Older ideas of living in harmony with the natural world were pushed aside by new possibilities of transforming nature into commodity form. Why has this not happened? The rise and spread of the natural sciences went along with a growing consensus-among scientists, technicians and owners of the natural resources that could be more efficiently exploited by new technologies, and later among the general public-concerning the domination of nature by humankind. In the meanwhile, the problems of poverty, inequality and unemployment are perpetuated or made worse by the only available solution: that of creating new millionaires, alongside the old. The resulting racial tensions spread in all directions, from Nkandla to the racial composition of sports teams. For black capitalists the best way to increase their share of capitalist ownership is to make accusations of racism. The best way for them to justify continued white preference is by claiming there are not enough suitable black candidates for management posts or for BEE deals. This imposes additional costs on white capitalists, who need to keep costs low in order to compete. To change the racial composition of South African capitalism, black economic empowerment and affirmative action were needed.
In the context of capitalism, this had to be done by overcoming division within a non-racial capitalist class. After the negotiated settlement, Mandela promoted reconciliation and sought to unite the nation.
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