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No longer biting the military hand that feedsDILIZA MJI
IN THE 1970s, Diliza Mji was most likely to be found in the trenches of student politics where he waged a campaign for the destruction of South Africa's military might. That was then. Today, Mji is campaigning for the same military capabilities and technology to be preserved, if not enhanced. The platform for his new campaign is his position as chairman of Advance Technologies & Engineering (ATE), an independent avionics integration group based in Midrand. ATE's systems include the avionics for the Rooivalk attack helicopter. Such has been the success of its technology that ATE has also been winning spurs offshore. In 1996, British Aerospace - Europe's leading defence equipment manufacturer - bought a 20% stake in ATE. Recently ATE won the contract to rejuvenate the Spanish Air Force's Mirage F1 fighter aircraft. ATE has also signed a memorandum of understanding to sell 30% of its equity to black investors. Mji says ATE and its black empowerment partners are currently negotiating the terms and details of the transaction. "My involvement with ATE represents an opportunity for blacks to become involved in a major defence company. With that should come skills transfer and training in high technology. These are opportunities which have not previously been available," he says. Mji's defence industry role also extends to being deputy chairman of British Aerospace South Africa, the local subsidiary of the UK defence group. He describes his role at British Aerospace as "monitoring" and strategic in nature. "Defence in this country carries a kind of stigma. My role with British Aerospace is to give advice as to how best the company can become a good corporate citizen in South Africa, a citizen that is responsive to the needs of the country and its people based on true and equal partnership. "It is for this reason that we want to encourage blacks in particular to study in science-related fields, such as engineering. In this way, they will be able to work in fields related to the work done by companies such as ATE," says Mji. His proverbial Damascene experience came about because of a realisation that the defence industry - in a normal democratic environment - can have economic benefits such as job creation and technology spin-offs for commercial applications. "As a result, there may be increased exports of high-value commodities and expertise to niche markets around the world. "Even more importantly, the freedom we were fighting for, the very democracy and constitution of the new state, has to be defended. When I realised this, I decided that perhaps I needed to change my outlook," he says. Mji joined the board of Armscor, the armaments procurement agency which was central to the military machine he sought to destroy during his student days. He resigned from Armscor last year to take up his position at ATE. He sees his role in the industry as ensuring that blacks become major players - not on the periphery but at the centre of the defence industry. With partners like British Aerospace and ATE, he is confident of achieving his objective. Mji, a medical practitioner, has served in various positions within the ANC's leadership structures in KwaZulu-Natal. He is also chairman of Thebe Health Care, and a trustee of the National Empowerment Trust, the Durban-based trust started by Don Mkhwanazi. Mji has certainly come a long way since his student activist days at Natal University's Medical School. And so has South Africa's politics. Jabulani Sikhakhane
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