Premium: Peter Thiel’s dumping Facebook raises business execs in politics conundrum

During the late 1990s and right through the noughties, I hosted a quarterly supper club and annual gathering of South African CEOs (and their partners) in what we called The Ibandla. It was an invitation-only club with strict Chatham House rules. As a result, our A-Type Personality members usually defaulted to brutal frankness..Among the most hotly contested topics during these off-the-record engagements was whether business leaders should be more closely involved in politics. It's a global debate. One back in the news today after Silicon Valley icon Peter Thiel said he will now focus on supporting Trump-Agenda candidates – and cut a 16 year relationship with Facebook..At the Ibandla, one group argued for complete isolation, pointing to the lashing even moderately critical business executives received from notoriously thin-skinned Thabo Mbeki. The other side argued that without the trust built during such engagements, business and government would never be able to work together in the national interest..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.The debate is likely to gather fresh momentum in the wake of Thiel's very public decision in an already fractured US political landscape. Ditto locally, through the growing popularity of entrepreneur-turned-politician Herman Mashaba's creation ActionSA..More for you to read today: .RW Johnson: South Africa's very own Reichstag fire. Historian reckons it reflects the end of SA's own "Weimar" period of attractive democracy, weak governance and ineffectual politicians losing control of the economy.Oceana, something's fishy – analysis of late financials and whistle-blower allegations.Excellent piece by BizNews's Justin Rowe-Roberts on the back story to the JSE's latest scandal.Was Bain's capture of SARS fuelled by the dictates of organised crime? Brilliant analysis by Adv Erin Richards who unpacks Zondo Commission evidence which exposes some of multinational consultancy Bain's decidedly dodgy connections..NB FOR YOUR WALL STREET JOURNAL ACCESS….As a Premium subscriber you are entitled to full membership of wsj.com (normal price $29 a month). Be sure to action your access through the Premium link on the BizNews website. Because of The Wall Street Journal's credential requirements, be sure to create a password which has at least 8 characters and includes at least one letter and one number – NB it MAY NOT contain any special characters (ie #, !, @ etc). To maintain access to WSJ.com, you MUST enter our partner's website via BizNews Premium at least once a month. A final PS, if you had previously signed up for WSJ you'll need to clear the cookies from your device. Our help desk can assist – support@biznews.com..If you'd like to help sustain our independent voice, why not share the love by making a gift that keeps giving? Click here to access the BizNews Premium subscription signup form, and be sure tick the relevant box. At R100 a month and inclusive of full membership of The Wall Street Journal, it's a mind-expanding gift at an incredibly modest price.

Premium: Peter Thiel’s dumping Facebook raises business execs in politics conundrum

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