A new Black Business Council (BBC) will be formed to ensure unity among black businesses.
The council will be under the leadership of businessman, Patrice Motsepe.
Delegates representing over 14 black business associations announced their intention to suspend their participation from Busa to form a black business body, at a Black Business Summit held on Wednesday evening.
“This Summit marks the beginning of a new era in that black business is defining its own agenda and taking control of its own destiny,” BBC said.
“It will shape the South African economy, which will lead to an economic revolution that will see the country establishing itself as a global powerhouse.”
The summit was organized by the Confederation of Black Business Organisations after the Black Management Forum (BMF) withdrew from Busa in July. BMF withdrew from Busa saying the voice of black business was “permanently outnumbered and suppressed”.
BBC’s decision to form a unified black business body comes after President Jacob Zuma called for genuine unity in business during his keynote address at the summit on Tuesday.
“The unity of the business sector is paramount in ensuring the achievement of the transformation goals. As government, we need a unified and united business voice to work with,” he said.
Black business organisations including the Black Lawyers Association (BLA), the Association for the Advancement of Black Accountants of SA, the Association of Black Securities and Investment Proffesionals (Absip) and the Black IT Forum lent their support to the general objective of meaningful unity.
The summit resolved that black business should suspend its participation at Busa and immediately engage Busa on a range of policy, structural and constitutional issues raised by black business; and that a steering committee consisting of presidents of national organizations and black business should be formed to lead the new body.
BBC’s mission is to accelerate economic transformation by defining a clear black business agenda. The body intends to build a new community of black entrepreneurs, establish a black business venture capital fund and elevate the BEE Advisory Council into a structure that takes a form of a commission or ministry.
It has also asked government to allocate funding for its activities.
BBC made it clear that the development of SMMEs and supporting emerging enterprises is of utmost importance. It called for a creation of a broad-based owned and managed financial institution that will provide financial support to up-and-coming enterprises.
“The national skills fund should accelerate the provision of funding towards entrepreneurship education,” said BBC in a statement issued yesterday.
In the statement, it also said Construction Industry Development Board gradings needed to be urgently overhauled and that fronting be criminalised, with a turnover or income-based-penalty.
BBC also touched on the issue of land reform stating that the land claims process must be fast-tracked. The council said there must be a 15-year suspension on the re-sale of land acquired through the land reform process.