SA businessperson Mthunzi Mdwaba says he finds it “quite bizarre and odd” that the SA government has revoked its support for his candidacy to become the next director-general of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Business Day reported in June that Mdwaba, a former vice-chair of the ILO, a tripartite UN special agency dealing with social justice and setting international labour standards, had been endorsed by the government, the AU, the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) tripartite bloc (governments, trade unions and employers), the Southern African Trade Union Co-ordination Council (SATUCC), Cosatu, the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) and the National Council of Trade Unions (Nactu), among others.
Mdwaba’s campaign team said it had learnt about the “mysterious withdrawal” by SA and that it “regrettably notes this development, but wishes to confirm that Professor Mdwaba’s nomination remains intact in the ILO nomination process”.
“In an unprecedented move in the history of the ILO, it is worth noting that besides SA, Professor Mdwaba received six additional nominations. In support of the Sadc decision, the governments of Malawi (as Sadc chair) and Lesotho submitted his name to the ILO,” said Jermaine Craig, spokesperson for the campaign.
“The campaign team will engage with the SA government to establish the reasons for this unexplained action as neither Professor Mdwaba nor his team were consulted or advised of this unexpected position.”
He said Mdwaba’s campaign would proceed “notwithstanding this temporary setback”.
Speaking to Business Day on Monday afternoon, Mdwaba, who is CEO of Tzoro IBC, an investment, strategic advisory and business consultancy in Sandton; as well as chair of Productivity SA and of the SA-Norwegian Association, said R8m had been approved by the SA government for his campaign, but stressed that “no cent had been spent by government on my campaign to date”.
He said he had spent his own money and resources on the campaign since May 2020. “We had been waiting for the last two to three months [for the R8m] and we had not had a cent of that money,” said Mdwaba.
He said his competitors’ campaigns were funded by their governments. “It’s a mystery to us as to what is happening, we can’t even comment [properly] until we know what’s happening. It smacks of something very deep, but I don’t know what it is. I have no clue.”
Mdwaba said he had been informed that the cabinet meetings of the past two weeks had discussed his candidacy for the ILO director-general position. As courtesy, he felt labour & employment minister Thulas Nxesi “could have picked up the phone and say: ‘Hey, there is something like this, can you come talk to me.’ This is a country, continental and global matter, it’s a huge deal.”
Business Unity SA (Busa) CEO Cas Coovadia said in a statement on Monday that Busa notes with “extreme concern the decision by the SA government to withdraw its support for the candidature of Mthunzi Mdwaba as DG [director-general] of the ILO”.
“This is a shocking turn of events because the SA government had not only supported Prof Mdwaba’s candidature but had actively promoted and sponsored it.”
Coovadia said Mdwaba’s candidature is an “excellent opportunity for Africa to have an African in the position of DG of the ILO”. He said Busa would continue to support Mdwaba’s candidature and urged the government to reconsider its position.
When contacted for comment, cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams said: “I don't know where that is coming from, that the government has revoked its support for Prof Mdwaba, therefore I can’t comment.”
In 2017, Mdwaba was the first African in the history of the International Organisation of Employers and the ILO to be the leader of a team representing more than 150 business organisations, including Busa, in more than 150 countries, with more than 50-million companies employing about 400-million workers. The ILO turns 103 in 2022.
The election of the new ILO director-general for a five-year term will be held on March 25 2022.
The designated director-general will start work on April 1 2022 for a six-month handover with the incumbent, Guy Ryder, who officially steps down on September 30 2022. If elected, Mdwaba will assume office on October 1 2022.
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