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Many referred to him as the godfather of BEE. Others knew him as an ally of President Jacob Zuma’s. To many black business people, Don Mkhwanazi (63) was a business mentor who never compromised on business principles.
Businessman and former president of the Durban Chamber of Commerce, Moses Tembe, who was with Mkhwanazi moments before he died, said his death still felt unreal.
“One moment, he was chatting as usual and the next he was gone,” he said.
The pioneer of BEE was at a friend’s party when he died of what is believed to be a heart attack. He said he wanted to rest and sat down.
His friends later noticed that he was not sitting comfortably and discovered that he was not breathing. He was rushed to Netcare Umhlanga Hospital in Durban north and was certified dead on arrival.
Sandile Zungu, vice-president of the Black Business Council, said he was devastated by the news of Mkhwanazi’s death.
Zungu described Mkhwanazi as “very loyal, courageous and fearless. He was principled to the core on issues he believed in and was ready to die for those issues.
“His commitment to BEE was impeccable. He was a person who stood for BEE when it was least fashionable to do so,” he said.
Mzwanele Manyi, former president of the Black Management Forum (BMF) and president of the Progressive Professionals Forum, recalled how Mkhwanazi, also a founder of the BMF, used to say he was raising corporate guerillas who would transform the corporate world.
“I would call him in the middle of the night asking him for advice, and he would gladly assist. He always advised me to be principled and true to the call [entrepreneurship],” Manyi said.
Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko echoed the same sentiments, saying a fearless black business giant had fallen.
“When others went with the flow, Don dared to be different and stood for what he believed in,” Maseko said.
Apart from being the pioneer of BEE and its implementation before it became government policy, he started the National Empowerment Trust in 1992, founded the BMF and was the chairperson of the anti-apartheid debt committee that made presentations to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1997.
Southern African Shipyards, a company he co-owned, made headlines in December 2014 when it was awarded navy contracts worth R406 million.
A few months before that, the company had been awarded a R1.4 billion contract by Transnet to build tugboats. His critics cited his close relationship with Zuma as the reason for this good fortune.
Mkhwanazi had strong ANC links and helped form the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust. Earlier this year, Mkhwanazi and other businessmen offered to help Zuma repay the debt he owes on Nkandla.
Mkhwanazi is survived by his wife, Zodwa Msimang, and five children.
