BMF Western Cape honours black excellence

Cape Town - The Black Management Forum (BMF) in the Western Cape recently celebrated its Black Excellence Awards at a gala dinner at the Cape Sun Hotel in Cape Town.

Not only did Mothobi Seseli, founder and CEO of Argon Asset Management, win the category of Business Personality of the Year, his company also won Progressive Company of the Year.

Seseli said it is all about access to capital.

"No bank would give us a facility. That battle has not changed. The banking sector needs to respond," Seseli said in his acceptance speech.

"SA's challenge is that there are too many people with too little to lose if something goes wrong. Therefore, private capital has the most to lose. Private capital needs to drive transformation harder."

He said Argon now has about R35bn worth of assets under management.

"It is about creating opportunities for young black people. We must build skills," emphasised Seseli.

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The winner of the category of Thought Leader of the Year was Prof Bongani Mayosi, dean of the University of Cape Town's Faculty of Health Sciences.

He said it is very important to invest in the intellectual property of SA.

"Academia and business must work to solve the problems of SA, Africa and the world," said Mayosi.

The BMF Western Cape Manager of the Year for 2017 is Sbusiso Kumalo, head of product development at Capitec Bank.

Kumalo praised the BMF for the platform it creates and said he is an example of a product of the BMF.

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The Progressive Young Professionals of the Year is Kgotso Mokhatle, regional manager of ABSA Private Banking.

"Always strive for excellence. We don't need to be politicians or activists. We should lead from where we are," said Mokhatle.

"A position of privilege is one of responsibility. We must be self-critical as a nation."

The award for Student Chapter of the Year went to Tsiba Education.