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by James Brewer-Calvert
Mark Burnette, photographer
Eric Lucas introduced our speaker,
Francois Botha. Botha took early retirement from Eskom, the
South African power company, in 1997. He served in a variety
of capacities there during his 21-year career, first as
treasurer and more recently as the International Executive
promoting Eskom and South Africa as an investment destination.
From 1991 to 1994 he operated out of Frankfurt, Germany, and
since August 1994, he has been in Atlanta. Currently Mr. Botha
is employed by Drake, Beam & Morin, a leading global
outplacement, career management and coaching firm. He is also
a frequent speaker for Crossroads Career Network and actively
supports the Mt. Paran Church of God chapter. Mr. Botha lives
in Atlanta with his family and travels extensively. He and his
family are proud citizens of the United States.
"The country of South Africa reminds me of a sportsman who
has never reached his full potential," he said. "South Africa
is a treasure box of the world. It is the number one producer
of precious metals that the world cannot do without."
Mr. Botha said that he is qualified to speak on South
Africa because he lived there for 40 years, had solid
relationships with international bankers and suppliers, and is
a descendant of the Botha family. He is able to trace his
lineage back to Jan Frederick Botha, who came to South Africa
from Germany as a trader for the Dutch East Indies Trading
Company. Botha settled in Cape of Good Hope in 1692, and built
a farm, which functions as a working farm to this day.
Francois Botha moved to Atlanta in 1994. He likes to focus
on the positive regarding why someone should invest in South
Africa, but first he listed the major areas of deep concern
for the nation state.
First, there is very high unemployment and poverty. Program
after program to address these challenges have failed. There
is a new Expanded Public Works Program to provide jobs with
training. This national program is designed to target the
underemployed and unemployed, and President Zuma is optimistic
that it can drive unemployment down from 23 percent to 14
percent. The global recession, falling commodity prices plus
shrinking investments from foreigners is a difficult
combination for South Africa. Zuma and his fellow citizens
will need to find a balance between expanded welfare and
shrinking resources.
Further, crime is a major problem. Since there is not one
common cause, there cannot be one common solution. For the
past decade, crime and violence have become the number one
reason cited by citizens leaving South Africa.
Finally, a host of other challenges are ever present,
including: education (too many drop outs and not enough
citizens with higher educations); health care (300,000 people
die every year due to HIV/AIDS); the tragedy of 1.5 million
orphans; land reform (80 percent of the land is owned by 10
percent of the population); local governments are ineffective
and corrupt; illegal immigration; and the need for Black
economic empowerment (so far only the Black elite have become
empowered).
South Africa has followed a fiscally conservative policy
for years. The Rand remains vulnerable. In a land that 50
years ago could boast that 60 percent of the GNP was directly
related to mining and concomitant industry, today only three
percent of the GNP is mining related. Tourism holds between
eight to twelve percent of the GNP, with major international
events like cricket and soccer being held there. In 2010, the
World Cup will be held in South Africa. Mr. Botha concluded by
saying that despite the odds, South Africa has a hopeful
future, and it is safe to invest there.
In honor of Mr. Botha's visit, A Splendid Exchange: How
Trade Shaped the World by William J. Bernstein was
donated to the DeKalb Library System.
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