JOHANNESBURG // Those who rank high among the heroes of the struggle against apartheid retain the capacity to cause a stir in South Africa even 15 years after their deaths, and this month a commemoration of the life of Joe Slovo demonstrated this.
Slovo, who died in 1995, was a former commander of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress, now the ruling party, and general secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP). As a Lithuanian-born Jew as well, he was a despised figure for apartheid South Africa's white Afrikaner elite.
His first wife, Ruth First, was assassinated in 1982 by South African intelligence agents who sent a letter bomb to her office in Mozambique, where they lived in exile. Slovo, however, lived long enough to see the advent of democracy and become housing minister in the country's first freely elected government.
But these days both the Communist Party and its ally, the ANC, face controversies and are governed by attitudes Slovo - who was known for his dedication to the country's poor - might have struggled with.
This came into sharp relief at his commemoration when Blade Nzimande, the Communist Party's current general secretary and the recently appointed minister for higher education, arrived in a new, 1.1-million-rand (Dh530,000) BMW 750i, paid for by tax-payers' money. Under South Africa's ministerial code, the purchase was legitimate, but it struck a jarring note for a left-wing leader to do so when millions of South Africans remain desperately poor.
At the ceremony, held at Slovo's graveside in Soweto, his widow, Helena Dolny, seized on the fact.
"Before Joe started working in parliament, we used to own a Volvo," she said. "He did not change his car when he became minister, but he used his predecessor's car.
"He would have been distraught if he read the papers today."
Chastened, Mr Nzimande - who has admitted that buying the car was a mistake - said: "We take your criticism frankly and honestly and with humility and with the attention that it is deserved.
"It is appropriate for you to say that and we accept that, because it is very important when we remember someone like comrade Joe Slovo, that we don't abandon the values that have come to characterise our revolution."
With individuals in the ruling party regularly facing accusations of cronyism, particularly at local and provincial levels, Mr Nzimande condemned what he called the "tenderpreneurs", state officials who give each other contracts, and called for the SACP to intensify its campaign against corruption.
Later, Ms Dolny - who also went into exile as a result of her Communist Party activities - said in an interview that her late husband "really did like the good life", but he was adamant that it was not and should never be paid for by public funds.
"He was a whisky drinker, he was a cigar smoker, liked good food. An old fellow communist criticised him for his cigar smoking and said it was symptomatic of a disposition towards a bourgeois lifestyle. Joe laughed and said we want the good life for all, we don't want equality of poverty. Having sackcloth and ashes is not what communism is about.
"But he made a very clear distinction between what you spent your own personal money on and how you use state resources.
"I think materialism is very seductive and people in the Communist Party have got to rise above that and not be seen to be spending money on unnecessary luxuries."
Her stance - and the remarks of Mr Nzimande - were welcomed by commentators, with the Times newspaper in Johannesburg describing the reaction as "refreshing".
"There is no greater threat to South Africa than the diversion of resources intended for development to the enrichment of the elite," it said in an editorial.
But whether the SACP can persuade the ANC to implement its calls for openness and a sustained anti-corruption campaign remains open to question. The president, Jacob Zuma, who had corruption charges against him dropped before he took office, will not want to alienate sections of his own organisation, and there are tensions within the Tripartite Alliance, as the grouping of the two parties with the trade union federation Cosatu is called, with early signs of a growing black nationalism in the ANC.
Julius Malema, the firebrand leader of the ANC Youth League, who has an influence beyond his years, derided the Communist Party deputy leader, Jeremy Cronin, as a "white messiah" during a row over the nationalisation of mines, which the Communist Party says it supports in principle but not at the current time. He was booed at an SACP meeting, much to his fury.
Given Slovo's own pale skin, at the ceremony Mr Nzimande condemned "narrow anti-white African chauvinism".
"Our struggle was never about replacing a white with a black elite."
Afterwards Ms Dolny said: "Joe felt immensely privileged to be part of a non-racial liberation movement. You've got to have the possibility of high-profile whites, coloureds, Indians being seen, because that gives the message to ordinary people that there's a place for you."
sberger@thenational.ae
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
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INVESTMENT PLEDGES
Cartlow: $13.4m
Rabbitmart: $14m
Smileneo: $5.8m
Soum: $4m
imVentures: $100m
Plug and Play: $25m
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
SPECS
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Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
Brief scores:
Toss: Kerala Knights, opted to fielf
Pakhtoons 109-5 (10 ov)
Fletcher 32; Lamichhane 3-17
Kerala Knights 110-2 (7.5 ov)
Morgan 46 not out, Stirling 40
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5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: AF Seven Skies, Bernardo Pinheiro, Qais Aboud
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: Almahroosa, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Sumoud, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Adventurous, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
