MZIMKULU MALUNGA: Godfather of black business Richard Maponya excelled as an economic activist
African Bank founder, who died on Monday, urged black people to work together to achieve more
“I feel like crying ... I don’t know what one can do to get black people to realise the importance of unity. We don’t work as a unit; we don’t see one another as brothers and sisters. With the numbers we have we can achieve whatever we need to achieve. But alas, it seems apartheid has done a lot of harm to us; we still operate in silos without supporting one another. We cannot achieve more if we are divided.”
These were the words of the legendary Richard Maponya in an interview with the National African Federated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc) magazine Khwebo in October 2018. Maponya, who passed away on Monday, a few weeks after his 99th birthday, made this assertion on the eve of an elective conference of Nafcoc, the organisation he was instrumental in founding half century earlier. His assertion was interpreted as a subtle message to Nafcoc as the organisation headed for elections. It had been rocked by internal strife for almost two decades. In the end Nafcoc di...
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