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Black Business Council's Zungu: Pityana letter driven by a personal vendetta

The open letter penned by Business Unity South Africa leader Sipho Pityana to Sandile Zungu, who heads an organisation representing black entrepreneurs, has further deepened the rift between the two formations which once worked together. 

Zungu has declared that the Black Business Council (BBC), of which he is president, will never work with BUSA for as long as Pityana is at the helm.

Pityana's open letter, which he wrote in his personal capacity, questions Zungu's integrity and that of the BBC.

'Personal vendetta'

Zungu has dismissed Pityana's letter as being motivated by a personal vendetta, something he said was not helping to build reconciliation between the two business bodies.

"BUSA needs to question itself if it has the right man at the helm. He is pursuing a personal vendetta using BUSA," said Zungu.

"I dismiss everything it [the letter] raises with the contempt it deserves. It's lies… slandering against [the] Black Business Council and myself," he said.

Eskom, state capture

In the letter, which emerged on Wednesday, Pityana confronts prominent businessman Zungu, and the BCC about their alleged role in the State Capture machinery "whether knowingly or otherwise".

He also questions Zungu's close proximity to former president Jacob Zuma, likening him and fellow businessman Mzwanele Manyi to "apartheid-era pimps".

Pityana rejected Zungu's claim that his open letter was driven by a personal vendetta, arguing that he only celebrates black success.

"If you want to be leader of a business organisation, your anti-corruption credentials must be beyond reproach. His credentials are not impeccable," he said.

Zungu also questioned the timing of the letter.

The BBC is currently holding a Black Business Summit in Johannesburg, which ends on Friday. Zungu believes the timing of Pityana's letter was meant to shift the spotlight off the conference.

"All the issues that are on the agenda would never have seen the light of day, if this summit were organised by BUSA," he said.

He said the summit took place at a time when a voice of black business was much-needed, especially in the current economic climate, including the dire challenges faced by state-owned enterprises.

"When we gathered two years ago, the issue of IPPs was not a major factor, so we needed to meet with our members to solicit their views," said Zungu.

The BBC supports unbundling of Eskom if it's meant to turn the power utility into a "leaner and meaner structure" and expose its business operations to greater scrutiny.

"But we are very sceptical of any privatisation of Eskom if [that were] to happen...However, we have been assured that is not the intention," he said.

Relationship at zero

The Black Business Council was launched in 2011, announcing that it would immediately suspend any participation in Business Unity SA, largely over what it perceived as BUSA's lack of commitment to black business interests.

Since then, relations between the two business formations, which are intended to strive for the common cause of inclusive participation in the economy, have been strained, with a widely reported fall-out in 2017 at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).

Zungu said he only found out about the letter through media.

"For me that is the highest form of dishonesty, given that he [Pityana] knows how to contact me," he said.

In the aftermath of the open letter, Zungu declared that "for so long as BUSA has someone like Pityana at the helm, they must not even write to us and seek a meeting".

"At this rate, the relationship between Busa and BBC is zero," he said.

The BCC was committed to advancing the interest of black business, including their participation in the economy, which remained largely untransformed, Zungu added.

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