Melanie Veness: ASAC is the voice of business in South Africa
As the CEO of the Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business and current chair of the Association of South African Chambers (ASAC), Melanie Veness, who is a prominent figure in the South African business community shares her insights on her role at ASAC.
“ASAC is an association of all the major credible chambers in the country,” said Veness.
“We’ve all been around for a long time and share common values and are working with a purely business agenda to help create a more conducive environment for businesses to operate in,” she said.
Veness added that "we are the voice of business," and that the various chambers are at the coalface, living the real issues with business every single day.
“It's our job to bring attention to the everyday challenges and to try and help create a more conducive environment for business to operate in," she said.
Veness said that the various chambers will be collaborating at a national level through ASAC and that there are some exciting things in store for the chamber movement.
“There is definitely strength and unity,” Melanie explains. “We share a lot of the same issues and there are a lot of challenges in South Africa at the moment, so it’s imperative that we stand together.”