Professor Malegapuru Makgoba Says South Africa Is in Problem. An angry Chinua Achebe wrote ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’ in 1983, in response to the coup d’états that marked the first two decades of Nigerian democracy. That book’s first paragraph is amazing:
Professor Malegapuru Makgoba Says South Africa Is in Problem
“Nigeria’s problems are squarely due to leadership failure. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with Nigerians. Everything about the Nigerian land, climate, water, air, and everything else is fine. Nigeria’s problem is that its leaders won’t take on the responsibility, to show true leadership through their own example.”
A 29-year-old South African has written a memoir called Leadership for Transformation Since the Dawn of Democracy – An Insider’s View. Makgoba says his country went from a society of hope to a country of shame, unhappiness, anger, and sometimes despair in 29 years.
The nine chapters of the book explode one after another, like the spirals of energy that drive hurricanes forward, built on a sharply crafted preface and an equally pugnacious introduction. This isn’t about the trunk, the ears, or the ivory of the elephant.
South Africa is going through a profound leadership crisis, commonly referred to as the “leadership crisis” – or, more precisely, a leadership crisis during transformation. This book addresses this elephant in the room from beginning to end.
Makgoba uses Meredith Belbin’s team role theory as the primary analytical tool for analyzing various political leaders’ leadership styles. However, the book does not focus on abstract notions of leadership or team theory.
The book is a memoir written by a South African, born and raised in rural Sekhukhuneland, who, after receiving an MBChB from the University of Natal and an Oxford DPhil in human immunogenetics, has held several key positions in South African institutions for the past 29 years.
After spending 15 years abroad, he held “successful positions of scholarly accomplishment” in the US and UK.
Mantombazana ‘Manto’ Edmie Tshabalala-Msimang and Essop Pahad, co-enforcers of Aids denialism, receive the lowest scores.
Makgoba is dissatisfied with “the bureaucratic layer called deputy ministers”, but he is particularly interested in the leadership styles of four presidents and at least 25 ministers with whom he has served since his return to South in August 1994.
Four presidents – Mbeki, Mandela, Zuma, and Ramaphosa – are all featured in their own chapters. Makgoba attempts to give credit where credit is due to each political leader in his attempt to provide balanced evaluations.
Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t hide his pointed judgments on each politician under review. A number of unequivocal assessments are repeated throughout the narrative.
Mbeki has been hailed as a “president of transformation” and praised for his emphasis on African identity, but he has also been accused of HIV denial, quiet diplomacy with Robert Mugabe, and political interference in institutions, such as science councils.
In the same vein, Zuma is praised for, among other things, establishing the National Planning Commission and initiating the world’s largest antiretroviral program. However, his tendency for corruption may have laid the foundation for a “mafia state”, “criminal state” or “failed state” due to his tendency to commit corruption.
According to Makgoba, Zuma and Mbeki “waste 19 years between them” – roughly 10 years on aids denialism and the Arms Deal, and nine years on State Capture. It has been alleged that Ramaphosa is an “avoidant leader” who has failed to fulfill most or all of his promises since he first took office.
He also keeps bloated and low-quality ministers with dubious character and integrity in his Cabinet, Makgoba notes.
It is only Mandela who emerges unscathed as a “visionary” and “royal leader”.
Since Makgoba has been part of the engine room of the South African democracy for 29 years, his book is important.
Among those commended for their effective leadership are Sibusiso Bhengu, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Ben Ngubane, Kader Asmal, Naledi Pandor, Trevor Manuel, and Aaron Motsoaledi. Makgoba, however, gives the lowest ratings to Essop Pahad and Mantombazana “Manto” Edmie Tshabalala-Msimang, co-enforcers of Aids denialism.
During one particularly nasty episode in the early 2000s, Makgoba recalls being summoned to a heated meeting by the late Tshabalala-Msimang and Pahad. While Makgoba was in the middle of the meeting, he broke down and cried.
My seat had hardly been taken when the dressing down began and the screaming began. The British media accused me of running a vicious campaign against Minister Pahad and President Mbeki… I had undermined the president and government… Pahad, now furious and in apoplexy, asked, “If you are such a good scientist, why don’t you leave the country and find a job somewhere else?”
Despite having been in the engine room of South African democracy for all 29 years, Makgoba’s book is an important statement. The process involved him interacting extensively with key players and shaping, among others, higher education policy and landscape.
He also served as a member and deputy chairperson of the long-term national planning trajectory, as well as leading the Medical Research Council’s fight against HIV-AIDS, as well as ensuring energy security in his role as Eskom Board chairman and national health ombudsperson.
Several political leaders’ leadership styles and impacts are evaluated in his book in an incisive and insightful manner.
Although Makgoba recounts his experiences at various institutions in an insightful way, he seems to neglect examining his own leadership roles as closely, deliberately, and meticulously as he does with the political leaders – as clearly, deliberately and meticulously as he does with the political leaders.
It is inevitable that Makgoba’s book will strike the reader like a hurricane with its ferocious contents.
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