The incoming CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Prof Mbongiseni Buthelezi, says when leaders cannot be questioned about their decisions organisations begin to fail and problems start to emerge, whether in government or civil society.
Buthelezi, 43, who is executive director of the Public Affairs Research Institute (Pari) and a professor of anthropology and development studies at the University of Johannesburg, will begin his new role on October 1.
“Ethical leadership goes hand-in-hand with being held accountable. Collectively, as a group of people working together in an organisation, we all hold each other accountable.
“We should be very clear what our standards of accountability and our ethical standards are. The moment we get to a point where the leader cannot be questioned, which is the problem we have seen in public leadership, then we have a problem.
“The moment any of my colleagues don't feel like they can challenge what I say, then we have a problem. We also have a board of very prominent people, the board needs to have a way of knowing what is going on in the organisation, independent of what I tell them. The board needs to hold me accountable as the leader of the organisation.”
Buthelezi's research has focused on land, governance and the state in South Africa. He is interested in trajectories of land reform, the role of traditional authorities in land governance, state institutions, as well as corruption and state capture.
But he is also passionate about the arts and holds a PhD in English and comparative literature from Columbia University. He graduated cum laude from both the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Natal, earning an MA in English studies and a BA (Hons) in English and drama, respectively.
Buthelezi has been working with the Nelson Mandela Foundation for 15 years in different initiatives. “I started when I was with the University of Cape Town doing research on the state of archives in South Africa.
“I have been commissioned by the foundation to do research on land. I was part of a group of international activists who took part in the Mandela Dialogues.
“They do work on land issues, and I also started a programme on land in 2020 here, so there is some continuity there,” Buthelezi said.
In June last year, the Nelson Mandela Foundation fired then CEO Sello Hatang after an internal investigation into his personal conduct in the workplace.
Buthelezi says he is up to the challenge of taking over the reins of an organisation that has experienced problems.
“I took over [Pari] when it was in a similar position and really built it into a very successful organisation. I bring that experience with me.
Among his aims is to clarify the foundation's role in society.
“We want to be an ethical voice in public discourse that calls out wrong when we see it, but also works in constructive ways with the people trying to solve this country’s problems.
“I would want the foundation to play those roles in a much more clear and visible way. Those roles don't just end in South Africa. There are other parts of the world where the legacy of Madiba can be leveraged to deal with injustice.”
Buthelezi has great interest in the areas of justice, transformation and archive. For his master's degree in literature, he studied izibongo — isiZulu praise poetry — unpacking how the men who had been defeated by King Shaka, such as Zwide, challenged his narrative through their own praises.
He also developed an interest in the role of traditional leadership in South African democracy.
“We have not worked out what the role of traditional leadership in a democracy is. Attempts to work that out have not been sustained conversation. It has been met with threatening rhetoric. I think there is a new conversation we need to have and I think the foundation can play a role there,” Buthelezi said.
He said taking leadership of the Nelson Mandela Foundation at the beginning of the government of national unity was a great opportunity.
“We’ve gone through phases in the past where government would not listen to people from outside.
“We are in a new phase where, as an organisation, we can accompany what is unfolding, walking alongside in what government is trying to do...”
He said civil society had a huge role to play in helping the state become effective and deliver services to impoverished communities.
He commended the foundation for the work it has been doing over the years in helping early childhood development centres register, train their staff and access state funding.
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