The ”unity” theme of the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc) national conference this weekend has been thrown into ironic relief by last-minute legal challenges and fresh infighting.
On Wednesday Simon Mathysen, the federation’s former president, asked the Pretoria High Court to stop the conference at Sun City. He was supported by Yolisa Kashe-Mzamo, an Eastern Cape affiliate of the beleaguered black business body. Last week Belford Ntlantsana, a Western Cape affiliate, was reported to be contem- plating a similar move.
Tom Boya, deputy chairperson of the Nafcoc unity committee, which organised the conference, dismissed Mathysen’s action: ”They will fail. I do not even want to discuss the merits of the case. It is opportunism designed to create confusion.”
Mathysen argued that Nafcoc had no legal capacity to organise the conference because he was still the president.
Oliver Morare, Nafcoc’s legal representative, hit back: ”The chamber belongs to the majority of members of council, and Mathysen has never been a president of Nafcoc.”
He cited a July 2000 judgement declaring Mathysen’s status illegitimate.
Morare described the circumstances in which Mathysen took over the presidency as ”literally involving the use of physical force”. But he sounded a conciliatory note by inviting Mathysen and other dissatisfied members to attend the conference.
Nafcoc was torn by internal wrangles and power struggles from the mid- to late 1990s.
Three splinter groups emerged last year over a proposed merger with the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob) to form the South African Federated Chamber of Commerce. One faction was led by Boya, another by mining magnate Patrice Motsepe, and a third by Mathysen.
Mathysen’s faction signed a merger agreement with Sacob last September, but it was declared null and void by the Pretoria High Court.
At the time of going to press neither Mathysen nor his legal representatives could be reached for comment.
The formation three months ago of a Nafcoc unity committee — comprising five members of each faction — appeared to move the warring groups towards an accommodation. The committee, chaired by Motsepe, appointed Sipho Mseleku as Nafcoc’s new chief executive and organised this weekend’s conference to consolidate their unity.
The committee also put on hold the Sacob merger, opting instead to sign a cooperation agreement over the weekend. Nafcoc will also sign agreements with the Afrikaner Handelsinstituut and the Federation of African Business and Consumer Services.
Boya claims that Mathysen ceded power of attorney to Beef Molefe, to lead his grouping in the unity committee. Then Mathysen resurfaced this week.
The conference will be preceded by the general meeting on Friday, at which Nafcoc will elect new leaders. Boya confirmed that he would stand for election along with Motsepe and Molefe.
Motsepe is expected to stand for the presidency. As Nafcoc holds the presidency of the Black Business Council (BBC), this position would assure him of continuing as the BBC’s leader.
The BBC is expected to sign a cooperation agreement with Business South Africa, which will create a framework for consolidation talks between black and white business groups.
No decision had been reached by midday on Thursday.