At 232 years, the United States of America (USA) remains one of the most daring human experiments involving the intrusion of migrants primarily from Europe and imposition of a Eurocentric civilization that has informed the construction of the so-called noble republic founded on a republican ideology.
The foundational principles of the republic were as noble to the target beneficiaries as they were brutal to all those opposed to it and particularly people of colour. The founding fathers were clear on their vision and mission to convert a nation dominated by Native Americans into a progressive country in which citizens could reach for the stars without let or hindrance.

Today, the 300 million inhabitants of the USA have global influence that is unparalleled in human history to the extent that it has been correctly observed that when the country sneezes the world catches a cold. The current global financial crisis is just one of many examples that demonstrate the critical importance of the USA in shaping and defining the state of the global financial architecture as well as governance models.

At its foundation, America was no more than a noble idea that a nation built on certain values and principles particularly in terms of liberty, equity, and rule of law can prosper and capture the imagination of creative and entrepreneurial human spirit.
In framing the republic, it was important that a constitution be put in place confirming a deep commitment to the founding principles and values.

While it may be difficult to establish consensus on whether the republic has lived up to its promise, it is instructive that the country continues to attract immigrants who for a variety of reasons see in America a country of hope and promise. Some have called it the land of the brave and a melting point of many cultures. The Native Americans have unfortunately been condemned to reservations and the majority culture remains Eurocentric to the extent that Caucasians can claim that the success of the republic to date represents the superiority of their protestant founding values and principles.

Even Europe has accepted that America offers a different illusion to enterprising people to the extent that many of its citizens still aspire to be American and would rather invest in the American project than remain in Europe with its own archaic and hierarchical institutions.

The America we see today was not an accident of history but a carefully crafted idea whose utility is to be found in the creative ability of its citizens and their confidence that being American confers on the individual the arrogance and resilience to overcome any challenge.What is it that makes America notwithstanding its weaknesses, a home of hope?

Post colonial Africa is only 52 years old and is a post World War II project. Many of Africa’s founding fathers were inspired by the values and principles that underpinned America’s constitutional order to the extent that they framed their own post colonial models along the same lines as the American constitution.

However, to the extent that the colonial model was framed on the same lines as the American system, Africa’s founding fathers were not convinced that the American economic model was suited to the circumstances of the post colonial state. As a result, one country after another adopted socialist policies premised on the state assuming a dominant role in nation building. The success of the decolonization project was seen as a vindication that the colonial model was not suited to Africa. However, after 52 years of the post colonial experience it must be observed that the frontiers of poverty have regrettably not been reduced and Africa has yet to live up to its promise.

The acknowledged brain drain and its debilitating implications on development confirm that there is something fundamentally wrong in the construction of the post colonial state. While it is appreciated that the colonial system was not framed on the basis of a universally applicable market-based standard but was structured on racial grounds, it is important to note that the kind of progress witnessed in Africa would not have been possible if the colonial state was not founded on certain values and principles that regrettably have not been digested and understood by the post colonial inheritors.

The interface between race and colonial capitalism effectively contaminated that capitalist model to the extent that the utility of a market-based system has been rejected as a basis to frame the post colonial state’s ideological foundation.

South Africa is the youngest African child and the most developed country in the continent hosting the largest white tribe. The transition from apartheid to a democratic state was unique but did not result in any radical change of economic ideology.

It has been accepted that President Mandela played a critical role in building confidence that the foundations of the colonial/apartheid state would not be disturbed rather equity and poverty alleviation would be driven by the nation’s ability to grow.
President Mandela’s personal stature and iconic status assisted in the transition in that the resolution of the ideological questions that confronted the post colonial state were deferred to the next administration led by his deputy, President Mbeki.

The manner in which Mbeki was elected and his style of governing would lead to his downfall but what is significant is that Mbeki who had enjoyed the backing of Mandela has been on his own and the pressure to change the direction of economic management from the ANC’s alliance partners was always a poison pill on his administration. Mbeki understood that the post apartheid state needed investment and it was not in the interest of the republic to follow in the footsteps of many African countries that had blindly followed distributive policies without locating the source of funding.

Like many African countries, South Africa inherited a society in which the proportion of unemployed people was far in excess of the employed class and the dominant economic actors from whom state revenues were largely derived were white. To finance the new state and attract skills required to move the country forward, it was, therefore, important for the new state actors to be sensitive to the market system on whose back the apartheid state had grown. Having been in exile, Mbeki must have known the folly of populist policies that have increased poverty and undermined the achievement of Millennium Development Goals.

Mbeki’s ability to resist the pressure from the left of his party to use the state as an instrument for transformation was compromised by his actions against his deputy, Mr. Jacob Zuma, on a purely unrelated matter involving allegations of corruption. The left wing of the governing alliance took advantage of the situation and by supporting Zuma’s cause; an opportunity existed for a determined onslaught on Mbeki’s presidency. Some have observed that Mbeki was naive to embark on a fight against Zuma which took an ideological context without any ammunition. The context and content of the contestation for power that pitted Zuma against Mbeki was at face value personal but at its core was and remains ideological.

ANC is not an exception in failing to attract significant membership from the business community and while the major beneficiary of Mbeki’s regime is the business community, he has largely been alone in defending the cause. He was bound to lose anyway and the Polokwane elections exposed what was really at stake.

Even if Mbeki had complied with the party’s request to leave Zuma alone, it is not clear whether he would have been spared by the left wing of the party who are anxious to have a friend as the head of state. The events following the judgment handed down by Justice Nicholson in which he ruled that prosecutors working under an ANC administration led by Mbeki were wrong to charge ANC leader Jacob Zuma with corruption. The ruling included biting criticism of prosecutors and of political leaders all the way up to President Thabo Mbeki, saying there was reason to believe the decision to charge Mr. Zuma was politically motivated. This judgment sealed Mbeki’s fate leading him to agree to his party’s request for him to step down.

As I write this article, Mbeki is no longer the President of the country. With Mbeki’s resignation as well as some of his key ministers, the financial markets responded negatively prior to the election of a new President who has retained all but a few of Mbeki’s ministers. At Polokwane, the party rejected some of the ministers who have been retained by the new President suggesting that the battle for resolving the ideological challenges facing the post apartheid state is still on. With Mbeki gone, the pressure is now squarely on Zuma to define where he stands on the key ideological questions that have led to the rejection of Mbeki.
ANC with a membership of about 700,000 members will find it increasingly difficult to resist succumbing to pressure to change course. Over the last 14 years, the business community has relegated key economic decisions to the government forgetting that the real centre of power is a party whose worldview is shaped by people who may ultimately have no interest in creating a market friendly environment.

The events of the last two weeks have shown where the real power lies in South Africa and the kind of thinking that informs decision making. There are many who believe that Africa will be better off without business people and the frontiers of poverty can only be reduced if the rich and whites are alienated from resources. Profit is largely regarded as a poison pill to the fight against poverty.

Whether the power will be used to move the country forward remains to be seen. With the change of guard in South Africa, a realignment of policies has to take place and the extent to which South Africa will resist the temptation to create a powerful political centre without checks and balance that is typical in many African countries will depend on the capacity of those that have a lot to lose if the country follows the Zimbabwean route to remain vigilant as what has happened last week when the pressure was brought to bear on the ANC to retain Mbeki’s cabinet.

Editor ’s note : Mutumwa Mawere , is a business executive, pioneer, financier, banker and entrepreneur best known as the founder and Chairman of Africa Resources Limited (“ARL”).This article first appeared on his website mmawere.com