Johannesburg | Friday
SOUTH Africa’s black and white chambers of commerce formally merged on Thursday despite strong reservations from the black and Afrikaner business communities.
The National African Chamber of Commerce (Nafcoc) and the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) said in a statement that they had formed a transitional body called the South African Federal Chamber of Commerce (Safcoc).
Safcoc will have a two-year lifespan and is aimed at bringing black and white business communities together, they said.
Its executive council consists of 40 members — 15 each from Nafcoc and Sacob and another 10 members of the South African business community who had not been aligned to either of the bodies.
Representatives of Nafcoc’s provincial branches objected to the merger, claiming that they had not been properly consulted on how it would be carried out, and boycotted its official launch in Johannesburg.
The Afrikaans Chamber of Business (AHI), which represents businessmen from the minority Afrikaner community which dominated the country under apartheid, also refused to accept the merger.
AHI chief executive officer Jacob de Villiers said: “We believe we need a unified body, a unified region in South Africa… but that unity cannot be best attained by the two business groups merging.”
AHI also complained that it had not been invited, let alone considered, to form part of the new body.
But Kevin Wakeford, the chief executive officer of Sacob, said neither of the groups could block the merger.
“They can’t hold us to ransom, we are going ahead with or without them,” he said.
Wakeford said the main focus of Safcoc would be “on development, to bring small businesses in the mainstream economy of the country.”
Sabelo Macingwane, the chief executive of Nafcoc, said the merger marked the end of an economy divided along racial lines in South Africa.
“We would have failed the people of this country if we have not moved to economic democracy,” he said. – AFP