issues in event of their occurrence than our political counterparts are currently handling social challenges.

Let us humble ourselves and accept lessons learned from the wisdom of SA Inc. Founders, to ensure our businesses are also founded on principles fostering unity, understanding, selflessness, love, sacrifice and service to others. In so doing, we too would be beneficiaries of that spirit and South Africa would truly be the light to the world.

[1] Refer to http://www.702.co.za/articles/250517/president-knows-anc-not-happy-with-cabinetreshuffle-mantashe (last accessed on Friday, 31 March 2017)

[2] Refer to: http://www.presidency.gov.za/press-statements/president-zuma-appoints-new-ministers-and-deputy-ministers (last accessed on 31 March 2017)