Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) is an independent association that represents the interests of major corporations in South Africa. Members include large South African companies and

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

s with a significant presence in South Africa. Founded in 1959 as the South African Foundation, it rebranded as BLSA in November 2005. Its mission is to facilitate effective dialogue with

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, civil society, and

labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

History

South Africa Foundation

The South Africa Foundation was founded in 1959, amid substantial political unrest in

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa. Founded by Anglo American mogul Harry Oppenheimer, its primary purpose was to improve South Africa's global reputation and reassure the international community of the safety of South African investments. Although it accommodated a large corporate membership in the 1980s, it ultimately settled on a membership of the country's fifty largest corporations. Political scientist Scott D. Taylor later described it as the "executive committee of the

bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

". The foundation served abroad, in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'''s description, as "as an independent source of information about South Africa as well as a sort of ad hoc

chamber of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

for the country"; in this respect, it was bolstered by a dedicated office in Washington D.C. and by Anglo American's global network of subsidiaries. However, the South Africa Foundation also promoted itself as a

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the develop ...

that lobbied the apartheid government to undertake progressive reforms. Representatives of the foundation met with leaders of the anti-apartheid

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in January 1985. After the end of apartheid in 1994, the South Africa Foundation was critical of the post-apartheid government's macroeconomic and labour policy, publishing a critique of the

Reconstruction and Development Programme Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) is a South African socio-economic policy framework implemented by the African National Congress (ANC) government of Nelson Mandela in 1994 after months of discussions, consultations and negotiations ...

under the title ''Growth for All'' in February 1996. During the same period, the foundation came under sustained attack from

Ronald Suresh Roberts Ronald Suresh Roberts (born 17 February 1968) is a British West Indian biographer, lawyer and writer. He is best known for his biographies of some of the leading figures in the " New South Africa" such as Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer and ...

, who accused it of having been "actively committed to pro-apartheid culture". In the '' Mail & Guardian'' and in the book ''Reconciliation Through Truth'', which he co-authored with

Kader Asmal Abdul Kader Asmal (8 October 1934 – 22 June 2011) was a South African politician. He was a professor of human rights at the University of the Western Cape, chairman of the council of the University of the North and vice-president of the A ...

, Roberts argued that the foundation's propaganda efforts had served the apartheid regime; in particular, he pointed to a 1967 advertisement in the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' in which the foundation had argued that South Africans should stop apologising for apartheid and should instead adopt "a tone of confident self-assertion which publicised the opportunities of apartheid".

Rebranding as BLSA

On 25 November 2005, the South Africa Foundation rebranded as Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), under the mission statement, "Making South Africa Good for Enterprise and Making Enterprise Good for South Africa". Alongside Business Unity South Africa, of which it is an affiliate, BLSA became one of the two leading business forums in South Africa.

Response to state capture

During the presidency of

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

, South Africa was wracked by allegations of

state capture State capture is a type of systemic political corruption in which private interests significantly influence a state's decision-making processes to their own advantage. The term was first used by the World Bank, around the year 2000, to describe ...

, which intensified after Zuma fired Finance Minister

Nhlanhla Nene Nhlanhla Musa Nene ( tɬantɬa born 5 December 1958) served as the Minister of Finance of South Africa under President Jacob Zuma from 25 May 2014 until his controversial removal on 9 December 2015, and under President Cyril Ramaphosa from 27 Fe ...

in a controversial cabinet reshuffle in December 2015. BLSA's tepid response to the reshuffle was roundly criticised in the press. In the aftermath, BLSA took up a more activist stance towards Zuma's government. In October 2016, through the so-called CEO Initiative, the association pledged its support for Nene's successor, Minister Pravin Gordhan. In August 2017, it launched the #BusinessBelieves campaign, which it said would aim to reverse the reputational damage that business had suffered as a result of Bell Pottinger's "

white monopoly capital White Monopoly Capital is a South African phrase used in contemporary political discourse. The origin of the term, the exact meaning of the term, and even the existence of what the term is thought to mean is disputed. The term is thought to mean ...

" campaign. BLSA's campaign included the adoption by all members of an "integrity pledge" promising zero tolerance for

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

. In September 2017, amid mounting allegations that certain member companies had been involved in state capture, BLSA temporarily suspended the membership of Eskom,

Transnet Transnet SOC Ltd is a large South African rail, port and pipeline company, headquartered in the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. It was formed as a limited company on 1 April 1990. A majority of the company's stock is owned by the Department ...

, and

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. One of the Big Three management consultancies, Bain & Company was fou ...

was suspended a year later, during the

Nugent Commission Nugent may refer to: * ''Nugent'' (album), album by Ted Nugent * Nugent (surname) * Nugent, Tasmania, town in Australia * Nugent, United States Virgin Islands, village * Nugents department store (B. Nugent & Brother), St. Louis, MO, USA See also ...

hearings into Bain's consultancy work at the

South African Revenue Service The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the revenue service of the South African government. It administers the country's tax system and customs service, and enforces compliance with related legislation. It is governed by the SARS Act 34 of ...

, and it withdrew entirely in January 2022 after further evidence was published by the

Zondo Commission The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission, is a public inquiry established in Janu ...

Current membership

The association's membership is limited to "major South African corporations", as defined by the board. Members include the executives of

s with a significant presence in South Africa, as well as corporations based in South Africa; and represented industries include financial services,

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

, legal services, management consulting,

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

, and brewing. As of October 2023, BLSA's members were: * Absa * Alexander Forbes * Allan Gray *

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

* Anglo American *

Anglo American Platinum Anglo American Platinum Limited () is the world's largest primary producer of platinum, accounting for about 38% of the world's annual supply. Based in South Africa, most of the group's operations lie to the northwest and northeast of Johannesbu ...

* AngloGold Ashanti * BDO *

Bidvest The Bidvest Group Limited also known as Bidvest Group or Bidvest is a South African services, trading, and distribution company. History Bidvest was founded in 1988 by Brian Joffe and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1990. The B ...

* Bowmans * BP *

Capitec Capitec Bank is a South African retail bank. As of August 2017 the bank was the second largest retail bank in South Africa, based on number of customers, with 120,000 customers opening new accounts per month. Overview The bank maintains 850 ...

* Citi * Clientèle *

Coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of profession ...

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

* Distell * ENSafrica * EOH *

Exxaro Exxaro Resources Limited (Exxaro, the company or the group) is a South Africa-based diversified resources company with a robust coal business and acquisitive growth prospects in minerals and energy solutions. Exxaro is among the top five coal ...

* EY * FirstRand * Gold Fields *

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

Hollard Hollard Group is a privately owned insurance group based in South Africa that operates under two insurance licences: short term and life insurance, life. The company was established in 1980 by Robert Enthoven, and the Enthoven family retains the ...

* ICAS * Investec * Isuzu * JP Morgan * JSE *

Kumba Iron Ore Kumba Iron Ore is an iron-ore mining company in South Africa. It is the fourth largest iron-ore producer in the world and the largest in Africa. History Kumba Iron Ore is a successor of Kumba Resources, which was listed on the Johannesburg Sec ...

* Liberty * Momentum Metropolitan * Mondi * MTN *

MultiChoice MultiChoice is a South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa and GOtv, a minor service operating in over 9 countries of this area and Showmax service. MultiChoice was formed out of the sub ...

* Naspers * Nedbank *

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

* Old Mutual *

Philip Morris Phil(l)ip or Phil Morris may refer to: Companies *Altria, a conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the tobacconist **Philip Morris USA, a tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group **Philip Morris Inter ...

PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

* Remgro *

South African Breweries South African Breweries (officially The South African Breweries Limited, informally SAB) is a major brewery headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa and was a wholly owned subsidiary of SABMiller until its interests were sold to Anheuser-Bus ...

* Sanlam *

Sappi Sappi Limited, originally incorporated as ''South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limited'' in 1936, is a South African pulp and paper company with global operations. Products and operation South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limite ...

Sasol Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company based in Sandton, South Africa. The company was formed in 1950 in Sasolburg, South Africa and built on processes that were first developed by German chemists and engineers in the early ...

* Sea Harvest * Sibanye Stillwater *

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

* South32 * Standard Bank * TFG *

TotalEnergies TotalEnergies SE is a French Multinational corporation, multinational integrated energy and List of oil exploration and production companies, petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven Big Oil, supermajor oil companies. Its businesses ...

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

* Vodacom * Webber Wentzel *

Woolworths Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

Leadership

The following individuals have served as chief executive officer since BLSA was relaunched in 2005: * Michael Spicer (2005–2011) * Thero Setiloane (2011–2016) * Bonang Mohale (2017–2019) * Busi Mavuso (2019–present) Past chairpersons include

Bobby Godsell Robert Michael "Bobby" Godsell (born 14 September 1952 in Johannesburg)Bobby Godsell
Who'swho South Africa, acces ...

and

Jabu Mabuza Jabu Mabuza (4 February 1958 – 16 June 2021) was a South African businessman and investor. He was chairman of the Eskom board.

, and

Saki Macozoma Sakumzi Justice Macozoma (Saki) (born 1957) is a South African former political prisoner who is now one of South Africa's most prominent businessman and a leader in civil society. Early life and education Macozoma was born in Port Elizabeth on 1 ...

served a lengthy tenure as the association's president.

References

{{Reflist 1959 establishments in South Africa Organisations based in Johannesburg Business organisations based in South Africa Lobbying organizations Oppenheimer family