The Mythmaking Surrounding Entrepreneurship and the False Promises of the Mamlambo: A Comparative Study

Contemporary folklore casts light on and is shaped by the socio-economic milieu from which it arises. This article explores one aspect of this: the metaphorical points of comparison between oral accounts of the mamlambo, a South African wealth-giving spirit, and the mythmaking surrounding the idea of entrepreneurship in present-day South Africa. Such notions of entrepreneurship draw on key capitalist narratives, including the idea that financial well-being, and even affluence, can be accessed by those who seek to become entrepreneurs, having faith in the fictions of free enterprise, the magic of the market, and the magical potency of money. There are significant parallels with the tales concerning the mamlambo, which describe how a fortune awaits those that enter into a pact with this being, trusting the promises of wealth that it proffers. Yet both the mamlambo and the proponents of entrepreneurship are dealers in dreams and delusions. The affluence the mamlambo offers comes at a cost, and many of those that have faith in the fictions of entrepreneurship are doomed to disillusion.