"Taking responsibility" in South Africa

(I hope not like South Africa)

South Africa is going through a critical phase of development in many areas.

Previously disadvantaged people are being brought on board by corporates (employed), primarily in accordance with legislation. Now more than twenty years have passed. There is a vast pool of new talents and skills being brought into every day business. With this new integration, at first initiated by law (and preferred financial rewards to the obedient by government tender), the country has evolved where completely different mindsets of different cultures must mesh, not only in business and sport, but socially and culturally. Patience is required by all parties.

Over the last twenty years there has also been the evolution of the "call centre" for many government departments and for many of the big corporates. In the Apartheid days, the pool of business was much much smaller, due to exclusion of the largest sector of the community and also global isolation for the policies of the then government. If you dealt with an issue, you received individual attention from one person at the organisation that you interfaced with. The issues were speedily dealt with.

The the expansion occurred, not only because of our "freedom from Apartheid" but rather by technological advances and digitisation.

At first I found it very frustrating, not being able to deal with the same person until your matter was concluded and resolved. The big call centers were seeking ways to have a single matter locked into a reference number and the data saved. Then it did not matter as the reference number could be viewed by any individual call center operator.

Of course the theory looks great but actuality is considerably different. Laziness and incompetence are rife, particularly in the municipalities where many positions are allocated on a political basis, where friends and supporters get positions that they are not qualified for. Even where the operator is efficient, time is required to process. To me the most successful call center is Discovery. There are others who are extremely good. Knowledge and skill levels are very high; these are private business.

I am dealing with a matter at a bank for example. This bank took over another bank many years ago. I used to have a bank account with the "taken over" bank. To secure my small overdraft, I ceded an insurance policy to the previous bank. I closed that bank account down, forgetting about the small policy. Much to my surprise, now twenty years later, the insurer sent me a letter stating that the policy had matured. I had some money owing to me.

Of course there is a problem, for those of you who are financially savvy, you will see it. Yes, the policy cession needs to be released from the closed bank back to me. I know that this will take time. I have the reference number, but that is about it. There is one poor man who is doing his best; he is not even at the "elite"bank that took over the other bank but those who I thought would take responsibility do not. I want to assure you that I am not being racist; the helping man is black, and the "avoider" is white. Skin makes no difference to me, only competence. Now more than two months have elapsed. I wonder how much longer this will drag on. They have my ID number, they have no policy, they can easily see if there are any securities linked to my ID, if nothing linked, then the current bank has no need to fear "releasing" a document they never had. But fear, incompetence, requirement to perform a task outside of their comfort zone, paralyse them. I have one account, is this policy linked? Yes or No, make a decision, ACT. The next crucial question that is now coming to my mind is "how good are their systems?" I am an accountant who has studied auditing, I am experienced in these fields. This bank ought to be a leader in the South African Business Community, yet they struggle. It does not bode well for the rest of the country does it?

The losses that are being experienced in most municipalities are due to tardiness, laziness, incompetence and even downright hostility are staggering. The ANC government is well intentioned but I believe they do not have the skills to impliment such vast changes in such a short time. I was listening to a business report that was quite gloomy, the billions upon billions that have been stolen, lost, wasted is going to be a dreadful burden on the future economy. The commentator brightened up when he mentioned that there has been tremendous improvement in certain areas like Johannesburg Power and Johannesburg Water. The skill sets of employees are making a massive difference. Also SARS (the South African Tax Collector) is the flagship of skilled employees.

Well, quite sadly, I know different, I hope he is being honest in his reporting and not just a cynical, manipulative liar. Things are appalling in most municipalities. The terrible decline in "clean" audits for various municipalities around the country by the Auditor General is clear evidence that structures are collapsing at a rapid rate. Billions upon billions of uncollected accounts in previously disadvantaged communities, inflate the books and assets. There is no collective will to sacrifice for the country. By sacrifice I mean the desire to pay ones bills to the state, to declare taxes honestly and to be a law abiding citizen. The example of the political leaders in the country is poor, our previous President Zuma, has dealt an almost "mortal wound" to South Africa, enriching himself and his cronies, and corruption has spread.

(Naughty Jacob)

Thus I want to give my daughters the skill sets sufficient to emigrate if things collapse here. As for my wife and I, we will be remaining on board, sitting on our deck chairs, sipping our cool drinks as "SA Titanic" slips below the icy waves.

Negative? Yes I am. Can that opinion change? Certainly. Any signs of good? Yes, the minister of finance, Nene, resigned for not disclosing visits to the Gupta Family. The Guptas are closely linked to Jacob Zuma and most corruption in the country. The new President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, accepted his resignation. Now whether Nene was forced to resign is a moot point. The former Reserve Bank Governor, Tito Mboweni has been appointed in his place. The Business Community is impressed, this is good news, but time has almost run out to repair the Good Ship of SA. Hold thumbs that it won't be the SA Titanic!

(President Ramaphosa - last hope)

The mindset of South Africans has to change, we cannot expect the government to make things good, each citizen has to invest in this country. Invest to me means, patriotism and a desire to serve fellow citizens. Noble ideals that mean little to the hungry masses. We need to have less fat leaders and more hungry ones. The chap from the DA party looks fairly skinny, even the enemy of the white community, Julius Malema, is looking more skinny these days. I reckon I will stick with the DA as brains seem to be important to them.

Probably prejudiced you might say...