Coleman leaving to return in a stronger position

PETA KROST MAUNDER

Coleman, 57, is very clear that his future is intertwined with that of the country. He told the SA Jewish Report this week: “I am not leaving South Africa. I might be out of the country, but even when I am not here, I am connected to it.”

Leaving Goldman Sachs is something he has “been contemplating for the last two years”, he says. When he bids farewell on 31 December, he will have turned an institution – Goldman Sachs South Africa – that he literally started “into a full-service investment banking operation”. He says: “It’s a 20-year project that has come to conclusion.” And now he is passing it on to a new generation as he has fresh ambitions to fulfil.

These, he says, are about “how I can impact on society in an environment of freedom, which is not easy in a corporate. On my own, I can have maximum impact by bringing together my skills and knowledge in a powerful way.”

He sees the academic exposure he will get teaching the “Africa: Doing Business in the Last Frontier of Global Growth” course, at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, as a bridge to this. Although he has never worked in an academic environment, he is excited by the new challenge. “I will still have my family back here, including my three-year-old son, and I will split my time between countries,” he says.

Even while he is lecturing, he says, “I will be doing private consulting in South Africa and some things in the public sector. I may join some boards, but I will definitely be writing and publishing.”

Coleman wants to use the next two years to transition, think and analyse. “Time will tell what responsibilities I take up here,” he says when asked about the rumours of him getting a Cabinet position down the line.  “I anticipate that there will be responsibilities here or in relation to South Africa.

“I don’t hide that if there is an impactful role that I can play in and around the public sector, I would be happy to do that. My objectives now are not about making money, but making an impact on society and using the next 25 years to do that.”

And he isn’t blind to what is happening in South Africa under the presidency of his dear friend, Cyril Ramaphosa. “The rugby tells you that we are at a high and the economy tells you that we are at a low. There is some truth in that – it is the best times and the worst times.

“The best times in that we have hope again with President Ramaphosa. We have a nation that is far healthier relative to the pre-democracy years; we have a nation struggling to work its way through.  The worst of times in that we have a half-percent growth rate, nearly 30% unemployment, tremendous inequality and a dearth of resources. We also have the scourge of Zuma’s corruption that we are still living with, and it’s going to take a lot of time to work through. 

“It takes years to build a reputation and it takes one stupid act to destroy it. Zuma performed terrible acts repeatedly for 10 years, so he did a better job of damaging this country than we ever imagined,” says Coleman. “President Ramaphosa has to remodel the service, administration, the state-owned enterprises. While many can criticise him for going so slowly, it takes time.”

However, as a risk manager, he says that opportunity always exists in adversity, so people just need to look for those. “This is not the time to give up. Everyone needs to get behind Cyril,” he says.

He believes the grass isn’t greener elsewhere. “Many white South Africans who emigrated did very well, but they lost their homeland, and many feel displaced and are still very connected to South Africa,” he says.

Coleman will continue to be integrally involved with the YES (Youth Employment Service) campaign, which he and former Investec CEO Stephen Koseff launched in 2018 alongside government, business and labour to tackle youth unemployment.

Their goal is to get one million young people getting work experience in five years. “We currently have 25 000 interns and will finish the year with 30 000,” he says. “I hope we can reach 100 000 in the next year. We have to ramp it up to reach our goal, which will take young people off the streets.”  What is incredible, he says, is “if every business took on two interns, we would be able to get to our million”.

As Coleman embarks on what he sees as “the last third of my career”, he recalls his first: as a political activist. He was 18 and studying architecture when his brother, Keith (one of two older brothers already involved in the anti-apartheid struggle), was arrested. At that point, Coleman’s parents, Max and Audrey, “became horrified by the reality of the repression laws and, together with the parents of the 50 others arrested together, were quickly drawn into a whole different world”. 

He recalls: “The white community shied away and all their friendship and business networks went away. They found this whole new support system that was part of the anti-apartheid movement, and a number of families were bonded together.”

Coleman got involved in the National Union of South African Students, becoming its executive officer, and then in the End Conscription Campaign. He was a conscientious objector at a time when it was a criminal offence. He joined the ANC underground in 1986 and began the process of facilitating talks, which led to multiparty talks and negotiations. It was in his early 20s in the United Democratic Front that he met and befriended Ramaphosa.

When he was in his early 30s, he went into banking as he “wanted exposure into business and banking was a great window into the economy”, he says.

He and Ramaphosa have become closer over the past five years and Coleman has been called on to help in various areas, including bridging the divide between government and business, and on Ramaphosa’s political campaign. “The president responded to our call from the YES programme around youth unemployment, and I have been actively trying to assist and encourage him in his objectives.” Coleman says while the elite see Ramaphosa as being “a gentle and unifying force”, he has witnessed how the president “is capable of being extremely tough when he needs to be”.

His relationship with the Jewish community hasn’t always been close. Last year this time, Coleman and his family received an award from the South African Jewish Board of Deputies for the role they played in ending apartheid. “This was a very cathartic moment for us,” he says. “For me, it was a way of letting go of any antagonism and anger and being able to express it and, at the same time, encouraging the community to move forward into a pro-democracy stance.”

Although he says he sees himself as a “very global and patriotic South African”, he also acknowledges that “I am Jewish and proud of it”.

His first Yale lecture begins on 15 January, but this is clearly not the last we will see or hear of this “global South African”.