Press Statements

Johannesburg, South Africa: 19 February 2019

The Black Management Forum (BMF) has noted with disappointment the utterances attributed to ANC NEC Member Mr. Senzo Mchunu about the failure of Eskom being pinned on Black Managers as reported by the City Press on Sunday, 17 February 2019. The BMF acknowledges that the utility over the years has been engulfed by a gross failure in corporate governance and ethical leadership.

“It is actually astonishing that Politicians are now putting blame on Black Managers, yet we have learnt from the State Capture commission the fervent pressure politicians have been putting on professionals to do wrong things. It is reach of an ANC NEC member to blame professionals when he knows that his organization for a couple of years now has been deploying questionable characters to Boards of SOC’s, that in turn appoint Non-Matriculants to Executive positions” …Nomlala said.

As BMF we wont stand on any pulpit and defend Black Professionals who have abated State Capture. BMF is on record calling for those Professionals who succumbed to the pressure of Politicians to be charged and be brought to book. “Even though we blame the environment they operated under, but we can’t justify their own moral standing. There is no excuse to justify unethical behavior” Nomlala continued.

Instead of the Political Leadership to start doing a self-introspection and ask themselves what role they have played in this mess, they are busy perpetuating the narrative that Black Professionals are incompetent thieves that can’t be trusted with positions of responsibility.  A phenomenon that is now starting to have unintended consequences of reversing transformation gains in SOC’s, by appointing retirement age White Executives, at the expense of competent women and youthful Black Professionals.  

We note with sadness that in the last couple of years, the Political leadership have compromised the image of Black Professionals by appointing incompetent individuals under the disguise of Radical Economic Transformation and yet we know very well their intention was to use playable individuals who have no professional integrity to loot. “As BMF we are issuing a stern warning to the political leadership of the day that this time around we will not tolerate the sidelining of competent Black Professionals, particularly, Women and Youthful Managers under the blemish of being responsibly for the state capture and corruption.

We are calling on qualified professionals to be given space to showcase their talent and skills. This is not the time for finger-pointing. This is the time for all relevant stakeholders to put their heads together and solve the Eskom crisis and the economic quagmire we find ourselves in.

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About the Black Management Forum

The Black Management Forum (the BMF) has been in existence for 42 years. It is a thought-leadership organisation with the main purpose of influencing socio-economic transformation in our country, in pursuit of socio-economic justice, fairness and equity. The BMF stands for the development and empowerment of managerial leadership and the creation of managerial structures and processes that reflect the demographics and values of the wider society.

For more information, please contact:

Thabile Wonci
Black Management Forum
Managing Director
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011 784 4407