Book Description

The first chapter takes the reader through my personal journey as young man growing in the dusty villages of a remote part of South Africa. The daily struggles that I had to overcome to get to where I am today, and the determination to overcome these struggles or to succumb to them. Through personal accounts of my toils I try to tell a story of most young black South Africans trying to escape harsh reality that beats most of us into submission. It is a sad but true story. The chapter explains the anger, bitterness and frustrations that have characterised the rhetoric around black empowerment through nationalisation of the commanding heights of the economy. The anger and frustrations which are negative energies can be channelled into positive actions thus converting them to positive energy. These positive actions may include shaping public opinion or influencing government or private sector policies and practices, but to do this you need power. The book explores the concept of power in a new and dynamic way. It begins by demystifying the myth about power that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It rids "power", a purely neutral word, of the negative connotations associated with it by portraying and associating it with great figures such as Jesus Christ, Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela to mention a few. Furthermore, the book takes the reader through a journey of self-discovery by introducing concepts such as self-interest and relationships with others. Through acquiring knowledge about the true nature of one's self-interest can be a campus that guides us in our relationships with others, whether we are in public or private relationship. These win-win relationships can grow to become social movements that utilises social spaces such as social media to shape the public life (government and private-sector policies). Together, power and self-interest can be a powerful tool used for positive change, either personally or collectively. The chapter agitates the reader to consciously embark on a journey to power by building personal and professional relationships, cutting deals, ensuring win-win situation and so on.This chapter deals with the economic debate around nationalisation of the commanding heights of the economy, particularly the mining corporations. The author justifies, with valid reasons, the exclusion of the political debate on nationalisation. The chapter starts by briefly explaining the evolution of the South African economy. It continues to give account of the major corporations that played a pivotal role in the industrialisation and modernisation of the South African economy, namely; Anglo American and De Beers Corporations. By explaining the history of- and the evolution of these two giant corporations into dominant global market players, the author cautions the reader to study and thoroughly understand these two cartels' origins, affiliations, domestic and foreign influence and so on. I continue to highlight the act of necessity rather than ideology that drove the ANC to pursue a capitalist economy since 1994 and the role these two corporations played towards that push. From here, the author shall outline the economic rationale for nationalisation using both theory and practical examples. I will further sketch the various models of nationalisation including partial nationalisation, nationalisation with compensation and public private partnership (PPPs) and so forth. It is by judging the evidence and information that I shall have presented that we can arrive at a logical and informed decision regarding the issue of nationalisation in a mixed capitalist economy. My last chapter focuses on youth development, particularly personal development. It will approach youth development with two approaches namely; the internal and external approach.