South African Business 2018 edition

INTERVIEW
Knowledge Pele
Knowledge Pele Managing Director Fumani Mthembi
shares her company’s commitment to using
knowledge for economic transformation.
Fumani Mthembi
BIOGRAPHY
Fumani Mthembi is a founding
member of the Pele Energy
Group and the Managing Director
of its research and development
subsidiary, Knowledge
Pele. She holds an undergraduate
degree in Politics, Philosophy
and Economics from UCT
and an MA Science, Society
and Development from Sussex
University. Under Fumani’s
leadership, Knowledge Pele
has grown into a reputable firm,
leading development thought
and practice, particularly in the
renewable energy sector and
related host communities.
Please explain the concept of linking power and knowledge.
The philosophical premise of our company is that it is our duty to make
a material contribution to the imperative of structural transformation.
We understand that power and knowledge are the bedrock of the
modern social structure. Therefore, through our research division, we
focus on surfacing the knowledge of those who have been historically
silenced to ensure that they can reclaim their power by reassuming
their rightful place as architects of social progress.
Please explain the concept of “community industrialisation”.
Community Industrialisation is one of Knowledge Pele’s instruments
for undoing the historical construct that is the poverty of the majority.
It is common knowledge that the majority live in communities that are
best described as labour reserves, spaces of consumption with limited
production capabilities. Knowledge Pele’s community industrialisation
division is focused on recreating these township, peri-urban and
rural communities into thriving, knowledge-based economies. We do
this by researching the economic development possibilities of these
communities, understanding the types of industries that can emerge
and the related knowledge and skills necessary to sustain them. This
work, along with an articulation of the type of future that communities
seek for themselves, forms what we then identify as the community
industrialisation strategy. We then work with our clients to invest aggressively
in training programmes at the community level, for which
we are SETA-accredited. We structure co-investment vehicles between
industry and communities to build local industries that are both run
and owned by local community members. In the long run our intention
is to build sovereign wealth funds for communities on the basis
of the portfolio of industrial assets that they will own.
Please tell us about your partnership with UCT?
We recognise that our work has policy relevance and therefore our
partnership with UCT is vital for ensuring that we remain in constant
dialogue with academics and policy-makers who share our concerns.
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