ISMAIL LAGARDIEN: Message to investors: say hello, and then wave Kubayi
The ANC’s transformation chief has corporate investment back to front in her ignorance
It would be impolite to describe the ANC’s head of economic transformation, Mmamoloko Kubayi, in words that I use around the house — like when I stub my toe or knock my knee against something in the dark. The best I can do after comments attributed to Kubayi — for business to “invest unconditionally” — is to describe them as ill-informed, misguided, ignorant and dangerous.
I would like to put on my clever-people cap, sit her down and explain how corporate investment works, especially the power relations that shape negotiations around foreign direct investment (FDI). Of course, I may be accused of “mansplaining”, “undermining black excellence” or “treating an African woman with disrespect”, but Kubayi represents the liberation movement that governs SA (the one that brought the country close to the event horizon of a massive black hole), and whatever she says in her capacity as “head of economic transformation” ought to be taken seriously. The future of future generations is a...
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