NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - The Difference Between Entrepreneurship and a Lack Thereof in Rural South Africa - Comments

Empathy vs Sympathy

Rob Katz — Fri, 02 May 2008 10:43:36 -0500

I thought Sagar Gubbi over at Social Edge really captures this dichotomy well in his recent post, Empathy vs. Sympathy. In it, he relates a trip to his hometown in India and his conversations with members of the BoP community. All of them do not want sympathy (a handout) but rather empathy - and opportunity. It's interesting (in my opinion) that you would see such different perspectives between South Africa and India, at least from the very personal and small samples taken by Ryan and Sagar.

Black Economic Empowerment & Employment Equity

Penny van der Lith — Fri, 02 May 2008 09:59:38 -0500

What an interesting perspective! You have captured the essence of a huge problem in South Africa. As a South African, I would also add that the SA Government's policies of Black Economic Empowerment and and Employment Equity aggravate this issue, rather than address it. Instead of empowering the people the people these policies aim to assist, we have ended up with a situation where poorly qualified and inadequately skilled people and companies are hired simply because they are black or black owned. This amounts to yet another handout, rather than true empowerment. Of course, this is not true for every black person or black business, but the reality is that it is a common enough problem to be alarming. How are we ever going to take South Africans and South African Business to the next level, if we keep using a band aid instead of pulling the sting out?

The Difference Between Entrepreneurship and a Lack Thereof in Rural South Africa

Ryan Baebler — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:57:21 -0500

I recently spent three weeks in South Africa, primarily in the rural Limpopo Province bordering Mozambique, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. While the Republic of South Africa is the 25th richest country in the world, I was struck by the extent to which first-world lifestyles co-exist with endemic poverty. For instance, I stayed in Sewale with a former ANC councilor named Patricia who owned a pickup truck, two televisions and a surround sound system. Around the councilor's home, in all directions, were mud huts.

In my opinion, the fundamental difference between the elite movers and shakers of this rural community and those who had resigned themselves to charity was empowerment. At first, I thought that this empowerment was derived from exposure to the wider world. But after having read Francisco's blog post this morning, I can see the conspicuous applicability of the Bee Sting Effect.

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