Zubeida Jaffer
Executive Coaching in Cape Town

She holds an MSc degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York and bachelor degrees from the Rhodes University and the University of Cape Town. Zubeida Jaffer has been a journalist for the past 27 years.

She is a graduate of the University of Cape Town and Rhodes University. These organizations grew and eventually combined to form the United Democratic Front that led the uprising against apartheid. In 1981, while still at the Cape Times, her passport was withdrawn and she was not allowed to travel for nine years. During the eighties, she was detained and tortured twice and continues to be hampered by the after effects of these horrendous experiences that many journalists endured under apartheid. Her work has earned her numerous local and international awards. She lives in Wynberg, Cape Town where her family has resided for close to 60 years. The life and times of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke, is the story of a remarkable South African woman who has for long been written out of history and pushed aside in official school and university curricula. The annual meeting at Davos will only ever make a difference to our lives if the rules of economic engagement are changed. Those who gathered at Davos represent one percent of the world’s business leaders who essentially determine the rules of doing business. Those who gathered at Davos this year are aware of these issues and discussed them but there is no decision to change the rules so that we manage the world economy for the benefit of all and not just a fortunate few. We would rather have this than a socialist system where the governments run businesses. It is not a matter of whether we choose capitalism or socialism. This extreme form of plunder has evolved when regulation around trade and the market were systematically lifted giving free reign to global companies. About 40 years ago, under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan much of this philosophical position was swept away. They argued for the free reign of business without government regulation. Through the financial sector, the market was able to win the right to make profits at levels never seen before. Efforts to curb excessive profits have made slow progress in the world. The company’s profit comes from the high prices that we pay so unquestioningly. It also comes from keeping many of its workers employed on a casual basis with no decent benefits. Their consciences do not make them acknowledge that these rules of enrichment are extracting a great social price from us. What more does one need on a cold day when strolling down the beach? Today high profit and high interest hold us all hostage. Its only when large numbers of people across the world understand this and challenge the economic status quo that this system of global cronyism will be curbed. One percent of the world will make a killing and the rest will struggle to make a living.