New cities require new citizens
Jovial Rantao, Editor of the Sunday Independent and Deputy Editor of The Star, relates his experience of Common Purpose in the new South Africa.
When South Africa changed dramatically on April 27 1994, the country's major and minor cities had no option but to change their tune. From possessing institutions that catered only for the minority, cities had to undergo a massive paradigm shift to deliver services for all residents. For a start, the leadership and management of cities and towns had to reflect the demographics of the people they served. There had to be a departure from the days when all town clerks and senior officials in the cities of South Africa were nothing else but white Afrikaner males. This change was delivered by the success of the ANC and other black majority political parties in the first all inclusive local government elections, held in 1995.
Change could not come from the institutions alone however; there was a need for people - ordinary citizens or ratepayers - to undergo a major transformation. People had to ask themselves the question: What is that I can do for my city so that my life and that of fellow residents is better? This question was posed not only by ordinary citizens but by civil society organisations as well. A second crucial question went like this. If people now had a unique opportunity to participate in the democratic process at the local government level, including roles in the civil, private and public institutions, were they suitably equipped to do so? The answer had to be a big no.
In the new South Africa, new cities require new citizens who are able to play a role to grow and improve their cities. Here, it was clear that civil society organisations had a crucial role to play in creating and nurturing active citizens and community leaders.
The innovative approach of Common Purpose is proving hugely successful in enthusing leaders about their huge potential as active citizens and about what can be achieved through working together. Common Purpose South Africa started in 2001 to help people in leadership and decision-making positions to be more effective in their own organisations, in their communities and in society as a whole. The organisation achieves this by offering educational programmes for leaders of all ages, backgrounds and sectors.
Common Purpose brings together a group of inspirational and diverse individuals who would otherwise not meet. i.e. from National Union of Mineworkers, Barclays Bank, DV8 Films and Provincial Department of Housing. The programmes focus on the developmental challenges of the city; health, housing, education, economy, crime, governance and so on. Each topic allows the participants to hear from an incredible array of leaders from across the sectors. The impact, according to ‘graduates’ who have been through the programmes, is simultaneously simple and catalytic; understanding of the cities issues, access to 'behind the scenes' information, and connection to networks of people doing important work.
Graduates sincerely appreciate the opportunity to engage in real conversations about the issues and challenges that concern us. Furthermore, they gain access to a network of people, resources and skills that allow them to widen their impact and influence.
For me, a graduate of Common Purpose's 2003 Matrix programme, the unique benefit was the diversity of the people in my class. I would make bold and say that the matrix experience opened my eyes even wider. It was the depth of the diversity and the networking that followed, that not only widened my horizons but made me a special citizen of my city.
In my line of work, I get to meet many people and visit plenty of institutions. However, through Common Purpose, I got to meet and visit people and places that I would not have otherwise met. I went to jail, yes, behind bars for the first time in my life, for a first hand experience of life behind the steel gates. I met interesting and inspirational people in and around Johannesburg; people who were doing fantastic work. Sharing in their views and issues, such as the considerable housing challenges in the city for example, is an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Common Purpose special site trips not only provided me with a stream of information, they were also a source of inspiration.
The newspapers that I work for - The Star and The Sunday Independent - jointly cover the city of Johannesburg better than we did in the past. My experience with Common Purpose has helped improve our coverage, therefore becoming even better stakeholders in the city. Common Purpose offers everyone a chance.
One might expect that someone like Kuben Naidoo, a young and incredibly patriotic South African and a senior official in the National Department of Finance, would be in a Common Purpose Matrix group.
Yet so unique is Common Purpose that Kuben was in the same Matrix group as Anna Mofokeng, and they became thoroughly enriched by hearing about each other's lives, roles and experiences. Anna Mofokeng was an uneducated, single mother who lived in a squatter camp. Anna Mofokeng was a special South African. I write this in the past tense because soon after graduation, Anna passed away. In the year that she died, Anna was honoured by The Star, South Africa's foremost newspaper, as one its heroes. Anna was celebrated for co-founding Masisizane Women’s Housing Co-operative in Ivory Park and being a champion, not just for housing, but for women’s job’s and wider empowerment
In their special way, Kuben and Anna, as well as many of their colleagues in the Matrix class, made and continue to make a huge contribution to the city of Johannesburg.
Area Commissioner Oswald Reddy of the South African Police Service also plays a critical role in Johannesburg. Reddy is a Matrix graduate and speaks in glowing terms about his experience. He says that Matrix dovetailed extremely well with SAPS national crime prevention strategy (NCPS).
The NCPS requires that the police, in the execution of their duties, must have strategic interaction with important stakeholders. "I think the Common Purpose Matrix programme is a great concept. It helps us to avoid working in silos in pursuit of the same objective. When you come together, meet and greet, you have closer working ties which in the end will benefit the community and your own organisation," Reddy said.
One of Reddy's biggest jobs is to fight the constant perception that crime is at persistently high levels in Johannesburg. The perception seems to ignore the achievements made by the police in bringing down levels of crime, particularly violent crime. One of the commissioner's highlights was the Crime and Justice Day, on which stakeholders in the sector were invited to talk and interact with the Matrix group. "I was touched when I saw that there was appreciation by other stakeholders of the work being done by members of the police force," he added.
An experience he would not forget in a hurry was a day spent at an institution in Eldorado Park, south of Johannesburg, where he found dedicated community members who took care of physically and mentally disabled children.
For Boniswa Pezisa, an Executive at Network BBDO Advertising Agency, being part of the 2003 Matrix class provided her with excellent networking opportunities. It also assisted her to stand back and view Johannesburg and its redevelopment - socially and economically - differently. "And in my own personal work to begin to find ways of contributing to the development of Joburg," she added.
Says Julia Thompson, chief executive of Common Purpose: "Common Purpose's contribution is at the city level. We are concerned about the divides that exist between people; some of which are historical and structural (race and class), and some of which increasingly are between the sectors. If you are senior and catalytic within the private sector, your peer group tends to be within that group, and not necessarily from within government or civil society. And yet we know that is not how development happens. We need to be able to understand the realities of other sectors and groups, and to be able to persuade and influence across those differences."
South Africa has changed. Common Purpose, through its Matrix programme for senior leaders, its Navigator programme for young professionals and its Your Turn programme for leaders in schools, is doing its part to turn residents of this country's cities into powerful agents of change.
One of my special moments was watching graduates of the Your Turn programme, young South Africans who exhibited nothing but pure energy and passion for their cities and their country.
These, I said to myself proudly, were tomorrow's leaders.
