If we don’t confront socioeconomic problems and end systems that perpetuate poverty, like corruption and maladministration, we are not living Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s legacy and have no right to be writing tributes, says Kagiso Trust board chair Mankone Ntsaba.
The Kagiso Trust was founded in 1985 by Tutu, the Rev Beyers Naudé, the Rev Frank Chikane, late Robben Island veteran Eric Molobi and others to oppose apartheid by providing support to development institutions and initiatives across a range of sectors.
“When I joined the trust, the Arch was no longer a trustee, he was a patron. I had met him many times before but during my induction I visited him in Cape Town. He told us: ‘You are on the side of the poor, the oppressed and the downtrodden.
You have no reason to be on the side of those who can help themselves,’” Ntsaba says, adding that she continues to visit trust patrons, gaining from their wisdom, knowledge and guidance as “we live out their values with integrity, credibility and social justice”.
Ntsaba has worked on various development programmes in rural areas of SA, in every province. She joined the Kagiso Trust six years ago after having worked as a researcher and consultant at the Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and lectured at the universities of Zululand and Transkei. She was appointed chairperson about 18 months ago.
Tutu, she remembers, was fiery in his constant admonitions to press ahead in the quest to uplift poor communities.
“He would say: ‘Be brave when you confront injustice, regardless of the level of that person. Even if it is people you like or people you voted for, injustice is injustice.’”
As trust chair, Ntsaba says she is proud of what they have achieved so far — investing over R2bn in development and implementing more than 1,831 programmes in 30 years — but much remains to be done.
Computer literacy in public schools, small-scale farmers unable to access funding or markets, internet connectivity in rural areas, substandard education that produces matriculants who have never touched a computer and are not globally competitive, and vast poverty in what’s viewed as a “middle-class” country are among the challenges the trust is aiming to beat.
“Covid came as a disaster. Schools with resources moved to online learning. But children in Sekhukhune, in rural Transkei and deep Limpopo were all left on their own because there was no connectivity. Covid or no Covid, blended learning all over the world was an easy shift — but we struggled,” she says.
“It was a travesty. We assisted a lot, but for some kids it was a step back. We started Kagiso Radio and they had to go back to the old, old days of school lessons on the radio. There is nothing even the government could do with no connectivity, and that is why we are in talks with new partners to connect deep rural areas.
“Teachers all over the world are available on the net and we are very grateful, but it’s only for those who are connected. My kids, for example, were able to learn from the UK,” she says, speaking from her home outside Hartbeespoort.
Another project she is pleased with is the Tyala Impact Fund. Named after the Zulu word for plough, the programme supports emerging black farmers who have no collateral and are unable to access funding and established produce markets.
“We assist with funding and we find them markets by identifying partners. For example, in Limpopo we managed to get the local Spar to buy its stock from these small farmers,” Ntsaba says.
But now it’s time to shift, she says.
It is up to us to confront socioeconomic problems and end systems that perpetuate poverty
— Kagiso Trust board chair Mankone Ntsaba
“We have small pilot schemes doing bits and pieces that make a difference for a few individuals, but in the bigger scheme of a 55-million population, I am not so sure. Our resources are too small. What we are doing is correct, but what does it mean to help 10 farmers when there are hundreds of thousands in need?”
Determined to “make sure that we don’t have the Arch turning in his grave because we are not brave enough to push for social justice”, she says they are challenged rather than overwhelmed by the task.
“It’s time for a new strategy — to view things through the economy of scale. We are engaging with new and bigger partners. We are networking and want to connect all those many corporate social investment programmes that are similar and have the same aims so that the impact is greater and their reach is extended,” she said.
The Kagiso Trust has also developed a local government support programme aimed at organising communities through civil society support, enabling them to “ask those difficult questions” and hold municipal authorities to account.
“The Arch was brave enough to ask government to account. We are doomed if we don’t do that, if we don’t confront social problems. We are living his legacy when we look government in the eye and say: ‘Account.’”
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