Carolyn Raphaely
17 June 2008
Johannesburg — ROELF Meyer, the National Party's chief negotiator at Codesa, has often been described as the man who, with African National Congress (ANC) chief negotiator Cyril Ramaphosa, "saved SA's skin" by ensuring a peaceful political settlement.
Now, as project leader of the Action For a Safe SA (Afssa) initiative launched in Jo'burg last week, Meyer is attempting to broker a peace settlement of a different kind and to save SA from the crime wave sweeping the country.
Overnight, Meyer has become SA's new secret weapon in the war against crime. At 61, and although the former constitutional affairs minister and defence minister has remained personally untouched by violent crime, he's spent much time mulling over the dissolution of the Rainbow Nation dream and trying to figure out exactly why SA has the highest rate of violent crime in the world.
"I started thinking about starting an anticrime initiative 18 months ago and discussed it continually with Paul Graham and Ivor Jenkins of Idasa (Institute for Democracy in SA)," he says. "We began talking to other people but never made any progress until I heard Barbara Holtmann's presentation to the International Marketing Council (IMC) last November. For the first time, I understood what we were dealing with and the dimensions of the problem."
During a huge European Union-commissioned research project in the Karoo, Holtmann developed a model explaining the cycle of crime and violence, ascribing its origins to social causes. Subsequently she realised the model had resonance for other communities and started using it as a basis to plan crime prevention interventions.
"Barbara is a seasoned crime researcher, leader of crime prevention research at the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) and vice-president of the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, and answered many of my questions," Meyer says.
"I'd always thought we needed to get to the core of the problem, to understand the mindset of violent criminals and where criminality starts, to deal with the problem."
Holtmann convinced Meyer, a lawyer by training, that fixing the criminal justice system would never solve the broader problem of crime without a range of other interventions addressing issues such as domestic violence, gun ownership, alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, aid to crime victims, and rehabilitating and reintegrating prisoners into society.
The IMC meeting proved serendipitous for Meyer, who says he strongly believes in synchronicity: "Barbara's presentation inspired me to stand up and do something. I thought if I'm inspired, millions of other South Africans will feel the same way. So in January, I initiated more discussions with my Idasa colleagues and decided to launch an initiative bringing the best minds in SA together to solve the problem. Idasa asked me to act as project leader."
For Holtmann, who had been struggling to make her voice and research findings heard for a long time, Meyer's light-bulb moment was a godsend: "At our first meeting, he said, 'I can't stand the fact that people are losing faith in SA and leaving the country. It's not what everyone worked for'. And three months later, we were cooking. He's a brilliant strategist, highly respected, well-connected and makes things happen," she says.
In a climate of increasing doom, gloom and desperation, it didn't take Meyer long to step into the leadership vacuum and start rattling his business, political and social networks to mobilise support. Perhaps, most significantly, he obtained the buy-in of Luthuli House -- Mathews Phosa, ANC treasurer- general, sits on Afssa's advisory board, with ANC deputy secretary-general Thandi Modise.
With his can-do attitude and proven ability to overcome insurmountable odds, Meyer offers hope in the face of overwhelming despair. "Our central message is that prevention is more important than turning the criminal justice system around, or at least equally important. We aren't aiming to increase system capacity but to decrease demand on it. The system is already overburdened.
"Even a perfect criminal justice system couldn't cope with the huge numbers on the supply side if prevention isn't dealt with urgently. The system can't succeed unless other initiatives succeed as well. The only way it can work effectively is if we reduce demand rather than just look at enforcement."
Thirteen years after Codesa, Meyer is a little gaunter, older and wiser but talks in the same quiet, measured tones he used to broker a seemingly impossible political settlement. "Phase one will involve extensive consultation with a range of experts," he says.
"Afssa comprises eight working groups with different themes relating to the cycle of violence, with 35 people in each group and an interdisciplinary advisory board of 15 representing all stakeholders. These groups will present a manifesto for a safe SA at a Vodacom-sponsored August conference that'll decide how to move forward and ensure a sustained intervention. We're inviting anyone doing anything constructive to work with us."
"We've been talking to ourselves in the crime community for a long time," says Holtmann. "Now we're working with experienced people with sound theoretical knowledge about crime, violence and trauma who know how to make things happen. Interdisciplinary approaches have been tried but there's never been a combined, comprehensive civil society effort. It's an activist intervention that says it's time for all of us to find a role."
Meyer is well aware that SA is tired of talking and anxious for quick wins. "The roll-out is more important than the conference," he explains. "We have to start somewhere. We have to make South Africans aware of the causes of violent crime and to initiate a structure that can take the work forward -- a national secretariat, regional structures and local committees."
Nonetheless, Meyer is adamant there are no quick fixes: "I believe that within three to five years, it's possible to make significant changes. The problem won't be resolved but we'll be able to see changes in the mindset of both perpetrator and the victim. I'd also like to see a formula establishing stable community life with measurable benchmarks in place. The consultative process will define specific actions."
Still self-effacing, Meyer says with his characteristic boyish grin that he has no intention of making a political comeback: "People probably think I'm past my sell-by date. I'm only doing this because I couldn't sit back and watch the vicious cycle of crime and violence continue to affect both victims and perpetrators -- I'm equally concerned about perpetrators and victims as I've learnt many perpetrators should never have become perpetrators in the first place.
"I know it's impossible to heal the damaged generation or decrease the discrepancies between rich and poor overnight. This is a very complex situation. The lack of governability, deficits in health and education, the problems of dysfunctional families all need to be addressed. That's our departure point. It doesn't help to criticise, we need action," he says.
"It's about reviving the spirit prevailing at the time of the transition, a spirit of co-operation and consensus-seeking. We've lost that. We became too comfortable and forgot it was necessary to continue working to sustain results.
"We fell into an entitlement trap instead of keeping the foundations intact and helping people at the bottom of the social pyramid. There's a lot of complacency because we had continuing economic growth and things were going so well."
One thing Meyer could never be accused of is complacency. In 2000, he abandoned a 21-year political career, resigned from the United Democratic Movement -- the party he co-founded with Bantu Holomisa -- intending to pursue new directions. Since then, apart from his involvement in forestry, transport, construction and management consulting, Meyer has spent 20% of his time abroad sharing lessons learnt from the South African experience.
Northern Ireland, Rwanda, Burundi, Sri Lanka, Kosovo, the Basque country in Spain and Iraq have been his stamping grounds. "Last month Cyril and I were in Finland with Mac (Maharaj) and Mathews (Phosa) trying to broker an accord between the Iraqi Sunnites, Shiites and the Kurds. I'm also working in Kosovo, which is in the process of establishing independence. They're trying to build the basis of a new state and I'm trying to assist the reconciliation process," he says.
FeverTreeConsulting -- a black-owned high-level strategic management consulting firm Meyer set up last year with CEO Sven de Kock, in association with US management consultancy AT Kearney -- occupies much of his remaining time with contracts such as the transformation of the home affairs department. Ramaphosa's investment company, Shanduka, is the majority shareholder and his old Codesa sparring partner its chairman.
Meyer likes a challenge but admits that fixing the crime problem appears more daunting than negotiating the democratic transition.
However, if he has his way SA's darkest hour could become its finest: "We're dealing with a problem that transcends ideology and affects all South Africans equally. Ironically, this could be the common cause the country needs for nation building and could serve to make South Africans join hands once again in pursuit of a mutual goal. Out of this crisis comes a huge opportunity."
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