James A. Joseph: America's new ambassador to South Africa

Ebony, August, 1996

Longtime anti-apartheid activist brings years of corporate and government experience to post

For most of his adult life, James A. Joseph has been involved in the struggle for change in South Africa. Whether as a young college student, a civil lights activist, a government official, a business leader or as an anti-apartheid participant picketing against institutions that were involved in South Africa, Joseph, like many African-Americans, was passionate about protesting against the repressive regime and earnest in his resolve to link arms with others worlwide in the international call for South Africa's liberation.

Recently, when Joseph, who is also an ordained minister, presented his credentials as the new U.S. ambassador to South Africa, he proudly tod President Nelson Mandella, "It is a special privilege and great delight to appear before you to replace my `Free Mandela' sign with credentials from President Clinton appointing me his personal representative to the new South Africa."

For the 60-year-old ambassador, coming to the new South Africa is "a historic moment personally" that offers challenges equal to those during the times when the country was an international pariah. Listening to the former Yale Divinity School graduate talk about his new job is like hearing a soul-stirring Sunday morning sermon. Joseph's melodic baritone voice reonates with pride when he talks about the formidable task from Southern University in Baton ahead.

"I am a strong advocate of trade and investment, as is the United States government," says Joseph, who was born in Opelousas, La., and later graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge. "We are the largest donor nation in South Africa. Over the past several years, we have provided over $600 million in assistance through aid. When you add special credits through business, it gets oup to about $1 billion. We have an emerging partnership between the United States and South Africa that is deep and likely to be enduring for a long time."

Prior to his appointment as ambassador, Joseph, was president and chief executive officer of the Council on Foundations, a national organization of more than 1,400 foundations and grant-makers with total assets of more than $125 billion. He first came to South Africa in 1973 to explore the business environment for another company and again in February 1990 with a delegation of foundation executives from the United States. The group was in Cape Town at the opening session of Parliament, and Joseph, "Free Mandela" placard in hand and locked arm-in-arm with other demonstrators, listened intently to former President F. W. de Klerk announce sweeping changes that included the unbanning of the ANC and political organizations.

A hands-on executive and administrator, Joseph, who has served in the past four U.S. presidential administrations, is no stranger to worldwide assignments or the hazardous responsibilities that sometimes come with the job.

In August 1978, while he was undersecretary in the U. S. Department of Interior, Joseph was flying to Kili and Bikini in the Pacific Ocean to prepare for the relocation of Micronesians living on a radioactive island once used for atomic tests. A crewman peered through the window of the plane and saw oil leaking from one of the engines and covering a large part of the wing. Shortly thereafter, the plane pancaked on the Pacific 20 kilometers from Guam. Within 10 minutes the plane sank. Of the 30 passengers and crew members, all but one survived.

Prior to his job with the Interior Department, Joseph was a vice president of Cummins Engine Co. In Columbus, Ind., the worlds leading independent producer of truck and industrial diesel engines, and later president of the Cummins Engine Foundation. From 1982 until President Clinton nominated him ambassador to South Africa last year, Joseph headed the Council of Foundations in Washington, D.C. Under President Ronald Reagan, Joseph was a member of the advisory committee to the agency for International Development and was appointed an incorporating director of the Points of Light Foundation and a member of the presidential commission on Historically Black Colleges by President George Bush. President Clinton also tapped Joseph to serve as chairman of the board of directors of the Corporation for National Service.

Joseph was married for 32 years until his wife, Doris, died in IMP after a long illness. He has two children, Jeffrey and Denise. Following his swearing-in ceremony this past January, the ambassador married Mary Braxton, who was communications director at the Council on Foundations.

One of the founding members of TransAfrica, the African-American lobby group credited with leading the U.S. drive for economic sanctions against South Africa in the mid-1980s, Joseph sees his ambassadorship as a "personal calling." Several months ago, when he went before the U.S. Senate for confirmation - a procedure that sometimes is a grueling process stretched over several days - Joseph, who had support from both Democrats and Republicans, was confirmed in less than 20 minutes. "It was like a coronation," he says bashfully.