“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for” – a call to integrity from Commissioner Unathi Kamlana

Date Released: Thu, 18 September 2025 10:43 +0200

By Siqhamo Jama

 

When Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) Commissioner and Rhodes University alumnus Unathi Kamlana rose to deliver the 11th Archbishop Thabo Makgoba Development Trust Annual Lecture, he did not begin with markets or policy. He began with values.

Weaving together personal stories, lessons from financial crises, and reflections on global disruption, his lecture presented a single, uncompromising message: when value is pursued without values, the result is not prosperity but collapse

“History has shown us, from financial crises to corporate scandals here at home, that when value is pursued without values, the outcome is not prosperity, but destruction,” he stated.

Families, schools, faith institutions, and universities form the first layers of integrity. Boards and executives must then embed ethics into governance, showing through their choices that long-term trust outweighs short-term profit. Regulators serve only as the final safeguard.

To explain ‘probity’ – the duty to remain upright in service of others – Commissioner Kamlana reflected on his childhood. Raised by grandparents, he recalled being woken before dawn to work in the garden before breakfast and school.

“This taught me the importance of diligence – keeping at it; staying the course until you see the results. In today’s language, you would call it ‘showing up consistently’.”

For him, leadership means being present, even when conversations are uncomfortable or crises unfold.

Leading in disruption

Kamlana placed this call to integrity within a turbulent context: geopolitical tension, climate risk, technological change, and inequality.

On technology, he welcomed the potential of blockchain and artificial intelligence but stressed caution. “These are inherently risky technologies. Infrastructure investment and consumer education must go hand in hand if we are to have sustainable solutions.”

On inclusion, he noted South Africa’s progress in access to financial services but warned that usage remains shallow. “The challenge now is not just access, but how to empower people to use financial services in ways that improve their well-being.”

Commissioner Kamlana rejects the idea that ethics is a ‘soft issue’. “Careers have been ruined because people behaved unethically or failed to recognise unethical conduct in the institutions they served,” he said.

Quoting Dr Reuel Khoza’s Attuned Leadership, he argued that leadership is not about self, but service. It requires balancing innovation with inclusion, efficiency with fairness, and growth with sustainability.

A call to future leaders

Commissioner Kamlana concluded his lecture with words from poet and activist June Jordan: “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” He challenged students and future leaders to embody values themselves, rather than expecting integrity to come from elsewhere.

“When you take up leadership positions, focus not just on how skilled you are, and what the job can do for you, but on what anchors you. Marry your skills with the values that define who you are, so that you can give respite to a country and people who so desperately need it.”

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, reflecting in response, linked these themes to respect for human dignity, diversity, and creation itself, urging the audience to carry values into every sphere of life.

By bringing Commissioner Kamlana back to his alma mater, the Makgoba Lecture continued a Rhodes University tradition of linking leadership to values, and scholarship to service.

For the students who filled the hall, the message was unmistakable: the strength of South Africa’s institutions – financial, political, and social – will rest not only on knowledge and skill, but on the integrity of those who lead them.

Or, as Commissioner Kamlana puts it: “South Africa does not need more titles. It needs leaders who walk in truth.”

Source:Communications