South African business leaders said many businesses there owe their existence to Nelson Mandela, who gave credibility to a country that once was the pariah of the world, according to a report in BusinessDayLive.

South Africa’s four main business organisations united briefly for a memorial service to honor Mandela — the Black Business Council, Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), Business Leadership South Africa and the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut.

Mandela was often associated with helping to promote sports and build schools, but he also played a role in assisting South African businesses, said Ndaba Ntsele, president of the Black Business Council and CEO of Pamodzi Investments.

Mandela played a crucial role in helping start Ntsele’s business by providing him and other emerging black businesses with letters of introduction to secure business rights in the U.S., Ntsele said.

“It changed our lives,” Ntsele said. “We needed some power because we didn’t have a balance sheet. We were competing with big businesses like Edgars and the banks.”

The letters, he said, helped his company secure business rights to brands such as Nike and Reebok, which normally would have been impossible without a track record or history.

Mandela’s wish of a single united business body was not fulfilled in his lifetime, said Clive Manci, president of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry and BUSA board member.

“One of Tata’s ideals of a united business in South Africa remains unattained,” Manci said. “Our differences stand no chance against the nobility and broader benefit of a united South Africa where we live and work as one.”

Many businesses owe their existence to Mandela, Manci said.

“Madiba gave us credibility,” said Martin Kuscus, former president of Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut and chairman of Synergy Income Fund. “Prior to that, South Africa was the pariah of the world.”

All speakers said it was now incumbent on businesses to ensure that Mandela’s ideal of a better life for all was attained. “Who is going to create this better life for all? Us business people,” Ntsele said.

South African business needs to unite with labor to ensure stability, said Colin Coleman, CEO of Goldman Sachs and Business Leadership South Africa representative.

To secure the country’s hard-won democracy, business needs to play a role in uplifting South Africa, said African National Congress treasury-general Zweli Mkhize.

Mandela did not have time for workshops, seminars and task teams, Kuscus said. “He would call you and say let’s build a school, and the school would be built.”