THE Black Management Forum (BMF) board said at the weekend that it "unanimously" supported its president Jimmy Manyi following his suspension as the Labour Department director-general.

THE Black Management Forum (BMF) board said at the weekend that it "unanimously" supported its president Jimmy Manyi following his suspension as the Labour Department director-general.

"The BMF has confidence in the integrity of its president and firmly believes in Manyi's ethics, hard work and performance-driven culture and believes that the principle of innocent until proven guilty must apply," said BMF deputy president Tembakazi Mnyaka.

Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana suspended Manyi on Friday following allegations that the Norwegian ambassador to South Africa raised concerns over Manyi's conduct at an official meeting.

Manyi is alleged to have wanted to discuss business, especially black economic empowerment, with the Norwegian delegation during the said official meeting.

"Once again, the board has expressed its unanimity behind Manyi holding both roles as president of the BMF and director general of the labour department," Mnyaka said.

She said they saw no conflict of interest ever arising and that there was "a clear strategy" to manage any conflict in the event that it arose.

BMF made headlines when it said Futhi Mtoba's appointment as president of Business Unity South Africa meant there was no transformation at that organisation.

It later retracted and said it was not referring specifically to Mtoba's appointment but rather to the organisation at large.

"The fact that some of the top officials are black whereas the mandating structures underneath are overwhelmingly untransformed continues to be a bone of contention for the BMF," she said. - I-Net Bridge