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The Motsepe Ethic an Exploration of the Role of the BEE Power Elite

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The Motsepe Ethic an Exploration of the Role of the BEE Power Elite The Motsepe Ethic An exploration of the role of the BEE power elite 5/21/2015 Mireille Barnard 562609 Research report submitted to the University of Witwatersrand as required as part of the MA by course work and research report in sociology. Ethical clearance protocol number: H14/08/07. Plagiarism Declaration I, Mireille Barnard (Student number: 562609), am a student registered for MA Sociology in the year 2014. I hereby declare the following: . I am aware that plagiarism (the use of someone else’s work without their permission and/or without acknowledging the original source) is wrong. I confirm that the work submitted for assessment for the above course is my own unaided work except where I have explicitly indicated otherwise. I have followed the required conventions in referencing the thoughts and ideas of others. I understand that the University of the Witwatersrand may take disciplinary action against me if there is a belief that this in not my own unaided work or that I have failed to acknowledge the source of the ideas or words in my writing. Signature: _________________________ Date: 21/05/2015 1 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following people for the role that they played in making my research report a reality: - Professor Devan Pillay for agreeing to be my supervisor and intrinsically knowing when to supervise me, when to support me, when to push me, when to teach me and when to let me be. - Dr Bernard Dubbeld for supervising my honors research report and providing me with a solid basis in social theory and academic reading skills. - Jantjie Xaba for sharing his research with me and suggesting that I consider Motsepe as a subject for my masters. - Eugene Gouws for his endless love, patience, support, proof-reading and coffee- making. - Marguerite Barnard for always being my greatest supporter and convincing me that academia is where I belong. - Christo Barnard for always expecting nothing but the best from me. - My interview participants and those that helped me gain access to them. 2 Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 5 Research question ................................................................................................................. 6 Aims and objectives .............................................................................................................. 6 Rationale ................................................................................................................................ 6 Chapter outlines .................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 2: Conceptual framework and literature review ............................................................... 9 The power elite theory ............................................................................................................................... 11 Literature review .......................................................................................................................................... 16 An overview of South Africa’s social and capitalist development .................................... 16 A comparison between the trajectories of the National Party and the African National Congress............................................................................................................................... 18 NP and ANC nationalism .......................................................................................................... 18 Transformed capitalist policies and the creation of class ................................................ 20 Anton Rupert’s ethic of capital accumulation ................................................................................ 22 A brief history of Anton Rupert ...................................................................................................... 22 The Rise of the tycoon Rupert ......................................................................................................... 24 Rupert’s economic power ................................................................................................................. 26 The social and environmental consciousness of Rupert ....................................................... 28 The demise of apartheid ................................................................................................................... 29 Black economic empowerment conceptualisation and policies ..................................... 30 Patriotic bourgeoisie and philanthropic capitalism .......................................................... 31 Criticism of BEE and the BEE-llionaires ................................................................................ 36 Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 41 Methodological constraints ................................................................................................ 43 Ethical concerns .................................................................................................................. 45 Chapter 4: The birth of Patrice Motsepe’s entrepreneurial ethic ............................................... 46 Chapter analysis .................................................................................................................. 51 Chapter 5: The economic world of Patrice Motsepe ........................................................................ 53 The birth of African Rainbow Minerals ............................................................................. 53 The expansion of the Motsepe empire and his business network ................................... 56 Whose interests does Motsepe Serve? ............................................................................... 59 Motsepe’s Janus face ........................................................................................................... 61 Chapter analysis .................................................................................................................. 65 Chapter 6: Patrice Motsepe’s political embeddedness ................................................................... 66 3 Motsepe’s ties to the ANC .................................................................................................... 67 Motsepe’s policy of international elite pacting ................................................................. 69 The importance of public-private partnerships ............................................................... 70 Chapter analysis .................................................................................................................. 71 Chapter 7: Patrice Motsepe’s social consciousness .......................................................................... 73 The actions of a true patriotic bourgeoisie? ...................................................................... 74 Motsepe’s philanthropy and its discontent ....................................................................... 75 Who will protect the environment? ................................................................................... 78 Chapter Aanalysis ............................................................................................................... 80 Chapter 8: Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 82 Suggested future research .................................................................................................. 83 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................... 85 4 Chapter 1: Introduction From the beginning of the colonisation of South Africa in the 17th century until the first democratic election on the 27th of April 1994, the country was dominated, both politically and economically, by its white population. The three decades of white1 rule within South Africa allowed for the privileging of white South Africans socially, politically and economically. This privileged position resulted in the creation of employment and wealth for the majority of the white population through the disadvantaging of the majority of the African population. Certain white families such as the Ruperts and the Wieses became so wealthy under this system that they were listed on the Forbes Worlds’ Billionaires, whilst many African South Africans live(d) on under $1 a day. Patrice Tlhopane Motsepe was born in the midst of the apartheid regime, which was the ultimate expression of white privilege (Mars, 2014:1). He went on to become South Africa’s first black billionaire with an estimated net worth of $2.9 billion, placing him in the same league as South Africa’s wealthiest family, the Ruperts, who have an estimated net worth of $7.7 billion (Mars, 2014:1). The implementation of black economic empowerment policies has resulted in many questioning the manner in which Motsepe came to acquire his wealth, with Forbes magazine stating: “Even many blacks have complained that the country’s 1994 transformation from apartheid to democracy has benefited only the elite few. The criticism stems from laws that require substantial black ownership in certain industries, including mining. A handful of politically
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