Mungo Soggot
THE South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco) has parted company with Michael Levinsohn, the head of its fledgling investment arm and the brains behind its new membership drive.
The organisation’s stalwarts have been unnerved by Levinsohn’s increasing influence over the once radical organisation, which spearheaded opposition to ‘puppet’ local government under apartheid.
Levinsohn said there had been ‘differences’ with Sanco Investments Holdings (SIH) chairman Moses Mayekiso over commercial strategy. He added he had resigned mainly to pursue a buyout of listed company Venter Trailers, which failed after an acrimonious boardroom dispute.
Levinsohn’s departure comes two weeks after Sanco boasted at a luncheon at Johannesburg’s Carlton Centre that his new membership scheme would give Sanco the biggest membership of any South African organisation.
National President Mlungisi Hlongwane said Sanco aimed to increase its membership to 2-million within a year.
The scheme, which Levinsohn devised with Mayekiso, involved giving members a booklet of discount vouchers for various stores in exchange for a R30 membership fee. But the plan has suffered delays. In October ‘ 10 months after it was announced ‘ the booklets had yet to printed.
SIH has a range of small investments its bosses say are aimed exclusively at promoting black empowerment. One of these investments is a 26% stake in Vula Communications, which plans to invest in a United States satellite phone company. It remains unclear who will succeed Levinsohn at SIH. Levinsohn said it would be more appropriate if the company were led by a black boss.
Levinsohn was ousted as managing director at Venter last month, after a run-in with executive chairman Michael Katcs. Levinsohn was elected managing director while Katcs recovered in a psychiatric hospital following a shoot-out at his home. The two former allies have been fighting a long-running battle over the ailing company with former owner Jasper Venter.
Meanwhile, Sanco has axed the remaining administrative staff at its Johannesburg headquarters.
Sanco’s head of democratisation and government Mbongeni Ngubeni said its remaining two administration staff had been retrenched. Six others had quit this year. The cuts follow the decision by funder USAid to stop giving money for general administration. Apart from establishing SIH, Sanco has been struggling to find a clear focus since 1994. At last month’s membership drive launch at the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg Hlongwane said one of Sanco’s new projects was a scheme to use the organisation’s membership as police informers to combat crime.
Commentators say the organisation has failed to develop the watchdog role it should play in post-apartheid South Africa. Mayekiso’s younger brother, Sanco Alexandra president Mzwanele Mayekiso, explicitly warned in the New Nation last week against the shift to the business world.
He said some activists were ‘degenerating into on-the-make activities … we run the risk of succumbing to … corporate agendas and even their control’. To illustrate the point others have noted several top Sanco officials also have jobs in government and business. Mayekiso was in the Eastern Cape this week and unavailable for comment.