The single most significant challenge confronting underdeveloped communities in South Africa is how to re-establish their knowledge and skills management systems so that they can produce and support their own leaders. They need nothing short of a complete talent management revolution driven by the communities themselves in order to stop the prevailing human capital wastage and alleviate poverty.

Fifteen years of democracy in our country should have demonstrated to many people that neither the political establishment nor the economic model is likely to provide the socio-economic solutions we need in the time that was imagined or anticipated. And that has largely to do with the dysfunctional talent management systems and paradigms in our society.

The state of talent management in our country at the moment can be summarised in three lines: the government is battling to find resources to balance some critical short-term needs of the population like housing, with strategic long-term challenges like education. The corporate world still grapples to find business models that will accommodate their profit motive in the same box as the part of affirmative action or employment equity legislation that makes sense to it. Meanwhile, many black communities do not have think-tanks and knowledge leaders as a result of poor education and general neglect and those with something to spend are fast becoming their own worst enemies by embracing hollow consumerism ahead of learning.

Leadership is urgently required at community level to energise and give direction to the critical process of rebuilding our society. Leadership, though, is a complex process that normally requires a meaningful relationship to exist between those who lead and their supporters or followers, especially at grassroots level. This is more so in a multicultural and multilingual country like South Africa.

Effective knowledge and skills management systems are the fundamental building blocks of any sustainable progress. A society that fails to take care of its knowledge and skills resources risks not only plunging itself into abject poverty. It also risks failing to develop its culture as well as losing its value systems. So we need to devise bold and creative ways of producing the community activists we desperately need to transform and develop our society.

The dire talent management systems in our society have caused large numbers of our scholars and workers to get very little out of their careers. They have led to a proliferation of dysfunctional families, under-performing schools and churches, community systems that work against each other, workplaces that refuse to transform or perform, etc.

The result is that both scholars and workers are not able to reap the best personal rewards from their endeavours or to repay the costs of their learning to the economy that invests in them. In the end, we have individuals, teams as well as entire organisations in endless downward spirals, pulling the country down with them.

South Africa is currently involved in various ambitious initiatives to build a robust civil society in order to strengthen democracy and pursue economic justice. As part of this noble process, it has become imperative to create strategic institutions at community level to work towards the achievement of these goals and extend the benefits of liberty.

The strategic community based institutions will give community members support in the form of companionship and mentorship in order to increase their chances of achieving success in their lives. They will help them to become effective role models and active change catalysts or agents within their communities. For our society to realize its goals, each community needs to be assisted to reach its critical mass or threshold of competent and productive people among its members. In general, the institutions will promote and market the role of self-directed lifelong learning, in support of the formal school route, as an effective mechanism to stabilize people’s lives and improve their chances of success.

There can be no doubt that in line with the relatively modern concept of social partnerships, the roles of government and the corporate world are critical and that they need to be appreciated. But unless they are met with a strong civil drive by community members and institutions engaged in planned hard work to better their lives and pay their dues to our society in general, they are likely to perpetuate a climate of lethargy and dependence in our communities. Communities should endeavour to develop capacity to bake their own cakes instead of perennially depending on crumbs and handouts.

Montshepetja Academy is an institution that facilitates leadership and personal development among its members and supporters, especially at community level. Contrasted with other areas of our national life, communities have been affected in worst possible manner by the policies and effects of apartheid. The institution plays its role by providing a valuable platform for mentors and learners to interact, allowing knowledge and skills transfer to take place for the benefit of stakeholders and their communities.

Montshepetja Academy subscribes to the principle of lifelong learning and holds the view that both formal and informal learning opportunities must be optimally exploited in order to improve the knowledge capacity, skills competence and practical performance of our people in general. The Academy believes that steps to address the environmental distortions that prevail in our society should be accompanied by deliberate mechanisms to develop strong top quality individuals who cannot be easily influenced by their adverse circumstances.

Montshepetja’s vision is one of a community based organisation whose primary areas of focus are talent management and poverty alleviation. The institution walks with communities and other relevant institutions on their way to produce their own champions guided by the organisation`s strategic programme.

Vision

• Prosperous communities led by competent leaders produced by learning communities

Mission

• Contribute towards the development of competent individuals who can play community leadership roles
• Contribute towards the development of a culture where learning, knowledge and skills are embraced by all
• Contribute towards the development of an environment where the majority can take care of themselves