Two years after throwing his weight, credibility and, some say, money behind a noble cause, Patrice Motsepe’s endeavour to revive the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce (Nafcoc) seems to have been largely fruitless.
As Nafcoc prepares to elect office-bearers for a new term in less than three weeks, the organisation is plagued with infighting, with a stinging attack on Motsepe by its general secretary Buhle Mthethwa, and a major clash between its CEO, Sipho Mseleku, and Mthethwa.
Mthethwa has accused Motsepe of running Nafcoc in a dictatorial manner, claiming there is widespread opposition to a plan to sell shares in Nafcoc’s investment arm, Nafhold.
Nafhold is said to have assets worth between R650-million and R700-million.
Mseleku’s main accuser is Churchill Mrasi, chairperson of Nafcoc’s disciplinary committee. Last week he issued a statement saying Mseleku had been fired, later amending this to “suspended”. Mthethwa supports Mrasi’s allegations that Mseleku has mismanaged funds, incurring debts of R12-million.
Mseleku is also accused of bringing Nafcoc into disrepute by conducting external business and failing to comply with statutory provisions such as paying tax and unemployment insurance.
On Wednesday Mseleku released a statement rejecting the accusations. He said the debts incurred related to Nafcoc’s roadshow, and R3-million of it, funded by Nafhold, had been approved by the governing body and related to inherited debt.
Reacting, Mthethwa said she stood by her allegations, noting that they stemmed from a recent management committee meeting, which she chaired.
“All I am saying is that there should be an investigation,” she said on Wednesday. On Motsepe’s “dictatorship”, she reiterated her concern that “there is no vibrant debate” in Nafcoc structures. She described her two years in office as “difficult”.
“Nafcoc has failed members’ expectations … We have not been powerful as a lobby organisation.”
Mthethwa said her first year, concerned with putting in place infrastructure and embarking on a roadshow, had been relatively successful. But one of her major concerns had been ways to measure progress on empowerment.
Nafcoc had a number of agreements with parastatals, such as Eskom, to secure procurement opportunities for members — but there is no measure of how many these have yielded.
Mthethwa said that, with major retailers moving into townships, they threaten an area of strength for black business. However, Nafcoc has not come up with a public position on this.
Motsepe has handled the dissent with diplomacy, allowing members the right to differ.
The elections come a month before the Nafcoc AGM and conclude Motsepe’s two-year term. He seems set to stick by the undertaking he made when he took office that he would not stand for re-election.
At the time, he probably calculated that his business activities, which now span mining and financial services, would demand more of his time. And he has clearly become frustrated. Questioned about Nafcoc a few weeks ago, he said, “we give a great deal of our time to these organisations” and suggested that it was a thankless task.