Tenderpreneurs & Javelin Throwers

South African terms for businessmen who corruptly enrich themselves through government contracts, and politicians who use their power base to secure business contracts, respectively.

Reporting in November on remarks made by South Africa’s Deputy Finance Minister, Anel Lewis wrote in The Cape Times:

The elite have “pick-pocketed” state resources “through corruption, crony empowerment and by milking the state through charging exorbitant prices,” says Deputy Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene. …

“As I have said repeatedly in the past few weeks, we seek entrepreneurs and not tenderpreneurs. We seek people and businesses who are going to create jobs and add value to public services without milking the state, even if this is in the name of black economic empowerment.”

The term tenderpreneurs has been adopted in particular by South Africa’s Communist Party, who are pressuring the government to address corruption. Blade Nzimande, the party’s general secretary, called a recent move by the government to nationalise South Africa’s mines “opportunistic,” and argued:

“Let us ensure that the noble task of black emancipation is not captured by a faction of parasites who use and abuse their political connections for their own private accumulation.”

“Let us defeat javelin throwers and ‘tenderpreneurs.’ Let us defeat fronters, go-betweens, comrades who parade their blackness only in order to advance their own private interests by doing the bidding of their masters – well-entrenched monopoly.”

“Javelin throwers” are those who use their political position to secure future business opportunities.

(See also: Amakudari & Watari)