22 January 2003
The South African Communist Party (SACP) has consistently expressed deep concern about the ill-considered and ongoing privatisation of Telkom. In the past few days one of our reasons for concern has been graphically illustrated.
As a small part of the proposed wider Telkom share-offering, government intends to offer some discounted shares. In the face of threatened action from the trade union group, Solidarity, the Department of Public Enterprises backed down on the original eligibility terms for these discounted shares. Eligibility will now be based primarily on income levels, favouring (at least theoretically) the poor. The original terms had simply stipulated “historically disadvantaged individuals”. This meant that actual wealth would have been irrelevant. The poorest community stokvel member and the wealthiest black multi-millionaire would have qualified equally for discounts.
In response to this shift, there has been unabashed outrage from some sectors. The editor of the Sunday Times, Mathata Tsedu, argued that government “flunks black economic empowerment, big time”. Black Business Council executive director Leighton Itholeng says “government is setting the wrong precedent…” Council chairperson, David Moshapelo claims that “government’s about-turn threatens to undo much of what has been achieved for black economic empowerment.” Black Management Forum MD, Nolitha Fakude complains: “Government has to sometimes discriminate in order to ensure there is equity ownership by the majority of the people of this country.”
The outrage serves one useful purpose. In many quarters, the privatisation exercise is seen as an opportunity to take over public resources for personal enrichment (preferably at a discount), all in the righteous name of “black economic empowerment”. The outrage blows the cover of those who have sought to hide their naked class and personal agendas behind the call for “black economic empowerment”.
The SACP does not share the views expressed by Tsedu, et al. The SACP accepts the inevitability and, in certain well-defined circumstances, even the potential advantages of an emerging black capitalist strata. However, it is incumbent on the Black Business Council and the Black Management Forum to explain how an emerging stratum will ensure job-creation, greater investment in community development, more ethical business practices and greater national economic sovereignty as central in black economic empowerment. In many cases, black economic empowerment has been understood to mean the personal mega-enrichment of a handful of individuals who happen to be black. Promoting business opportunities for emerging black private businesses might, in some instances, frustrate the realisation of wider economic empowerment. The SACP calls for engagement and discussion with the BBC and the BMF on the constructive role that black business can play in broad-based black economic empowerment.
Telkom is, for the moment, a public resource, owned and managed on our collective behalf by a democratically elected government. Until recently it belonged one-hundred percent to all South Africans. In 1997 Telkom was partially privatised. It became 30 percent “proudly” Malaysian and American. We are now being precipitated into a further sale of this public asset with plenty of spin without much strategic social and economic consideration.
There is mass poverty in our country, and it is overwhelmingly black poverty. There have been over 2 million phone disconnections in the recent period, because of household poverty. The sale (discounted or otherwise) of public telecommunication resources is a recipe for further black economic disempowerment.
The special discounted share-offering (whether in its original form, or in its marginally changed version) is designed to sow public confusion. Since its partial privatisation in 1997, Telkom has retrenched 20,000 workers. Will future low-income, working class share-holders applaud or express concern if another 20,000 workers are retrenched in the name of preserving “share-holder value”? And if more phone lines to poor communities are disconnected in the name of “profitability”? Or if the domestic call price continues to escalate precipitously, so that a dividend can be paid?
Telkom must remain a publicly-owned strategic resource. Yes to the economic empowerment of all South Africans, especially the great majority of black South Africans who are poor and marginalised. No to the plundering of public resources!
CONTACT
Mazibuko K. Jara (surname Jara)
Department of Media, Information & Publicity
South African Communist Party
Tel - 011 339-3621/2, Fax – 011 339-4244 Cell - 083 651 0271
Email - mazibuko@sacp.org.za