Future Growth

The third month-long program, entitled "Future Growth Through Expertise" was recently held at the International Institute - Histadrut (Israel's General Federation of Labour) at the Beit Berl campus northeast of Tel Aviv. The program is supported by MASHAV, and in South Africa it is initiated, coordinated and funded by He'Atid of the Mizrachi Organization of South Africa through Krok Vision, an organization established by local philanthropists Solly and Abe Krok.

The 23 participants spent February 1998 in Israel, touring the country and seeing first hand how Israel has absorbed newcomers from Asia, Africa and Europe and the Americas in the past five decades to live alongside a 20% Arab minority while building a democratic nation with a standard of living comparable to Western Europe.

"The course is also custom-made for each individual participant," explained Michael Carmel, Head of the Overseas Courses Division for the International Institute and the program's coordinator. "Each participant spends a couple of days in meetings with their professional counterparts in Israel. The participants also start preparing a project which may not necessarily be connected to their professional work."

The program represents a special project of cooperation between the International Institute, MASHAV and the Mizrachi Organization of South Africa, whereby it has been made possible for almost 70 participants so far to experience at close hand the trials and tribulations of community development in Israel with the intention to gainfully use that knowledge for the future of the new South Africa. It is recognized that the strengths of Israel's experience in this field are considerable when compared to the historical experiences of most other countries. Mike, as the program coordinator, already conducted a follow-up workshop in Johannesburg last year after the first two intakes at the International Institute, together with legal expert and journalist Ben Dror Yemini, and there is a further follow-up program planned for July 1998.

According to Wendy Kahn, the coordinator in South Africa, these continuation programs contribute much to the ongoing nature of the joint project and provide excellent opportunities for feedback concerning the participants' implementation of their ideas in South Africa, as a conveyance of their experiences in Israel. Wendy, who accompanies the groups to Israel, is the client development officer at the University of Witwatersrand's Graduate School of Business Administration. "An essential part of these courses," she said, "is the follow-up we carry out in South Africa itself in the summer."

"It is not enough," she added, "that these highly talented people come to Israel and see what has been achieved here. They must act on it. Through this participatory learning we want to see them put theory into practice. From previous courses we have had some wonderful projects. One person has set up a business college for hawkers and peddlers, while another has organized street beggars into a garden maintenance company."

Wendy stressed that the three aspects of contemporary Israeli society most relevant for the program were leadership, entrepreneurship and business skills. Certainly, these are attributes with which the South African participants themselves seemed well endowed even before reaching Israel.

For example, Lindi Ntuli is a bank manager for the First National Bank in Durban. She was nominated by her company's headquarters in Johannesburg because she is the only black, female manager in her region.

"I have been impressed by the way that Israeli banks are prepared to take a calculated risk," she observed. "At our bank it is impossible to get a loan if you do not have assets to use as collateral. Here in Israel if you want a loan to start a new business they are more concerned with how capable the person is and how viable the planned business might be."

Lindi was also impressed by the level of computerization in Israeli banks. "The bank's computers are also linked to the police computers," she noted, "so that if a loan is taken for a car it is possible to discover immediately if it is a stolen car. We cannot do that." Lindi, however, does feel that Israel can learn from South Africa in the area of customer service.

Lindi Ntuli's project, however, will not involve banking at all. She wants to improve the quality of life of terminally ill patients by assisting volunteers who will help them get through their difficult last months. "At present we are talking about mainly cancer patients," she said, "but in the coming years the AIDS epidemic will mean that there will be an increasing number of terminally ill AIDS patients."

Another participant, Zwaeli Modi, from Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, is the provincial coordinator for the National Small Business Council. "We have a national strategy to transform job seekers into job creators," he explained, "by helping them set up micro-enterprises. This is one important way to combat unemployment."

Zwaeli was able to visit his counterparts at the network of MATI offices in Israel which perform a similar function. "The standard of service offered by MATI is very high," he observed. "They offer a total package from giving information over the Internet to checking the viability of potential businesses through making business plans and getting loans. We must train our people in these methods."

Zwaeli Modi's own project will be to put into practice the concept of becoming an entrepreneur. He wants to set up a fabric weaving project to channel the manufacturing energy of many of the unemployed people in his town. "There is fertile ground for such a project among the jobless," he commented.

Empowerment is the essence of the project planned by Lucky Ncube from Johannesburg, who is the Human Resources Development Manager for Macsteel, which in Israel owns the Iskoor steel manufacturing company.

"I am impressed by the way that the Histadrut labour federation shares in power and responsibility in Israel," he said. "It owns its own companies and take the broader view of conflicts. In South Africa the trade unions are very confrontational. If there is a conflict the union only considers the interest of the workers and not what is for the benefit of the entire company."

Lucky's proposed project involves the 525 drivers who deliver goods for the Macsteel group in South Africa. "Drivers in general in South Africa can do much to improve their skills," he explained. "There are a lot of accidents causing death, injury and damage to property. I want to do something to reduce this phenomenon."

"If you empower people you can achieve miracles," he continued. "I want to take our drivers and put them through driving courses with the latest simulators and whatever. I will convince them that they have a very responsible job. I anticipate that such a course could reduce my transport costs by 10% through reducing accidents, not to mention the saving of lives. And these drivers will talk to their colleagues at other companies and tell them what they have learned. There will be a trickle down effect."

Innovative thinking is also what motivates Pieter Swart, Director of Corporate Affairs at the Port Elizabeth Technicon. He met with his counterparts from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

"I liked the incubator they have at the Technion," he said. "This offers the opportunity for scientists without any business experience to develop their ideas and enterprises in a sheltered environment. I was also impressed by a visit to Degem Systems, a high-tech firm specializing in educational software. This is a country where people are willing to change their ideas, where people appreciate the importance of technology."

Pieter Swart is planning a project that will revolve around preparing and making students more aware of the importance of science and technology in modern life and its potential in building a better future for South Africa.

Education was also the primary interest of Desiree Tomes of the Bureau of In-Service Teacher Development in Johannesburg. In particular she focused her attention on early childhood, pre-elementary school education. "In Israel there is an excellent nationwide network of day care centres and kindergartens for children aged 0-5," she observed. "In South Africa there is little pre-school education and even the schools themselves are all private. I would like to convince the powers-that-be to give greater priority to education."

Desiree Tomes also took inspiration from the multi-cultural nature of Israel's education system and hoped to develop a project that would help build the self-esteem of South Africa's teachers, many of whom she feels are demoralized by the present situation.

The participants of all the three courses which have taken place so far will meet together in South Africa in the summer for the follow-up session to assess the progress and impact that their respective projects are making.