We caught up with CEOs, mayors and President Cyril Ramaphosa himself on the sidelines of News24's flagship Jobs Summit to ask them about their first jobs, as well as their reactions to day two in our series Off the Record.
The second day of News24's On The Record Summit on Employment Generation was a flurry of activities and thought-provoking sessions.
Behind the scenes, on the sidelines and at the lunch table, many others had both light and serious opinions about what we as South Africans could do to create five million more jobs over 10 years.
From reflecting on their first jobs to more serious topics like the impact of crime, the efficacy of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) or whether BEE is working, we caught up with some of the leading names to get their reactions to day two's panel.
First and foremost, News24's Chelsea Ogilvie filmed a series of videos asking our guest speakers about their first jobs, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa's home full of cupboards, painted by Hill-Lewis
“My first job, when I was a student, I was a packer at L Suzman, which was a distribution company,” said Ramaphosa, who was the keynote speaker on the first day. “And then I went to work for a union.”
When asked if he was well paid, he laughed and said: “Oh no, please. Very little.”
Cape Town mayor Geordine Hill-Lewis spent her school holidays painting houses in the mid-2000s.
“My first job to earn money was painting houses in Edgemead, where I lived during the school holidays. I got 80 rupees a day. In those days, it was not bad. It was good, hard work and kept us busy during the school holidays.”
Our host of the On the Record summit, Devi Govender, an investigative journalist for three decades, started with her first love and her first paycheck.
“I worked in my university's library. I worked Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I would earn R300 a month – for the whole month! I love books, so I didn't even feel they needed to pay me.”
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube remembers her university days in Makhanda well.
“My first job was a waitressing job when I was a student at Rhodes University. We were essentially paid as tips. This helped increase the food supply and provide breakfast!”
Former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said he used to be a shelf packer at Pick n Pay five decades ago.
Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube on News24's On The Record.
Devi Sankari Govender co-hosts News24's On the Record.
“I made the princely sum of 24 cents an hour, and I did it after school. This was 50 years ago. It was child labor!” He laughs.
And Raj Lal Bahadur, CEO of Media24, said that his first job was as an invoice clerk, which only lasted six months because he then became a fuel tanker driver in the same company.
“I was very impressed by the trucks and what they did. I used to take apart gearbox engines and put them back together. But I drove tankers for about two years.”
NPA skills crisis is hurting the economy
Some important topics were covered on the second day also. The two biggest panels of the day were “To BEE or Not to BEE?” and “the high cost of crime”.
The crime panel included the new NPA boss, lawyer Andy Mothibi, and criminology professor Irwin Kinnes.
Speaking at the scene, former head of the NPA's investigative directorate, Hermione Cronje, gave her views on what she heard.
“I wish I had heard some more details about how we are going to address a devastating skills crisis in the NPA. I don't know how we are going to move from prosecutors who are corrupt to taking over organized crime figures overnight.”
If she had a magic wand, she would focus primarily on making our country's prosecutors efficient.
“You can set priorities until the cows come home, but if you don't have people, you are just talking into the air. So, I would start with the skills process. I know red tape exists, but we need extraordinary intervention.”
Mbekezeli Benjamin, a legal researcher at Judges Matter, the civil society watchdog of South Africa's judiciary based at UCT, echoed those sentiments.
“We need to invest heavily in getting not only prosecutors but also court administrators appropriately skilled in the system, because they are critical parts of the machine. We have a lot of cases in the pipeline.”
A public BEE review?
The important topic of BEE was also included in the morning session. One of panelist Ann Bernstein's talking points called for a serious, public process to review the efficacy of policy on South Africa's transformation and business goals.
Speaking from the sidelines, Tony Ehrenreich, who represents Cosatu in the Western Cape, said BEE should focus more on helping small businesses and people in townships.
“BEE has clearly been abused in South Africa,” Ehrenreich said. “The same political scoundrels have enriched themselves. Your opposition is from white capital to BEE, and your opposition is from black capital, who do not want to expand the net.
“We must ensure that the principle of BEE is transferred to the transformation fund, and thereby expand our opportunities to townships, small businesses and black people generally, not just the already disempowered.”
Speaking to Graeme Raubheimer on The Lead, political analyst Mpumelelo Makhabela said the BEE should stop black economic empowerment.
“If you get a contract in the government to build a school, that contract should be properly monitored, and the outcome should be a good quality school. If that is the case, then empowerment becomes widespread to the village, the hamlet, the community.
“What we've seen over the last few years is disenfranchisement, in the sense that people get this contract and they don't finish school, or finish school but it falls apart in a few years, or have to scramble for it.
“And one way to get rid of it is to make sure that political connections are decriminalized.”
Listen to The Lead with Graeme Raubenheimer.
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