BMF turns back on under-fire Manyi

Johannesburg - It was a double whammy of a weekend for Jimmy Manyi as board members of the Black Management Forum (BMF), of which he is chairperson, lobbied to pass a motion of no confidence in him.

This followed his suspension as director-general of the labour department on Friday afternoon.

A section of the board said he was harming the organisation because he wore two hats and often had to take contradictory positions.

After a lengthy BMF meeting at Emperor’s Palace in Kempton Park on Sunday, a motion of no confidence against Manyi was shelved.

This was despite BMF deputy president Thembakazi Mnyaka appearing to support Manyi on Friday, when he said it was the obligation of all South Africans to explain black economic empowerment to foreigners.

"We must understand, we have an obligation as South Africans to make people understand the legislation of your country," Mnyaka said at a BMF corporate gala dinner.

Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana suspended Manyi on Friday, pending the outcome of an investigation.

Neither Manyi nor Mdladlana would be drawn on the reasons the DG was put on ice. But labour department spokesperson Mzobanzi Jikazana said the suspension was indefinite.

Off-the-record interviews with executives suggest Mdladlana acted after the Norwegian embassy accused Manyi of trying to lobby for black economic empowerment companies when the embassy met with him to discuss cooperation around South Africa’s Decent Work campaign.

A second member of the forum said Manyi was suspended after he appointed BMF Tshwane chairperson Alwyn Lel as the chairperson of Productivity SA, without following proper procedures.

Productivity SA is a high-profile government agency which falls under the labour department.

Lel was instrumental in mobilising BMF members in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to vote for a second term for Manyi as BMF president at last year’s elections.

In May Mdladlana said holding both positions was untenable and reports suggest he asked Manyi to choose one. Last September the minister supported Manyi’s re-election as BMF president, a position for which he lobbied fiercely.

But in the past nine months, Manyi has used his BMF hat to attack the government, and some supporters of the suspended DG say Mdladlana may have been annoyed that his top bureaucrat had a higher profile than he did.

A supporter of Manyi in the department said he believed the suspension was linked to several forensic investigations of senior labour department managers.

Lumka Yengeni, the chairperson of the labour parliamentary committee, said the suspension was unfortunate because Manyi excelled at his job and was a hands-on administrator.

Yengeni said the committee had been hard at work with Manyi to transform the labour department as it has not been running efficiently.

"I hope and trust we will get to a situation where everything is sorted out and that Manyi will continue with his work at labour," she said
At the BMF gala dinner on Friday evening, Manyi would not comment on his suspension and chose to put on a brave face instead.

 - City Press