{"id":1805,"date":"2022-04-18T08:46:09","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T06:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/?p=1805"},"modified":"2022-04-18T08:46:10","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T06:46:10","slug":"are-we-what-we-measure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/2022\/04\/18\/are-we-what-we-measure\/","title":{"rendered":"Are we what we Measure?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I might be wrong, but the release by Stats SA of its Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the last quarter of 2021, on 29 March 2022, seemed like a big non event for those who write for a living. Pull out the template used for the last release, slot in the new numbers, tell the reader that matters are no longer bad, but really bad, and upload to the website. Nothing a well trained AI can\u2019t handle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the hope of finding some good news in the numbers I visited the Stats SA website and downloaded the full report. No such luck. I wish it had ended there. But tucked away on page 76, I stumbled across <em>Table 8: Involvement in non-market activities and labour market status by province<\/em>. More precisely, the line item <em>Fetching water or collecting wood\/dung<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_bd8dbf-05, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_bd8dbf-05[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_bd8dbf-05\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_bd8dbf-05 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_bd8dbf-05[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_bd8dbf-05\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_bd8dbf-05 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_bd8dbf-05[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_bd8dbf-05\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading_bd8dbf-05 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_bd8dbf-05\">Painful words<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You gotta be kidding. Of all the things to measure.&nbsp; Verwoerd labeled us hewers of wood and drawers of water. Maybe our chief statistician had a catzavelos moment. Painful words. Twenty-eight years into our democracy and we have yet to liberate our minds. Only the master has changed. Lembede, Sobukwe, Biko, we hear you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They say the trend\u2019s your friend. If my chart is anything to go by, fetching water and collecting wood is definitely a growth industry. The dung bit puzzles me. I would advise that we measure and record the collection of dung separately from the hewing of wood and drawing of water. Comparability is important, and measuring how many of us hew wood and draw water describes accurately what we do and clearly what we are, hewers of wood and drawers of water. I don\u2019t see myself as a dung collector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For so long as we continue to accept the normality of unemployment (and poverty and inequality for completeness), like the proverbial frog in the pot of boiling water, we are complicit with those who profess to lead us and who are responsible for this tragedy. If we are to emancipate ourselves from our slavery of the mind we must look to no one but ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_3c73db-0b, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_3c73db-0b[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_3c73db-0b\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_3c73db-0b mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_3c73db-0b[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_3c73db-0b\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_3c73db-0b img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_3c73db-0b[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_3c73db-0b\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading_3c73db-0b wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_3c73db-0b\">What\u2019s to celebrate?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I advocate for the power of the family, the building block of all societies. The black African family in South Africa has always been viewed (dare I say abused) by the ruling elite of our country, whatever the epoch, as a convenient social safety net of last resort. The black African family continues to catch those who fall out of the system, providing much needed social protection. I see it in my own family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With four out of ten households headed by women, unemployment (expanded definition) amongst black Africans at 50%, and youth (15 &#8211; 24 years) unemployment (expanded definition) at 77% and no doubt sitting at home, I\u2019d argue there is little to celebrate on this Family Day, Monday 18 April. Rather than see it as just another braai day we should take the opportunity to <em>indaba <\/em>and explore how we take back what we gave away so carelessly. Our power as black African families.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_a9e20c-5b, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_a9e20c-5b[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_a9e20c-5b\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_a9e20c-5b mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_a9e20c-5b[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_a9e20c-5b\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_a9e20c-5b img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading_a9e20c-5b[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_a9e20c-5b\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading_a9e20c-5b wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading_a9e20c-5b\">The family business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Only when the black African family unites, pools its resources and through its own agency fights to secure its future in the economy will the scourge of poverty, unemployment, and inequality be vanquished. I call it solving the economic riddle of life. It is a challenge we all face as individuals, as a family, and as a society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I see the family business as a pathway to our redemption. There\u2019s an abundance of data bearing witness to the role and importance of family businesses in the global economy. While the numbers vary across regions, the pattern is clear. Family businesses represent in excess of 80% of businesses in the private sector, over 50% of private sector GDP, and well in excess of 50% of private sector employment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We ignore the data at our peril. This <em>diffusion of responsibility<\/em> &#8211; not my responsibility and someone else can fix it (see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymaverick.co.za\/opinionista\/2022-02-27-the-trouble-with-africa-economic-attitudes-and-a-poverty-of-the-mind\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Daily Maverick 27 February 2022, Anotida Chikumbu, The trouble with Africa \u2014 economic attitudes and a poverty of the mind<\/a>) must end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unemployment is our problem, and the government will not solve our problem. Call it self help.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sisters, it is your time to lead. Convene your first family meeting on Family Day and take stock of the energy and talent in front of you. Challenge your family to combine their resources. Match your resources to business ideas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just do it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No one else will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I borrow from times earlier &#8211; <em>black woman, black family you are on your own<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Verwoerd labeled us hewers of wood and drawers of water. Twenty-eight years into our democracy and we have yet to liberate our minds. Only the master has changed. Lembede, Sobukwe, Biko, we hear you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"above","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1805"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1810,"href":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805\/revisions\/1810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amandamathule.co.za\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}