Does proudly South African mean buy South African?

The amusing part was that there were actually no takers in South Africa who were prepared to sponsor our Olympic clothing so it was pretty logical to look for it overseas to avoid the embarrassment of our athletes running, jumping and swimming completely naked.

Olympic kit

Now, among the many organisations that took exception to the Chinese sponsorship was Proudly South African. The argument was that our Olympic kit should have been manufactured here in SA.

Which leads me to repeat something I wrote many years ago about precisely what it is to be "Proudly South African."

Listening to a fascinating radio talk show programme a while back, I came to the conclusion that Proudly South African had not done a particularly good job of educating consumers as to what message precisely is supposed to be communicated when companies carry its logo.

Quality products

I have always understood that the original objective was that companies displaying the Proudly South African logo would be motivated to try as hard as possible to produce the highest quality products and services and to treat staff equitably and its customers and suppliers with fairness. A sort of patriotic SABS mark.

It should be, if you like, a sort of commitment to corporate aspiration to strive towards excellence.

It seems to me though, listening to caller after caller on that radio talk show and a number of others subsequently, that South Africans are either confusing "Proudly South African" as "Buy South African" or assuming that companies that are given the right to display the logo have achieved some sort of high standard of excellence. Instead, it seemed then, that any company that could come up with the necessary money to use the sticker.

Manifest blackouts

Now, I originally started thinking about this some six years ago, when winter power blackouts were manifesting themselves in Johannesburg and rolling electricity load shedding was being pessimistically planned down in the Western Cape.

A talk show, broadcast in Cape Town and Gauteng, had consumers in both centres hopping mad with Eskom. Consumers phoning in to that radio talk show were accusing Eskom of being liars, incompetent, alarmist and inefficient.

We are not proud

And caller after caller questioned how it was possible for Eskom to be allowed to display the Proudly South African logo. As one caller commented sarcastically, "We are not proud of Eskom - how can they call themselves Proudly South African?"

Technically of course, according to the Proudly South African rules and regulations at the time, they were perfectly entitled to carry the logo. But, Mr and Mrs South Africa certainly weren't seeing it that way because, to them, the logo was the equivalent of the SA Bureau of Standards Mark or even an international ISO something or other.

Now all of this shows up some really strange anomalies in the SA consumer environment.

How stupid

First of all, it creates the perception that the aim and objective of our country is to try and get every man, woman and child to only buy SA goods. Which is really stupid, because if every country did that, there would be absolutely no foreign trade and the vast majority of countries, such as SA, would find their cost of living increasing by leaps and bounds through lack of competition and volume purchasing.

Instead, the objective should be to have import/export parity.

The second anomaly is that Government and representative business seem to think that SA consumers equate Proudly South African with buy South African. Which they don't.

Even the most superficial study of SA consumer trends will show that, as far as clothing is concerned, for example, South Africans will go for the best quality at the best price and actually not give a hoot where anything is made.

So, does this mean that when I go and buy a pair of shoes made in the UK, or underpants that are made in China, that I am not proudly South African and therefore unpatriotic?

Certainly not

So, my suggestion is that Proudly South African should mean striving to make us proud of what we do, proud of how we live, proud of how we treat our fellow man, proud of the quality we produce in the workplace.

It should have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that SASCOC decided to source its Olympic kit from China or that the Springbok rugby team choses to fly British Airways. Or that I choose to drink single malt Scotch whisky instead of mampoer.