Managing values - How South Africa's GNU can foster unity in diversity

"Now is the winter of our discontent - Made glorious summer ..."

Richard III - William Shakespeare

Today, 20th June, is winter solstice in South Africa, it will be the longest night in the year - from there onwards the days will slowly become longer and the nights shorter. But tomorrow, Friday 21, might determine whether the political long night (the winter of his discontent) will start transforming into longer days (made glorious summer) for President Cyril Ramaphosa.

It is anticipated that Ramaphosa might soon announce his cabinet for the new government of national unity - the ANC and DA are meeting once more tomorrow. This is when the rubber will hit the road. With so many aspirants for lucrative cabinet positions, the key coalition partner with the African National Congress, the Democratic Alliance, will need to be satisfied that it will be indeed be able to influence key portfolios in the new government in the right (literally and figuratively) direction. Thereby it will strive to hold the support of its constituency. It will be a hard call for Ramaphosa with ANC cadres apparently reluctant to give up key ministerial positions.

If Ramaphosa is able to jump this hurdle there is a complex and delicate process to be negotiated going into the future. In this posting below I outlined the complex dynamics of South Africa’s political future. It especially relates to the sensitive legacy of racial issue and the ever present ideological differences. ?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/south-africa-faces-complexity-test-claudius-van-wyk-e7txf/?trackingId=bKrEW1y%2BOHvHC%2F6lKJCrRg%3D%3D

Reassurances

Ramaphosa's presidential address to the nation, arguing the case for a government of national unity, provided some sense of reassurance. However it is the world-view and values-based interpretation of assurances for the GNU that will ultimately count.

• First he showed some welcome transparency in acknowledging deficiencies in ANC government performance, especially related to service delivery and corruption - as he put it, the stealing of state funds and state capture. However it is the commitment to the practice of cadre deployment that provides opportunities for pals of the political hierarchy, and as such is an iniquitous practice accounting for the failures of service delivery and corruption, that will be in the spotlight.
• Second is his reiteration of commitment to the constitution, non-racialism, and inclusive economic growth. This is where both racial issues (fear of?‘whites’?once again dominating the economy), and ideological issues (a state-managed versus free enterprise economy) will be highly sensitive.
• Third is the recognition of the impact of global warming and climate change and the need for mitigation. Here the challenge will be to go beyond only taking measures to mitigate the effects of climate change, It calls for a fundamental transformation in the way the country’s mineral and natural living resources are managed in a way that enables nature's future health and regenerative capacity. Yes, economic transformation critically also includes its human resources.
• The fourth issue offering some reassurance was his mention of three core issues I have advocated over the last ten days as providing a framework for a national convention of holistic reconstruction. In his address he identified (i) the need for national dialogue, he mentioned (ii) a new social contract, and he pointed to a (iii) focus on the needs of future generations.??

Given Ramaphosa's patently difficult challenges, it is encouraging that the DA’s chief negotiator, Helen Zille, a seasoned politician with a proud record of political leadership, has recognised the delicacy of the path to be trod by all GNU participants going forward.?

Critical role of values

Few are likely to be aware of the critical role played by the recognition and management of the evolution adult values during the South African transition context in the early nineties. At that time Dr Don Beck of?’Spiral Dynamics’?made some 65 visits to South Africa to help guide the transition process.?We now need to revisit values at this even more challenged transition.

Briefly put, to simplify the understanding of the evolution of human values, the Spiral Dynamics model apportions colours to the various values-based world views. I have in addition offered a simple archetype (in brackets) to help humanise the insights further.

Evolutionary emergence of values

The evolutionary nature of the values-based world views is determined by the increased ecology in space (the physical area encompassed in awareness) and time (the duration) taken into account in decision-making.

Here they are offered in colour and archetype, in brief, to unpack the illustration above:

Beige (the caveman) - banding together for survival

Purple (the clansman) - clustering into tribal groupings for identity and security

Red (the warrior) - power and hedonism focused on empire building

Blue (the gatekeeper) - discipline in adherence to the tenets of the religious/political ideology - or prevailing laws

Orange (the entrepreneur) - focus on material prosperity through performance and opportunity optimisation

Green (the humanist) - focus on human rights and dignity with decision-making through consensus

Yellow (the complex systems strategist) - capacity to work with uncertainty and manage process with principled pragmatism

Turquoise (the holist) - focus on the planet as one interrelated living ecosystem on which all human life depends - hence inviting a transformed post-materialist view and relationship with life.?

Political parties and values

Studying the comparative chart above showing the values-profile of South Africa as compared to some other nations, will immediately help identify the country’s party political perspectives and the driving dynamics that require being recognised in their collaboration.

The indigent masses (26 million South Africans survive on meagre social security grants) are likely to function from 'beige - cavemen' survival perspective - hand to mouth existence.

Cadre deployment (tribal identity) is 'purple - the clansmen'

Corruption and hedonistic exploitation of power ?is 'red - the rapacious warriors'

Ideological dogma is 'blue - the gatekeepers' - ?be that capitalism, socialism, or religious considerations

Overt showy materialism is 'orange - the high performance entrepreneurs' - extractive capitalism?

Concern for human rights is 'green - the humanists' - see especially the South African constitution

The capacity to embrace complex process is 'yellow - the complex systems strategists'

Concern for the local and planetary ecology as the ultimate milieu for human becoming is 'turquoise - the holists’

Now notice the paucity of green humanists, and the relative absence of yellow complex systems strategists. I will suggest how to address this conceptual capacity challenge below.

Post-colonial narrative

Unsurprisingly, in the prevailing post-colonial?narrative, the?‘spirals model’ is likely to be rejected in certain quarters as a Western frame - criticised for being hierarchical or even paternalistic. I will however show that on closer inspection the model accords well with the identification of African 'spirit' value frames.?

African management strategist, the late Prof. Lovemore Mbigi in his analysis of the emergent nature of the African?‘spirit’ offered a description that accords surprisingly well with the Spirals model.

https://www.iberlibro.com/primera-edicion/Spirit-African-Leadership-Lovemore-Mbigi-Knowres/19546196086/bd

This is how he categorised emergent African world views as related to leadership. I offer my correlation to the spirals model:? ??

• Family Spirit: Mudzimu Wemusha/ Idlozi (Clansman - Purple) interested in the survival of its own group.
• War Spirit: Majukwa /Amajukwa (Warrior - Red) interested in power, control and dominance.
• Divination Spirit: N’anga / Isangoma (Gatekeeper - Blue) possesses a monopoly on divine truth.
• Hunter Spirit: Udzimba/Ukujimba (Entrpreneur - Orange) spirit of entrepreneurship, opportunity.
• Rainmaker Spirit: Gombwa/Ihosana (Humanist - Green) passion for human brotherhood, compassion.
• Wandering Spirit: Shave/Ishabi (Complex Systems Strategist ?- Yellow) creative minority/ gifted outsider.
• Finally I'm postulating a higher level Rainmaker, namely: Ihosana (Holist - Turquoise) - in Mbigi's description 'passion for the mystery of existence'.

End of majority rule

If follows that?what makes winner-takes-all majority rule easier is that the ruling party is more or less united around a policy platform. Typically though, and essentially this tends to be a universal phenomenon, it is more the case of unity being enabled by access to the spoils of power. The ANC, whilst ideologically divided, has until now been united by patronage - offering access to the spoils of power. This it has done through its oversized cabinet with 30 ministers and 35 deputies, its bloated and highly paid civil service, and its practice of cadre deployment with lucrative (taxpayer funded) positions in the numerous (dysfunctional) state-owned enterprises. This is now threatened with the end of majority rule.

Coalition government's unique challenge

The difficulty with coalition governments is that the parties participating tend to inevitably not only come with differing policy platforms, but they represent differing ideologies, and ultimately, world views. ? ?

That’s why in the real pursuit of unity in diversity, which is the essential lesson to be learned in coalitions, it requires a deep unifying vision. In this posting below I offered a potential version of such a vision.

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/rainbow-nation-south-african-vision-the-holos-earth-project-216bf/?trackingId=%2Fy%2B7M5hAi8PkqtXQlgPWXA%3D%3D

In examining the potential for unity in diversity I tried to identify the positive intent of each of the eight value systems as I've described here above.?

• The indigent beige ‘Cavemen’: ?"All have access to life-enhancing quality food, adequate shelter, clean air and water."
• The tribal purple ‘Clansmen': ? "All live with nurturing families in secure and supportive communities, where life is enriched by diverse, cultural experience."
• The power-focused red ‘Warriors’: "Each person's unique individuality, capacity and potential contribution to society and the greater ecology is empowered and celebrated."
• The disciplined blue ‘Gatekeepers’: ?"Transformed, transparent and accountable governance systems, especially empowered at the local level, protect and enable healthy societies with effective and participative resource management."
• The proactive orange ‘Entrepreneurs’:·?"Human ingenuity and innovation is harnessed to enable deeper collaborative and sustainable creativity."
• The rights-focused green ‘Humanists’: ?"The sacred dignity and potential of everyone is respected and compassionately encouraged."
• The yellow process-focused ‘Complex Systems Strategists’: ?"Cultivating leadership capable of exercising ‘complex adaptive intelligence’, emergent challenges are addressed with subtle and dynamic ‘living systems’ and ‘process-orientated’ approaches."
• The turquoise eco-sensitive planetary focused ‘Holists’: ?"In sensitive engagement and co-evolution with the ubiquitous ecology of global ‘Being’ there is reverence of nature’s deep intelligence."

Red lines

The Democratic Alliance (as well as Inkatha Freedom Party) has stipulated, and rightly so, that there will be clear red lines to its participation in the government of national unity. Since the core issue will be transparency and accountability keeping the 'red' value system under control will define the 'red line'. That represents the blue ‘Gatekeeper' value system. Without the 'Gatekeeper function the entrepreneur ultimately cannot achieve sustainably - ultimately to the cost of on-going economic development. Similarly the green Humanist's focus on the maintenance of human rights and dignity will ultimately be starved of oxygen. ?

??

Facilitation in dialogue

What is required now, in addition to the dialogue towards a social contract that Ramaphosa briefly referred to, is competent complex facilitation. This will firstly offer support in policy-making and governance practice from the perspective and capacity of the yellow 'Complex System Strategist'. Secondly it will look at a fundamental reset of economic and business activity with a focus on reverencing nature's regenerative capacity - from a post-colonial narrative to a post-materialist one.

Holistic Systems Practice.

In my following article I will spell out the opportunity for Holistic Systems Practice. ?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/compassion-holistic-systems-practice-claudius-van-wyk/