CAPITALISTS - ANC's COMRADES OF CONVENIENCE

A number of South Africa's parastatals are at death's door.  The Post Office and SAA immediately come to mind, with others seemingly not far behind.

The ANC government is faced with two choices: dust off casket carrying horse drawn carriages for state sponsored parastatal funerals, or as last resort, turn to capitalists to effect critical life support measures to resurrect and restore parastatal economic viability, after more than two decades of destructive maladministration.

The first to enter the parastatal lion's den is Mark Barnes, a prominent business executive with a proven track record.  He will head the Post Office. Interestingly enough he offered his services with government's blessing.  Time will tell whether it was an act of brilliance or stupidity.   Hopefully the former, even though the odds are stacked against him. One merely has to reflect on the miserable failures of Meyer Kahn and Bobby Godsell whose efforts to turn around the police and Eskom were undermined and subsequently defeated by political interference.

When the chips are down, the ANC government unhesitatingly welcomes the business acumen of capItalists who are willing to step up to the plate.  The welcome mat extended to Mark Barnes is a far cry from Jacob Zumas's recent address to Cosatu, where he characterised capitalism as a dictatorship and capitalists as the enemy.  Why then accept the services of a capitalist?  Multiple reasons, but in a nutshell - hypocrisy.

I have never been an admirer of Nietsche, but what he said in the context of Zuma's address to Cosatu is tellingly apposite:  "Learning from one's enemies is the best way to love them; for it makes us grateful to them."

It is not too late for Zuma and his party to learn, love and express gratitude to capitalist Mark Barnes, and other capitalists who follow his patriotic example.