Black Management Forum’s irrepressible president, Jimmy Manyi, survived the latest attempt to boot him out of the presidency when the forum’s annual general meeting ducked strong calls for him to step down.
Manyi’s fitness for office will, however, remain on the BMF’s agenda. The AGM decided to ask the board to appoint a team to look into allegations made by a concerned committee led by three former presidents that Manyi is unfit to lead the organisation. The committee, led by Lot Ndlovu, Bheki Sibiya and Nolitha Fakude, has accused Manyi of eroding BMF values and displaying “a frightening brand of arrogance, amateurism and lack of logic”.
The committee is particularly irked by Manyi’s pronouncements in the name of the BMF that included endorsing the ANC in last year’s general election and on the BMF’s intimate relationship with the ruling party, as well as his decision to accept the position of director general in the labour department while still president of the BMF.
The issues sparked unhappiness within the forum, but Manyi insisted publicly that there was no opposition to his pronouncements.
Extensive deliberations
Former BMF managing director Mncane Mthunzi, a member of the concerned group, told the Mail & Guardian that the committee would be able to talk on the matter only once the task team had concluded its work.
“We’ve decided to respect the decision of the AGM and take part in the process,” he said. “We’re satisfied the issue was deliberated extensively.”
A second committee member, who asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorised to speak on the committee’s behalf, said that the committee came out of the AGM victorious because Manyi’s fitness to hold office remained on the table.
“We managed to liberate BMF members to be brave and talk about these issues,” said the member.
The biggest victory was stopping “the dictatorship” in the BMF. “No constitutional changes or extension of the term of office was on the table. It was helpful that we exposed and spoke against these issues long before the AGM started, because we had reason to believe they [Manyi’s supporters] planned to sneak it in.”
The M&G reported last month that BMF managing director Gaba Tabane had resigned amid plans to extend the presidential term from three to five years and to give the president executive powers. Provincial branches had already started Âdiscussing the proposals.
If the majority of board members sympathise with the concerned group, as it claims, Manyi might find himself fighting for his position just a year after being re-elected.
Manyi and his deputy, Thembakazi Mnyaka, could not be reached for comment.