Ramaphosa to mark NAFCOC's 60 years of black business organising in Durban

President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the 60th anniversary of the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Durban International Conference Centre on Friday, 4 April 2025, according to a media advisory issued by the South African Government.

The event is scheduled for 11h00 in Exhibition Hall 1 of the Durban ICC. According to the government statement, it will reflect on six decades of work toward the economic empowerment of African businesses and ongoing economic transformation, and will celebrate the achievements and legacy of NAFCOC’s founding members.

What NAFCOC is

NAFCOC is one of South Africa’s oldest business federations. It was formed in the 1960s to organise African traders who were largely shut out of formal commerce under apartheid, and it has since become one of the most recognised voices for black-owned enterprise in the country.

The organisation’s own history is bound up with the wider political story. Its founding members, the government advisory notes, dedicated their lives to the liberation and economic emancipation of South Africa’s marginalised communities.

That framing matters to how the anniversary is being positioned. The event is not being presented simply as a birthday. It is being cast as a moment to take stock of how far black business has come, and how far the structural economy still has to travel.

Why the address carries weight

Presidential addresses to organised business are read in two directions. For the federation, a sitting president’s attendance at a 60th anniversary is a signal of standing. For government, it is an opportunity to speak directly to a constituency that sits at the centre of the country’s transformation agenda.

South Africa’s small business sector is a persistent theme in economic policy debate. Access to finance, procurement opportunities, red tape and market concentration are recurring concerns raised by black-owned firms and by the organisations that represent them. NAFCOC’s six decades of advocacy have largely been built around those questions.

The Durban setting is also notable. KwaZulu-Natal is one of the country’s largest provincial economies, with a strong manufacturing, port and logistics base. Hosting the anniversary there puts the event in the middle of a region where small and medium enterprises are a significant part of the local economy.

The practical details

According to the government advisory, the address takes place as follows:

• Date: Friday, 04 April 2025
• Time: 11h00
• Venue: Durban International Conference Centre, Exhibition Hall 1, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal

Members of the media who wish to cover the proceedings have been invited to apply for accreditation through a registration link published in the advisory. Media accreditation enquiries are directed to NAFCOC Media Manager Mr Mbangwa Xaba and Presidency Media Liaison Officer Ms Patience Mtshali.

General media enquiries are directed to Mr Vincent Magwenya, Spokesperson to the President.

What to watch

Anniversary addresses of this kind tend to be forward-looking as much as commemorative. The question that will follow the speech is what, if anything, it commits government to on behalf of the businesses NAFCOC represents.

For now, the confirmed fact is the event itself. The President will speak in Durban on 4 April. What he says about the next decade of black economic empowerment, and what the federation does with the platform its 60th year gives it, are the open questions.