Q: It must be very lonely in this leadership position, having to absorb continual criticism or people always treating you with such huge respect. Are you lonely?
A: Not at all. Not with me. I am not at all very lonely. I am with people all the time. I feel absolutely wonderful! And at times I actually appreciate when people are critical, because it means they are not just sitting, ready to swallow anything; they are thinking; they are critical.
I may not agree with them, but they are doing something to think about what needs to be done, and people will never be the same. They will certainly see things differently. Where- ever I am, I am at home. If and when I am sitting with my critics I am at home.
Q: What two or three additional attributes would the CEO of a country need as opposed to being the CEO of a business?
A: Well, I don’t know about business, because I have not run business. I think if you are running a country you need to accept that it is composed of citizens who think differently and are not the same.
You have got to accept that some people are going to disagree with you, very strongly and very extremely. At times they may be right.
You must therefore be ready to accept that situation and deal with it, from a humble point of view. You must always humble yourself, no matter how harsh people can be, because that honour to be a president is not going to be experienced by many people. It is the highest honour that you can get on this Earth.
I think one should appreciate that and therefore be ready to humble yourself to the people who make you the president, so that they can be in a position to listen to you, even if they disagree with you. I think in my view people should know they can tell you what they think, whether you like it or not. They know that they are accepted. They know you are a person that makes mistakes and if you make mistakes you apologise. You should not say because I am the president I don’t care what happens. I think people want to see a real person, rather than an artificial person.
Q: What do you consider to have best prepared you to fulfil such a task?
A: Firstly I think it is basically my background, how I grew up. I come from a large family. I lost my father when I was very young. I don’t even know him properly. I just know the shadow of him.
I therefore grew up in a kind of a collective handling by elderly people. Also because my mother had to go and be a domestic worker and could not stay with me all the time, I was handled by different mothers. All this and more made me appreciate Ubuntu, a culture of respect, which I was taught very strongly.
Up to today you would never hear me losing respect, even when there is political debate, I don’t. And I believe even when you disagree with a person you still have to give that person respect, whether old or young people. I think this, to me, was a critical element that moulded me into what I am.
The second element has been my experience as a worker and trade unionist, but also the politics from the ANC, which made me grow, even to a point of understanding the nature of our own oppression, not just in a superficial fashion.
I understood it very deeply, to a point of understanding that even the oppressor was himself not clear what he was doing. You therefore reach a point where you decide to liberate not only the oppressed but also the oppressor.
Such politics of the ANC I think was seen in the main during the negotiations. That’s why people are saying we are a miracle in South Africa.
I think it was the capacity of the ANC, firstly to teach its cadres real leadership qualities and proper understanding of the dynamics of the conflict in South Africa.
And, having understood that very deeply, to also understand very deeply the solution, that you cannot be negative if you want to arrive at a solution in South Africa.
In other words, not the politics that teaches you anger, but the totality of it, where colour does not become the issue. The issue becomes the system and you know that you have got to tackle the system.
The ANC teaches you the kind of politics where, when all is said and done, you know what the right thing to do is. And therefore you reach a point where you know it is your fundamental task to harmonise the different kinds of thinking, cultures and everything. But if you are politically not very grounded, you are likely to remain with one element. And if you are a strong character you will become so strong in that kind of element that you become destructive.
Q: Since you became president, what have you learnt about leadership? Surely one can look at the position of president from the outside, and even as deputy president, but the day that mantle falls on your shoulders, what is that like?
A: Let me start by saying, one of the things the ANC has done for me is to teach me politics and leadership.
So, leadership does not come as a surprise, because you have learnt what leadership means, what is good leadership, who are leaders that have failed and why they failed, who are good leaders and why they succeeded.
Growing up in the ANC you have not only learnt about the ANC but also about other leaders from other organisations. And in my case you are talking about someone that has grown through the ranks of the ANC, and I have sat with these former leaders.
You are a person who comes from a very deep school. So once this responsibility of president comes you are not asking what you must do. You know exactly how ANC leaders handled matters.
But, once you become the leader, you are the last person and people look at you. As much as you know how the leaders dealt with those matters, once you are there it is of course a new situation. It is then a question of how you handle the situation.
Q: How do you stay grounded?
A: It is seeing ordinary people appreciating what government does for them. When they receive electricity, water or a house for the first time, the excitement encourages me to work harder to ensure that even more people get access to such basic services.
I am also encouraged by the positive spirit of many South Africans I meet who appreciate the progress we are making. - Business Report