Executive salaries: when is high too high?

Since Barack Obama became US President amidst a global economic crisis, how private capitalist enterprise relates to public enterprise and the common good, as assumed in a liberal democracy, is again the focus of much debate across the globe. The bankruptcy of General Motors brought the issue of executive remuneration to the fore: how can you justify millions of salary expenses for executives of a firm that is bankrupt and is being bailed out by the taxpayer?

In a global economy, this is a global debate. In Switzerland, the Chief Executive of the UBS AG, one of the largest Swiss banks that was bailed out by the Swiss government with a more than US $ 42 billion injection, said that salary caps are not feasible as one would not know how high would be high enough. When asked if his million dollar bonus was too high, he said that it was maybe too low. This made the news as UBS announced to fire some 8 700 employees to save costs.

The CEO of Nestle, the largest global food processing company, weighed in the debate by declaring that if salary caps were legislated, he would move the company out of Switzerland.

In South Africa, private enterprise is largely save from such debates. After all, here, no big bailouts were necessary. However, the discussion turns around public enterprises or parastatals, and if their executives should receive similar pay and bonus as those in private industry.

Arguably, a developing state that has to be careful with its expenses and make sure that the money goes to those who need most urgently support. Executive salaries seem to be a good place to save. High salaries, however, are justified with the reasoning that in order to attract the best talent for the job, parastals have to compete with private industry.

Both these cases show a clear conflict between economic reasoning in a world with no boundaries and a sense of ethics and responsible thinking that is tied to place and people.

CEOs operate in a sphere of thinking devoid of boundaries and attachment, physical and ethical. All that counts is an economic logic that subjects any other considerations to the maximization of profits. However, democratic governance, based on the sovereignty of the people, tied to a community and the common good, requires ethical behaviour. It is only through ethics that the meaning of a community is maintained.

It speaks perhaps to the failure of the reproduction and education of a globalized, Westernized economic and political elite, that we are faced with this situation. As, some observers pointed out, was the extreme risk taking of the banks based on the institutional loss of memory about the perils of banking, so is the arrogance of those at the top of our economic system endangering the very foundations of our democracies.

Rethinking economic models alone will not do. Leaders of multinatinals need to rediscover their social responsibility, beyond marketing speak, or there will not much to be left to be lead.

Are European politics turning more African?

With the recent European elections, and 60% of voter abstinence, we have one more proof that democracy is in crisis world wide. Not that this is news, we have been reading about this for many years now, but clearly, citizens feel that it matters not much for their daily lives what goes on in the palaces of power. Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the leader of the European green party, and the big winner of this election, stated that it was also the irrelevant media coverage, turning politics into a soap opera, that fuelled a diminshed interest in politics.

The Dutch anthropologist, Peter Geschiere, in a little and insightful article 'Le politique "par le bas": les vicissitudes d'une approche' (in Konings, Van Binsbergen, Hesseling, 'Trajectoires de liberation en Afrique contemporaine, Karthala, 2000) suggested that European politics was taking more and more its cue from Africa. It seems now that after the empire had written back, it was now the empire's politics that returned to the metropole.

Under the impact of globalisation, and such far-reaching policies as structural adjustment and the concomitant inequalities, post-colonial states saw a context with few political and policy options to spurn development and few, clearly defined political-ideological choices. Politics did not offer any clear alternatives.

Geschiere argues that it was the restraining influence of a global and transnational constellation on national politics, and the absence of space for alternatives that led to an increasing disentchantment with politics. In Africa, Geschiere writes, this restrained context had created the dominance of personalised politics, and the development of clientelist networks that asphyxiated the body politic.

Is the advent and triumph of Silvio Berlusconi emblematic for this transfiguration of post-colonial realities?

The death of Chris Hani: the more things change, the more they stay the same

In April, 15 years ago, right-wingers gunned down Chris Hani, the popular ANC leader, outside his home.

A the time, South Africa was at the height of transition negotiations from white minority rule and white rightwing leaders featured much more prominently in public debates than today. Their incendiary talk, depicting Hani as the militant leader of ANC terrorist shock troops, contributed to a climate in which the murder became possible.

15 years later we still have prominent politicians, like the ANC youth league's Julius Malema, Cosatu's Zwelinzima Vavi and others who see no problem in a war talk that wants to kill for the supreme leader, exterminates cockroaches and does other ghastly things to the enemy. And then they feign ignorance, engage in linguistic and non-sensical acrobatics when these things indeed happen.

No such war talk is mere 'figures of speech'. And it was never so.

In 1993, Shaun Johnson observed:

"Before the assassin made up his mind to take Chris Hani's life, Hernus Kriel, from the platform of parliament, described Umkhonto we Sizwe as 'a bunch of criminals'. A powerful newspaper told its readers Hani was mustering a terrifying, vengeful 'Black People's Army'. Before lawless youths went on their stabbing and stealing spree on Wednesday, ANC Youth League leader Peter Mokaba told a gathering of youngsters: 'The young lions must not only bark and roar, but you must bite'. And before this whole sorry saga started, we had Eugene Terreblanche exhorting his followers to revolution, Inkathata members being encouraged to 'bugger up' the ANC, PAC leaders endorsing the slogan 'one settler, one bullet'. The list goes on.
Every one of these people will today swear they didn't mean what you thought they meant. These were euphemisms, metaphors, allegories, parables...they didn't really mean it literally. Well. It is too late to tell that to the people who listened to, and believed, those words. They missed the subtleties. Not nearly enough people in our country can read. Pitifully few will have been familiar with John Locke's wise observation that 'we should have had a great many fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for what they are, the signs of our ideas only, and not for things themselves.' ...Chilling statements are commonplace in South Africa today. It is fair to ask whether we are not now reaping their mean harvest." (Strange Days Indeed, Bantam, 1993)

Words matter. Discourses circulate, from the mundane and everyday life to politics, to academic discourse, and so on. How can we combat crime and violence when the words of our leaders mirror and perpetuate these?

Update for WoWers of 2007!

It seems to me that Jean's roundabout has sparked a new flurry of activities among the WoWers of 2007 (my apologies to Bruce).

So here's my bit:

After 14 months at the Institute of Race Relations in Braamfontein, I happily eloped to the African Futures Institute in Tshwane which makes good use of my various talents.

After observing South African politics from a liberal perspective, I am now working on development issues on a continental scale.

And it finally it is true: after months of waiting (I handed in my PhD thesis in February 2007), I am scheduled to graduate on 25 November 2008.

In true Wits fashion, enough to entertain all conspiracy fans in the country, I was confronted with last minute, allegedly unpaid fees, putting a red flag on my graduation status, after I was told in June 2008 that I only had to wait for the graduation date to come up.

Thanks to the ever agile Magda Gale from the Politics Department, it was all sorted out. (They gracefully paid the so called fees for 2007: fees for what?, for waiting around to graduate?)

Violence against women

I read this article in the Sowetan and I was appaled. In response, I sent the letter below to the editor.

Maybe it helps.

Today in Braamfontein, a young woman walks down the street, dressed in high heels and and miniskirt. Five youngsters start whistling at her, jumping up and down as if Jesus was coming back. The daring one walks up to her and says, 'just a hand shake, just a hand shake'. She smiles and they do a high five. As this happens, a metro police car drives by with four officers in it. The car slows down, honks and the officers join the commotions - smiling and whistling.

Am I prudish or is this kind of male excitement in the face of an attractive woman walking down the street amounting to sexual harassment?

If I would not live in a country in which gang rape is common and violence against women is filed under 'things that happen', I would greet this kind of behaviour by just shaking my head.

Unfortunately, this sort of thing is the more placid face of a society wrecked by violence, misogyny and patriarchy.

"Dear Sir,

I find your article very problematic from a gender perspective.

Your paper prides itself of supporting the community, of being involved in nation building and so on. Yet it seems that when it comes to the advancement of women, you no longer see any reason to show your engagement and care.

As journalists, you are hopefully aware that we live in a country in which violence against women is high. Much of the violence is based on stereotypes and mis-perception how ‘real’ women are supposed to behave. Women who do not fit these expectations (how women should act) are sanctioned and punished. The best example is the killings of women who love women.

Hence, to combat violence against women, we have to start questioning stereotypes with regards to how men and women are supposed to behave.

Your article does nothing more than re-enforce stereotypes that confine men and women to act in certain ways.

The woman in your piece, Terry Pheto, has no agency. She is the ‘weak’ woman, the price for the stronger of the two men who fight over her. The two fighting males are the ones who decide how this drama is being played out, they have all the active parts in your little soap story.

The men are full of agency. The woman has no agency and awaits dutifully the outcome of what happens between the two fighting men. She is being ‘bedded’, after all.

So here we go again, the same old.

Have you tried to contact her? Maybe she has some interesting comment to make? Or perhaps it does not matter to your story writing what the woman says and does because all that matters is that the two men are fighting it out? Is she merely a pretty prop that makes up a nice background for your story?

I think it should be possible to write entertaining pieces about celebs that change our stereotypical views of how men and women are supposed to behave.

I think you can do better – is it not time to act?

Regards, Thomas.

John Matshikiza, 1954-2008

With sadness we learn of the passing away of John Matshikiza, writer and actor. I first learned of him as the columnist in the weekly Mail &Guardian. For many years, his column was the first thing I would read every friday morning. South Africa has lost one of the most insightful observers of society and politics.

His writing is elegant and critical, and I learnt always something new about life and the country I had chosen to live in.

Joshua Polumo Mohapeloa and Paul Hamner

Another week-end filled with music! Spring is in the air and things are happening. Saturday night was great jazz with Paul Hamner (piano) and McCoy Mrubata (saxophone), and their excellent band. The House of Ntsako was jiving and all was well. Well, a bigger audience and a bigger revenue for the musicians would have been on order.

On sunday it was the Cantus Africana Chamber Choir singing Mohapeloa. It was a unique experience and the voices were beautiful. A truly uplifting and essentially humane exeperience.

Hamner is a true talent. Not only playing his terrific jazz, he also featured in the New Music Indaba's 2009 progragmme, playing Olivier Messiaen. We sure got talent in this country!