Blacks cannot thrive in the corporate world while the "impenetrable fortress" of business remains locked. This is according to Co-operative Governance and Local Government Minister Zweli Mkhize when giving a speech at Johannesburg’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs) on Monday evening. "They give the impression that black excellence is meaningless if the doors are locked and there is no entry‚" Mkhize said. He spoke alongside American civil rights activist Rev Jesse Jackson. Mkhize said black professionals struggled to break into the "old boys’ networks" of business and that while apartheid had ended‚ some unwritten rules remained. "[Black professionals] battle in the corporate world because they did not grow up inside business networks and other networks. Their parents did not play golf or go to school or university with the captains of commerce and industry." Mkhize said being black in business meant you had to be better than your counterparts to be considered their equal...
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