Mafube Business Forum (MBF) was recently invited by Sakeliga to participate in a summit held on 26 and 27 October at the Chameleon Bush Lodge, North of Pretoria. It was attended by more than 60 business organisations and civil institutions.
Jannie Schabort, Chairman of MBF and Piet le Roux, CEO of Sakeliga.
For MBF it was a special privilege to be part of the conversation and to be able to share our experiences over the last 4 years, with other communities that are also suffering from state decay. Jannie Schabort, chairman of MBF, elaborated on this during a speech that focused on solutions to the many problems experienced by business communities nationwide, where municipalities are dysfunctional and unable to provide services.
Sakeliga's CEO Piet le Roux described the aim of the summit as a gathering to share knowledge and expertise, thereby strengthening business organisations, establishing a scalable model and creating a network for support to, at the end of the day create a favourable business environment. Piet referred to the establishment of the Hanseatic League, an organization founded by Northern European merchant communities to protect their mutual trade interests - in the absence of government influences. The league dominated commercial activity in Northern Europe from the 13th to the 15th century, and made a major contribution to the establishment of Western civilization.
Among the specialist speakers was Professor Koos Malan, the well-known constitutional jurist attached to the University of Pretoria and colleague of Sakeliga, who described the national constitution as not supreme, but rather dynamic and changeable. Prof Koos is of the opinion that lawyers should act less "bound by books" and should instead look at what the constitution is aiming for. The decline we are experiencing is the product of harmful government policies, which give well-organised civic organisations the opportunity to fill the gaps.
Sakeliga has recently introduced a number of exciting initiatives that can also be harnessed to the benefit of our local business community. In terms of MBF's constitution, we will at all times act in the interest of our members and see cooperation within the Sakeliga's support network as one of the most important mechanisms to achieve our main objective - namely to create a favorable business environment.
(see also SBI's research paper on the effect of government decay on small businesses, at: https://0bf07f86-7181-49ff-9c6f-9befcbbb3aa9.usrfiles.com/ugd/0bf07f_d6ce29e0ed34461c853dad574fda75b1.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2gv4Rm9xdBy1ONuM0Xhv1VkHe64mo0Gg7iKl7yvYmJPpkaqwBwC--VOzA)
MBF invites residents, business owners and taxpayers to visit our offices at 18A Church Street, Frankfort on Mondays to Thursdays from 08h30 to 16h00 and Fridays 08h30 to 12h00. Call or send a WhatsApp message to Marina on 079 145 4295. Visit our website www.mafubebf.org and follow us on Facebook.
Comments