Seeking the Ethical Foundations of the South African Nation

Iraj Abedian · Reuel Khoza · Vuyo Mathlati · Yvonne Mokgoro · Itumelang Mosala · Shireen Motala · Bishop M. Malusi Mpumlwana · Fumani Mthembi · Joel Netshitenzhe · Sipho Pityana · Elelwani Ramugondo · Nompumelelo Runji · Jeffrey Sehume · Ashleigh Sibanda · Pedro Tabensky · Beulah Thumbadoo · Ria Vosloo · Edward Webster · Nonjabulo Zondi

2018年3月 · Real African Publishers Pty Ltd.

關於這本電子書

This book is the culmination of a project started by the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection five years ago. Its aim was to reflect on the past 23 years of South Africa’s young democracy with a view to understanding the ethical issues and challenges facing various sectors of our society today, and the extent to which ethics and values underpin the Constitution and National Development Plan (NDP) for the realisation of our freedoms. In pursuit of insight into those issues, MISTRA organised a workshop in December 2015 that included subject specialists. The findings from that workshop were then presented at a conference held at the Development Bank of Southern Africa in September 2016 with representatives of various stakeholders and sectors present. Inputs were given by scholars, activists and decision-makers and the papers offered thought-provoking ideas about what might constitute shared values and ethics to take South Africa forward into a more equitable, ethical and just future. This book aims to put the presentations and discussions at those events further into the public domain and simply records the contributions of the main speakers and respondents. Since those papers were delivered, however, revelations about unethical conduct in various economic, social and political corners have surfaced, ranging from state enterprises and sectors to some of South Africa’s most respected private corporations, and even some churches and sports groups. Across the spectrum, individuals and organisations have been involved in the squandering or theft of tens of billions of national revenue and savings. As this book goes to print, some five years after this project was begun, South Africans are seeking to deal with those revelations and to formulate comprehensive responses to them. The discussions in this book can have no end or neat answers. It is MISTRA’s hope that this publication will foster ongoing discussion and partnerships across society that will help us to deal with the challenges facing our nation.

關於作者

Dr Iraj Abedian is the founder and chief executive of Pan-African Investment and Research Services (Pty) Ltd and Pan-African Capital Holdings (Pty) Ltd. He was professor of economics at the University of Cape Town before entering the business sector. Dr Reuel Khoza is the chairman of Eskom and Aka Capital. His involvement in business began in 1981 when he established Co-Ordinated Management Consulting. Previously, he lectured at the University of the North and was a manager at Unilever and Shell. Khoza is a strong advocate of inclusive management cultures, Afrocentricity and ubuntu. Dr Vuyo Mahlathi obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Stellenbosch. Her thesis, which focused on the role of value chains in mainstreaming rural entrepreneurs into global markets, was the only one selected by the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences to be presented at the University’s New Voices in Science Colloquium. Vuyo’s leadership draws from her vast experience as a policy specialist trained at the London School of Economics as well as her corporate leadership and entrepreneurship. Yvonne Mokgoro is a former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa who was appointed to the bench in 1994 by Nelson Mandela. Mokgoro is a board member of the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria and is the current chairperson of the South African Law Reform Commission. Professor Itumeleng Mosala is the former director general of Arts and Culture and former vice chancellor of Technikon North-West. He spent most of his career as an academic, teaching at the Universities of Cape Town, Botswana, Wesley House and Cambridge, UK, among others. Professor Shireen Motala is the senior director of the Postgraduate School within the Research and Innovation Division, University of Johannesburg (UJ) and is part of the Executive Leadership Group at UJ. Prior to joining UJ in 2010, Professor Motala was the director of the Education Policy Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand. Bishop M. Malusi Mpumlwana is the Bishop of the Diocese of Maropeng of the Ethiopian Episcopal Church, giving strategic direction to the mission of the diocese and overseeing the pastoral ministrations of priests and lay leaders in his diocese. Bishop Mpumlwana is on the board of Thobeka EEC Mission and Community Programmes, a nonprofit company of the Diocese of Maropeng. Through that agency, he established a partnership with ‘Miki Maths’, which is used by Pretoria private pre-schools and early-grade private schools for the establishment of early childhood cognitive development for disadvantaged communities. Bishop Mpumlwana is chair of the FoodBank Foundation, is a member of the board of the Vumelana Advisory Fund, a not-for-profit organisation, and he sits on the board of TrustAfrica, a Senegal-based grant-making, not-for-profit organisation. Fumani Mthembi is the Managing Director of Knowledge Pele (KP). Knowledge Pele is a 100% Black-owned research, development and advisory firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Joel Netshitenzhe is the executive director of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA). He has a Master of Science (MSc) degree in financial economics and a post-graduate diploma in economic principles from the University of London, as well as a diploma in political science from the Institute of Social Sciences in Moscow. He is a member of the Boards of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the Nedbank Group and Life Healthcare Group, and a Champion within Programme Pioneer of the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Life College Association. He is a member of the ANC National Executive Committee and also served as a member of the National Planning Commission (2010–2015). Before joining the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) as CEO in 1998, Mr Netshitenzhe was Head of Communications in President Nelson Mandela’s office. Sipho Pityana has extensive busin