The Durban Chamber of Commerce has suspended its membership of the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob), in a move commentators said could deal a death blow to the embattled business organisation.
Durban’s move follows hard on the heels of the withdrawal of the Cape Regional Chamber and the surprise resignation of Sacob’s controversial CEO, Kevin Wakeford, this week.
The 4 300-member Durban chamber is Sacob’s single largest bank-roller, paying R700 000 a year into its coffers. Between them Durban, Cape Town and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Chamber — which withdrew last year — are said to have accounted for more than half its revenue.
A number of corporate members are also rumoured to be on the brink of disaffiliating. Sasol is a recent defector, citing Wakeford’s role in the Myburgh commission on the rand’s depreciation as ”contemptible”.
Sacob’s president, Christoph Kopke, conceded he was worried about the organisation. Alluding to tensions between the metropolitan and smaller chambers, Kopke said the larger bodies ”seemed to believe they can find a cheaper solution or do what Sacob does in a different way”.
”There is no doubt that a huge realignment is taking place in organised business, with the National Federated Chambers of Commerce (Nafcoc) rejuvenated, Business South Africa trying to find its feet and the involvement of the Black Business Council,” he said.
The Durban chamber hinted it was looking beyond Sacob to the formation of a new umbrella body. It was prepared, with other metro chambers, to engage Sacob, Nafcoc and others on ”the establishment of an appropriate organisation by the end of October”.
Central to the metro chambers’ defections is the complaint that Sacob has not consulted them adequately. ”There has been insufficient mandate-seeking and consultation with us,” said Durban chamber president Graeme King, conceding that his chamber’s disaffiliation ”could be the kiss of death for Sacob”.
The abortive pursuit of unity with Nafcoc, Wakeford’s pet project, is cited as an example. Two of the metro chambers are known to have voted against the initiative.
There was also widespread unhappiness with Wakeford’s missive to President Thabo Mbeki suggesting local companies fuelled the rand’s slide, which triggered the Myburgh commission. ”The first I knew of this was from the media,” a chamber source complained.
The Cape chamber’s executive director, Albert Schuitmaker, said that Sacob had failed to give a national voice to regional chambers, the reason it had been formed.
”We were just not getting value for money,” he said.
Chamber insiders believe Wakeford was not forced out, citing the fact that his three-year contract was renewed earlier this year and that a dismissal or settlement would have cost Sacob dearly.
The Nafcoc conference, which marked the definitive collapse of his merger dreams, appeared to have tipped him over the edge, the source said. However, this followed mounting pressures in the wake of the Myburgh fiasco and a stream of complaints from Sacob members about his ”glory-seeking and unilateral style”.
Wakeford could not be contacted this week, either on his personal phone or through Sacob.