Executive Director, Leigh Meinert
Trustees, directors and staff
Our special guests – the graduands and their families
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you very much for the invitation to share this great day with you. I’d like to make an admission and a confession – the admission is that I am very excited by Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSiBA) and what it achieves, and the confession is that I have been ignorant for so long about TSiBA, until Leigh came along and told the stories that blew me away. So what I want to share with you is a celebration of the way in which TSiBA breaks the mould and creates opportunities for people who otherwise may be overlooked.
The proof of the TSiBA success is not only in the accolades received thus far– we all know about the fact that TSiBA has already produced four Mandela Rhodes Fellows in its short life! It is about the fact that it provides an invaluable opportunity for young men and women to break free from the constraints of poverty through education and experiential learning opportunities.
Let me congratulate each of the graduands here today. I know that each of you are here, ready to graduate in celebration of your hard work and in support of the fact that you do not have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to succeed – in fact, in this, the real world, the message from this graduation is that the silver spoon is a distinct disadvantage!
Now I want to hang my head, for a moment, and say to you, the graduates, that my generation is currently in positions of decision-making in governments, in business and in academia – and if all of us were sufficiently honest, we would recognise that our actions do not always inspire confidence.
Knowing this is important, because we need to recognise in you the ability of a generation determined and inspired to replace us. Such replacement is, of course, part of the natural ordering of leadership – sometimes these transitions can be accelerated by the recognition of certain deficiencies in incumbents, and at other times it is fuelled by the need for change.
The desire should, however, not be on merely occupying leadership positions – the drive ought to be the desire to serve in a manner where such service is premised on strong values. In setting this challenge, we must ask about the values of our current leaders and the legacy that they will leave. Far too often these days we hear incredible stories of self-enrichment and while we cannot deny the leaders the right to elevate themselves from poverty, but it cannot be correct that it be done while leaving masses of people behind, still trapped or worse at the expense of the poor of this country.
As the leaders of today, it is expected of us to display the values, skills and the attributes that will drive transformation, not only because it is the right thing to do in addressing our history but also because it will empower successive generations of equally determined people. And, if we are not equal to the task of what history demands of us, we have to turn to you, the next generation and ask that you not wait for an invitation to take over the leadership.
I want to pause for a moment to commend the approach taken by TSiBA of focussing on entrepreneurship and leadership as part of their aim of producing well-rounded individuals with a strong sense of community responsibility. I am particularly humbled by the ‘pay it forward’ concept that is at the heart of the TSiBA approach largely because the National Planning Commission which I chair as part of my day job is still grappling with these issues.
But let me return to the young men and women before me and say, do not expect that opportunity to lead to fall into your laps, merely because you are young. You must acquire the attributes for transformation, and be seen to live them out. The poet, Bertolt Brecht, addressed a generation very similar to yours when he set the task in a great poem titled, “In Praise of learning”. I want to read just an excerpt where he writes:
Study from bottom up,
for you who will take the leadership,
it is not too late!
Study the ABC;
it is not enough.
but study it!
Do not become discouraged, begin!
You must know everything!
You must prepare to take command, now!
Study, man in exile!
Study, man in the prison!
Study, wife in your kitchen!
Study, old-age pensioner!
You must prepare to take command now!
Locate yourself a school, homeless folk!
Go search some knowledge, you who freeze!
You who starve, reach for a book: it will be a weapon.
You must prepare to take command now.
Don’t be afraid to question, comrades!
Never believe in faith. see for yourself!
What you yourself don’t learn you don’t know.
Question the reckoning - you yourself must pay it
Set down your finger on each small item.
Asking: where do you get this?
You must prepare to take command now!
So essentially, it is important that in your enthusiasm to rush ahead, you actually pace yourselves. And in doing this, it is important to recognise that one good attribute to have is that of humility. You must understand that with the desire to serve goes the notion that you are a servant of the people. Even if this service is not in public office, regardless of where you are, you are part of a community and hold a position because of community support.
You should recognise that even the best education such as you received here at TSiBA, has only equipped you to learn – it is okay to accept that you do not know enough yet, but you have attained an outstanding ability to learn. This should not retard your development – it merely shapes it, informs it and impels it. It should not stop!
Each of you needs to retain perspective, and use those observations to drive yourselves ahead. In the quest for leadership there are some things you should never forget. Amongst those is that you strive to always be young, not immature – but young! Like the words of the song remind us:
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Choose where you are heading, anchor yourselves in reality, and drive yourselves. To paraphrase the sentiments expressed by Bob Dylan in the song, it is about knowing and speaking the truth, having the courage that this brings to be righteous and strong. It is about taking it one rung at a time to climb that ladder to the stars to reach your dreams and above all, it is about remaining young in all that you do.
You have all come though the hard road, it will stand in good stead when you need to prove yourselves, time and again.
Congratulations, I wish you every success, and thank TSiBA for contributing to your development.
Address by Minister in The Presidency: National Planning Trevor A Manuel to the graduation ceremony at the Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSiBA), Pinelands
