Safda pair unable to transform as we have
IN A SCENE reminiscent of the contrived showmanship of Wrestlemania, Sifiso Mnguni (“Transformation champions”, Business Report, July 25) tags in for his SA Farmers Development Association (Safda) partner Siyabonga Madlala in another round of foot-stomping and parading around the ring.
As audiences are learning to expect, it all amounts to nought and the Safda pair are unable to pin the SA Cane Growers’ Association down with their latest attempt of deflection and vitriol.
What was telling in Mnguni’s response was his quick reference to the chairperson of the portfolio committee on trade and industry in Parliament.
For years, SA Cane Growers has quietly simply got on with the work at hand and ignored the disingenuous posturing of Safda, most noticeably in Parliament, where they have actively sought to undermine our credibility and efforts to curry favour with the powers that be – in itself just naked opportunism lining up government funds.
SA Cane Growers is committed to transformation and we have a clear track record with thousands of members who can attest to the support they have received. No amount of underhanded name-calling and smear campaigns can change this.
Where Safda calls for a single transformation director (another opportunity to spend government money on themselves instead of the farmers who need it), SA Cane Growers makes this a responsibility of all in our employ. For us, transformation is an all-encompassing motivation and not a line position on the organogram.
Where SA Cane Growers spend millions on training for developing farmers – including diverse courses in critical areas like applied business management, disease and variety identification, elementary tractor mechanics, arc welding and gas cutting, cane husbandry, and firefighting and cane burning – Safda spends millions of government rand on themselves in dispensing services.
SA Cane Growers gives 100 percent of the money to our members – can Safda match this?
Verification
It is telling that Mnguni chooses to focus on our B-BBEE verification and claims that a failure to achieve this is indicative of our so-called “failed transformation”, when in fact this was a task he conveniently fails to disclose was his responsibility before his departure to Safda.
As our 2016/2017 annual report states, SA Cane Growers was undertaking a review of its adherence to the B-BBEE scorecard. Mnguni recommended a verification company in Durban who, for the first time in our history, categorised us incorrectly for the purposes of the scorecard. This meant the results were null and void – when in fact we were required to comply with the specialised scorecard making the exercise unnecessary as we were not over the R50m threshold. In the wake of Mnguni’s departure, we have been in correspondence with the Department of Trade and Industry to rectify the matter.
After Safda received official recognition as a separate entity earlier this year, SA Cane Growers has tried to work together for the better of the industry. Sadly, Safda seem to think only one entity is capable of transformation and repeatedly declines the olive branches that have been extended to it. The argument that only it is capable of transformation, having only existed for a few months, borders on the farcical when the facts are put forward. Their dangerous campaign of misinformation and halftruths only harms the members we serve.
Mnguni is well aware of the many transformation projects being undertaken by the SA Cane Growers as many of these were under his direct management. Millions of rand were allocated to these projects, which benefited 3 999 farmers and farmworkers over the past year alone. I urge Mnguni not to forget all the good work he did for so many while at SA Cane Growers.
Personal attacks, the spreading of misinformation and an unhealthy focus on your former employer might work in the weird world of Wrestlemania – but is not a recipe for success if you’re looking to start a new venture and grow your business – especially one that is about the empowerment of others. SA Cane Growers will continue to focus on transformation, as we have always done, and will not allow self-promotion at the expense of others to distract us from our task at hand.