Complacency is SA's biggest enemy

Former finance minister calls for active citizenry in the wake of the country’s deepening economic crisis.

Former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene has warned that the country will soon be “running itself” if citizens are not careful.

Nene was speaking to City Press on the sidelines of the Institute of Internal Auditors SA’s three-day national conference, held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg this week.

Nene said South Africans should be wary of letting complacency creep in as this would result in the country running on autopilot.

“There are a number of countries in such crises. I think they are running on autopilot. I don’t want to say this about Africa, but most of the countries that I have found running on autopilot are in Africa.

“I do not think we have reached that point as a country, but if we are not careful, we may find ourselves in that space,” Nene said.

Referring to the recent allegations about KPMG’s involvement in state capture, Nene again referred to the country as having been so complacent that some institutions complied simply by ticking the right boxes and doing nothing else.

“I do not think that we were paying adequate attention. This is what has been brought to the fore by the situation at KPMG,” he said, adding that he did not think the partners accused of turning a blind eye to corruption had acted this way deliberately.

Nene, who participated in a panel discussion at the auditors’ conference, told the audience that he had four jobs.

The former finance minister added that he was enjoying working in the private sector and had had to adjust so that he could understand it again.

“The experience that I have accumulated in the public sector has come in handy in the private sector,” he said.

Nene said that, since both sectors needed each other, they had to make an effort to understand each other so that they could forge and strengthen partnerships.

On his latest appointment as interim director of Wits Business School, Nene said his biggest task was restoring the establishment’s prestige.

“We need to have the business school play its role again in bridging the divide between the private and public sector. That is my main focus at the moment – restoring it to its former glory and, at the same time, beginning to focus on building the executive skills,” he said.

Nene added that this would entail focusing on upskilling the public sector and not just developing executive skills in the private sector.