19 January 2020
Conscience of a Centrist
It’s easy to mock Davos – so I will. The opulent ski resort, nested in Switzerland, will this week for the umpteenth time host the annual World Economic Forum where the rich and powerful will pretend to be solving the globe’s socioeconomic ills.
The irony of this event is that no poor person will be on sight. Instead, the extravaganza is the perfect stage for captains of industry from the north to the south of the world to fall over themselves in the pursuit to strike deals.
Politicians, will not be left behind – the event is an expensive public relations platform for them to shore up their global image (even our own Tito Mboweni will have to wear better shoes for the occasion) and TV stars and celebrities will be in full force in pursuit of promoting their charities (or themselves).
No wonder, President Cyril Ramaphosa decided to skip this year’s edition. His friends, whom the red berets like to call “white monopoly capital”, have time and time again done a number on the president. Despite promising to invest in this economy and create jobs for the destitute, they have ramped up their retrenchments efforts with the speed and shrewdness of a heartless killer.
The Swiss jamboree takes place when capitalism in South Africa and the world is in a crisis. Last week, corporate greed raised its ugly head again with nearly 5 000 jobs on the line at Massmart and Telkom and with Sibanye-Stillwater announcing that 1 142 employees had been ultimately retrenched at its Marikana operations, while contractors were reduced by 1 709. Yes! This is the same Marikana mine where blood was shed over a labour dispute a few years ago.
The cold truth is that there are no ethics or social responsibility in large private corporations, despite what their farcical mission statements may say. They are run simply to maximise dividends for a select group at the top of the corporate feeding chain.
The present danger from corporate greed is that it not only leads to economic collapse we currently experiencing, but it also destroys social cohesion and trust in institutions. When workers lose their jobs, they cease paying tax and begin taking welfare payments.
The spin-off effect of this is less spending power, which, like ripples in a pond, affects others.
The government cannot look at the JSE to grow this economy and create jobs – capital has no soul, never has and never will. The livelihoods of thousands of workers are continually put at risk just to shore up the share price of corporates.
This cannot be the moral standard we set for our kids, and this government ought to side with the people when corporates naturally side with their shareholders.
