Manyi splits BMF
2010-05-30 13:00
A potential showdown is looming at the Black Management Forum (BMF)
over Jimmy Manyi’s dual role as its president and director-general in the
labour department.
The BMF board is scheduled to meet on Saturday and indications are
that the matter will be highly contested.
Some board members are unhappy about the negative spotlight that is
being cast on the organisation because of Manyi’s implied conflict of
interest.
The board is the only BMF structure that can alter the governance
and running of the organisation, outside of the elective conference.
There are those on the board who support Manyi.
Says Peace Ntuli, the deputy chairperson of BMF in the Northern
Cape: “There exists no policy position in the BMF that senior government
officials cannot lead our organisation.”
Ntuli is not a board member but he is a spokesperson for the
province.
He adds: “We will continue to support our president in both roles.
The issues our president raises don’t sit well with people who want to keep the
status quo of an untransformed South African workplace.”
BMF Northern Cape was the only province to comment on the matter on
the record. City Press spoke to three other provincial leaders, who did not want
to be identified. Some of whom support Manyi.
The news of divisions on the BMF board add to what has been a busy
week for Manyi.
On Wednesday, Manyi and some board members met BMF’s stalwarts to
discuss the matter of him continuing to hold dual positions. The stalwarts are
understood to be against him holding both jobs.
Bheki Sibiya, who led the BMF from 1999 to 2003, said he could only
confirm the meeting took place.
“We felt the issues raised at the meeting were cordial and
constructive and should not be for public consumption.
“What I can say is that we were happy that the BMF president met
with us and listened to our views,” he added.
Nolitha Fakude, the BMF president from 2004 until 2006, was also
not prepared to provide more information.
“We had a very good meeting with Jimmy and his leadership and they
committed to reflect on our arguments and then decide on how the BMF would move
forward,” she said.
Fakude said the stalwarts were there just to play an advisory role,
but would expect Manyi to give them feedback on the concerns they had
raised.
“The issues that were raised are urgent matters and we do not
expect them to drag on for a very long time,” she explained.
Though they don’t make management decisions, the stalwarts are an
important power base within the organisation.
That there was a meeting with them suggests that Manyi may lose
their support for his presidency.
Manyi also had to fend off allegations of lobbying for the
interests of private businesses, using his government position.
The Norwegian embassy filed a complaint with the government that
Manyi had tried to lecture that country’s companies on black economic
empowerment (BEE).
Manyi said he did not understand the discomfort he had caused by
offering advice to Norwegian companies on BEE.
“These attacks suggest that there is a witch-hunt against me,”
Manyi said.
Earlier in the week he was defiant.
He told a broad-based black economic empowerment seminar in Joburg
on Monday that “Manyi is not choosing anything. I have a big enough head to
carry both hats”.
- City Press