Mbeki to meet black businessmen

Herald Correspondent

JOHANNESBURG – President Thabo Mbeki will meet the Black Business Working Group this morning, along with members of the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce who are opposed to the merger of black and white business organisations.

But notable by his absence from a meeting at which the troubled merger is likely to be high on the agenda will be Simon Mathysen, the president of Nafcoc, whose leadership of the organisation is in dispute.

Despite not inviting Mr Mathysen, the working group, which consists mainly of representatives from the Black Business Council, has invited Nafcoc’s interim leadership, headed by Patrice Motsepe.

Mr Mathysen confirmed yesterday that he was not invited. “These are the same people (the opponents of the unification of Nafcoc and the SA Chamber of Business) who keep saying they want to work with us to iron out the problems in Nafcoc,” he said. Council chairman David Moshapalo said the working group’s meeting with Mr Mbeki was part of a continuing process in which government updated its position on the black economic empowerment report.

“Since the unification of Nafcoc and the SA Chamber of Business is an important issue which has also drawn government into the debate, we extended an invitation to Patrice Motsepe to discuss the differences within Nafcoc that have recently emerged,” he said. Mr Motsepe, who is executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, was elected president of Nafcoc’s interim leadership on October 13 during a meeting held by opponents of the Nafcoc-Sacob merger.

Mr Motsepe said at the time that the decision to remove Mr Mathysen was based on Mr Mathysen’s unilateral decision to sign the unity agreement with Sacob. Nafcoc members who attended the meeting passed a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Mr Mathysen and some of his office bearers.

©Business Day