The link between relationships, influence, money, friendship and business is something we all get embroiled in. But the difference between you and me, and Matlala and Epstein is surely motive. Whenever I go to some kind of business event, whether it involves my own industry or a more general business-type shindig, I sometimes feel a sense of anticipation ahead of the “networking”.
I think it’s human to anticipate meeting new people with interests similar to yours. But it’s also about the anticipation of new professional relationships that can lead to more business (or money, frankly). And I often wonder how close we can get to people with whom we’re involved in business.
Have you ever poured your heart out about that difficult child, or some personal issue, to someone you really only know professionally? Or asked someone you knew professionally for help in a way that was deeply personal? It seems strange but I suspect this happens all the time.
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Last week, listening to the way KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Lesetja Senona came to know Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala was fascinating. He said he met him at a wedding, and that it was his “humble nature” that attracted him to Matlala. Before he knew it, he was like “my brother”, and Senona’s son was doing business with Matlala.
Something similar happened with the suspended head of the Metro police in Ekurhuleni, Julius Mkhwanazi. Clearly Matlala was very good at making other men feel that they were like “brothers”. It’s a phrase that has come through again and again during all of these police inquiries.
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