The thought of Julius Malema as a future ANC president and, more importantly, a future South African President, is enough to send some rich, mainly white, South Africans packing for Perth.

The concept of President Malema gained credence last weekend when President Jacob Zuma publicly endorsed Malema as a “leader in the making”, saying that he was “happy” to leave the party to leaders like Malema.

Thinking South Africans have been divided over Malema’s role in South African politics. Some feel he is an irritant who should not be taken seriously. Others feel that he represents the views of ordinary people, views that other leaders know about but find difficult to express.

I tend to go with the second view because I have seen the way ordinary people respond to Malema when he speaks. They nod their heads and go into wild ululations when he makes a point with which they particularly agree, which is often.

For business people operating in South Africa, it is important to understand these views and where they come from. Fifteen years into our democracy, South Africa is still a very divided country, not only between black and white, but more importantly, between rich and poor.

Malema has found a way of articulating the wishes and aspirations of the poor, even though he does so while wearing Gucci outfits, driving a top of the range German car and drinking Johnny Walker Blue.

But this is something that rich people also struggle to understand about poor people: poor people are extremely aspirational and they are not necessarily offended when our leaders flaunt their wealth. In some weird way, the actions of their leaders show them what they can also hope to achieve.

I remember one woman from Mitchells Plain who would have R30 in her wallet towards the end of the month and use it to go to the hairdresser (you could do a lot with R30 twenty years ago) because she believed you should not be poor and ugly. I also remember how, when I was a youth leader in Hanover Park on the Cape Flats, we would dress up smartly when we had meetings in the community. The community would not pay attention to you if you “looked” poor.

So instead of wanting to run away from Malema, business people should find ways of engaging with him. More importantly, they should find ways of engaging with the people he claims to represent.

(Ryland Fisher, a former Editor of the Cape Times, is Executive Chairperson of the Cape Town Festival and helps corporates deal with the issues of race in the workplace.)