The machinations of Vodacom in the Nkosana Makate saga are not what Africans should be worried about. They should address themselves to their own who are the ones that are manipulated.
As Steve Biko said, “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressors is the mind of the oppressed”.
Those black shareholders in Yebo Yethu (mind you only the directors are involved but it will be said that it is 800, 000 people) have been quiet for more than 15 years while Makate battled to get fair remuneration for his invention.
They are coming up now obviously being manipulated by Vodacom. It is them who should understand that ALL shareholders will be affected, not only them. They should be aware that the main shareholder, the United Kingdom-based Vodafone, has already failed to be included in the case, for the reasons Makate’s lawyers will surely advance in defence of the black shareholders’ case.
If the black shareholders were not consumed by an inferiority complex they would comprehend that one of their own has been able to devise something that generated billions and be proud of that achievement. But with their mindset it just does not click -izinto za belungu as far as they are concerned.
If they were not gripped by envy and self-loathing they would fight tooth and nail to see that Makate got what he deserves a long time ago.
They would have long stood up for him as shareholders, from the very beginning, if they loved themselves as Africans, Makate’s own people.
The fault is not with those who exploit but those who allow themselves to be exploited simply because they have no sense of their own value or the value that is within them. They own 5% of Vodacom.
Can 5% of shareholders be affected more adversely than 95%? Did they take part in the decision to steal from Makate? Probably those that made the decision stand to lose much more than them but they want to allow themselves to be used to “save” the ones holding much more “because they are poor”.
Vodacom wants to use the arme skepsel status of Africans to draw sympathy from the courts; making paying Makate what he deserves appear as detrimental to the well-being of poor blacks. And the Yebo Yethu directors fall for the joke because in their minds they are the poor people who cannot do anything for themselves and are at the mercy of white people.
That is why machinations such as BEE and affirmative action (where they are a majority) excite them.
• Kenosi Mosalakae is a medical doctor concerned with societal issues
