Insight: With vision, patriotism we can fix labour woes

THE Eastern Cape mass exodus of human capital cannot be solely blamed on fewer job opportunities and the search for greener pastures. Lack of patriotism and vision, as well as a weak or non-existent civil society organisation, are the salient features contributing to the province’s human capital emigration. Ukufa kusembizeni! (You are your own enemies).

There is a widely-held view that “lack of jobs and reliance on a few economic sectors drove Eastern Cape people to the economic hubs of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.” In Tuesday’s Daily Dispatch, Chris Hart noted that “many people that leave the Eastern Cape are skilled, and they do so because they believe the Eastern Cape offers few opportunities.” Factual as it is, however, this view does not take into consideration the “returnees” who have been working, or are already in jobs in the province, but who have re-emigrated or who are planning to go back to the economic hubs of the country.

Besides, there is also the skilled human capital from outside the province, that find it hard to continue working under the challenging conditions in some job sectors in the region. In other cases, particularly the education sector, there are lots of opportunities, but people are not interested in working in this province. Therefore, the broader question of the Eastern Cape’s labour market should also cover re-emigration and the unattractiveness of the region to the skilled local human capital.

Recently, the Eastern Cape department of traditional affairs and local government hosted a workshop for young professionals, presenting entrepreneurial opportunities in the marine industry and human resource sectors, in the Coega IDZ.

One of the issues that emerged there was that these opportunities benefit outsiders as they are more competitive than the locals. The local skilled human capital based outside expresses their willingness to work back home, but highlight the unconducive labour environment in the province. Power games over socio-economic development goals, sycophancy and challenging work ethics are some of the poison internal in Eastern Cape labour space.

While one agrees with Andrew Murray that “our outward migration is an apartheid legacy.... ” and is due to a search for greener pastures, the afore- mentioned internal challenges are more fundamental than the externalities he mentions.

The contemporary labour environment in the province suggests that the current emigration is also due to the unattractive work environment in some sectors. Officers in charge of the work space or employers, who have never been exposed to the broader world and the realities of innovation, tend to be territorial. Constructive personality theory suggest that, as employers, such people tend to be transactional in their leadership style. As such, the need to consolidate own power and selfish interests overrides quality service delivery agendas. In such situations, the employees or potential candidates are forced to be sycophants.

Those who rebel against the system and the norms of mediocrity tend to be marginalised, and thus migrate. The potential human capital needed by the economy tends to shy away from the transactional space. Thus we have the emigration of the skilled human capital and unattractiveness of the labour environment to the potential candidates.

The danger here, however, is that the province will attract or end up with a non-patriotic, selfish and non-visionary labour force, educators and trainers which would, in turn, kill the potential of the younger generation. This would lead to a vicious cycle of uncompetitiveness and marginalisation of the province in the global politico-economic arena. As Dawie Roodt asserts, “the cities and countries that attract (skilled) people can attract investments and gain skills and economic growth. The reverse is also true. ”

As long as the province does not see power politics, sycophancy and selfish interests as the internal challenges, it will continue to experience the exodus of skilled human capital. In that light, one believes that the perceptions or realities leading local skilled human capital to migrate or find the province unattractive, need the attention of patriots.

In all sectors, employers should portray a deep level of patriotism informed by a transformational leadership, with a vision of a prosperous province that is able to produce its own timber for its own growth.

Institutions of education and training have an important role to play in this regard. These have to ensure that they produce quality human capital that is competitive in the labour market, which would in turn, contribute to the province’s socio-economic development.

Pa triotic, skilled and professional employers, educators and trainers, together with a progressive general civil society, could help in this endeavour.

In this agenda, the role of a progressive and vibrant civil society is to ensure that institutions of education and training produce the necessary human capital.

Together with the government and employers, they can ensure a conducive labour space that would retain and attract the local and non-local skilled human capital and arrest emigration. Iyeza lisendlini! (You can change the status quo!)

Dr Zoleka Ndayi is a senior lecturer at WSU’s politics department