 Manyi shifts balance of BMF, state roles IT ALL seems to have become too much, even for Jimmy Manyi. He has voluntarily given up a role. The chief government spokesman, former director-general of the Department of Labour and irrepressible controversy magnet yesterday handed over the day-to- day communications of the Black Management Forum (BMF), of which he is president, to his deputy, Tembakazi Mnyaka. The board "accepted Manyi’s proposal and expressed its appreciation and confidence in his leadership", the BMF said. The announcement came a day after Mr Manyi faced another call from BMF members for his resignation. The Sunday Independent reported a group of members, led by former BMF president Lot Ndlovu, had repeated a call they made last year for Mr Manyi to resign, partly for his "irrational" and "ludicrous" statements. Late yesterday Mr Manyi said his move was unrelated to that call and dismissed the group. "It’s an overstatement to say they are members of the BMF. It’s not even a Kombi-load of people you are talking about," he said. The BMF said the move freed him up for his government job. "He wants to concentrate on government business. The office is very busy," Ms Mnyaka said. Mr Manyi certainly has his hands full. At the weekend he reprimanded journalists for asking Cabinet ministers whether they had visited the home of the controversial Gupta family, saying such actions were "an irresponsible fishing expedition". Days earlier a storm erupted over his earlier comments about an "oversupply of coloureds" in the Western Cape — made when, as labour director-general, he was overseeing amendments to the controversial Employment Equity Act. That scored a stinging rebuke from Planning Minister Trevor Manuel . This fight deepened when senior African National Congress (ANC) member Paul Ngobeni then tore into Mr Manuel. Yesterday’s move presages Mr Manyi’s BMF exit. Next year, when his second term as president ends, he cannot stand again. This raises another question — will it make him available for the ANC’s 2012 elective conference? "It depends on the party structure, if that’s what they want," he said last night. [email protected] From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=136398 -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . |
