DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES
State firms fail as training ground for black professionals
Young, ambitious black South Africans have become alienated by the toxic politics of patronage that have ensnared state institutions, writes Trudi Makhaya
In the private sector, there are companies that are known as great training grounds for managerial and professional talent. Often, these places have rigorous recruitment processes and well thought-out development programmes, and embrace a culture of learning. McKinsey, SABMiller and, back in the day, Anglo American, have that reputation. In some Asian countries, such as Singapore and Japan, the public sector holds this reputation. In SA, the apartheid state achieved some effectiveness in using state-owned institutions, especially those we now know as state-owned enterprises (SOEs), to nurture the aspirations of its constituency. Organisations such as Eskom and Transnet not only pursued that regime’s developmental goals, they provided an avenue for ordinary men and women, notably Afrikaners, to gain skills and build careers. I am no fan of what I call neovolkskapitalisme, which manifests in "Broederbond envy" by certain sections of the black elite. As Sol Plaatje wrote about the pass...
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