SA Coat of Arms 4.jpg
Union Buildings, Pretoria, 9 May 2016
Statement by President Jacob Zuma
On the Conclusion of Engagements with Chief Executive Officers as well as
Presidents and Secretaries General of Labour Federations
Deputy President,
Ministers,
Leaders of Business and Labour,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In February this year I convened a meeting of chief executive officers of
major companies and captains of industry to discuss ways in which we can
work together to reignite economic growth and create jobs.
I mandated the Minister of Finance to lead a process of engaging with the
private sector in particular to map out a strategy to the goal of growing
the economy.
We have met this evening to assess progress made since the last meeting in
Cape Town. We were joined by the Presidents and Secretaries-General of
FEDUSA, COSATU and NACTU. We are pleased that labour has joined these talks
which are aimed at arresting slow growth and to save and create jobs.
The Black Business Council has also joined the process and will be
participating actively.
We have already seen the value of working together.
Leaders from labour and business joined the Minister of Finance on a
roadshow abroad early this year to promote the country and prevent a
possible credit ratings downgrade.
The hard work is paying off, and we saw the evidence this weekend with the
announcement by Moody's.
In affirming the sovereign credit rating on Friday, Moody's ratings agency
noted that South Africa was approaching a turning point after years of weak
growth. This is confirmation that our collaborative approach has been
successful.
While our economy has recovered from the global financial crisis, the level
of economic growth has been much weaker than previously anticipated.
Part of this is due to the challenging global economic environment. At the
same time, we recognize as government that there are also some domestic
constraints that we must attend to.
The National Development Plan sets out the structural reforms that should be
implemented to create an enabling environment for job creation and inclusive
growth to address the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and
unemployment.
As government we have translated the NDP into an implementable programme,
the medium-term strategic framework, which sets out government goals and
priorities from the NDP over five years.
We have responded to the crisis by introducing the 9-point plan to boost
growth and employment, within the framework of the NDP.
The nine point plan focuses on energy, infrastructure development,
agriculture and agro-processing, mineral beneficiation, a higher impact
Industrial Policy Action Plan, small business development and encouraging
private sector investment amongst others.
In the last year, substantial progress has been made in these areas.
However, faster and more successful outcomes will be achieved when we work
together pursuing common goals as government, business, labour and civil
society.
That is why we are pleased that we are working together more than ever
before, as the various sectors. This is truly a very positive development
for our country.
To further respond to the challenges we face, we have decided on some
short-term interventions, in addition to implementing the nine point plan.
One of these is to reduce policy uncertainty and shore up confidence in the
government's ability to deliver on its promise of boosting growth.
More than that, we need some concrete initiatives which ensure a turn-around
in our economic fortunes.
I am pleased to announce these initiatives.
They include the following:
First, is a joint private and public sector fund for Small Business Support
will be established with roughly 50:50 contributions by the partners. The
focus is to provide "venture" capital-type funding and mentoring to the
target groups, especially black entrepreneurs.
Secondly, to accelerate inclusive growth, we must expand investment.
In this regard, the model we used for renewable Independent Power Producers
offers valuable lessons. As part of scaling up investment we will move with
speed to extend the model to coal and gas as I had announced in the State of
the Nation Address in February.
Third, we have agreed to expand government and private sector co-investment
in infrastructure.
This project seeks to use the Independent Power Producer model for other
infrastructure investments and explore the possibility of private sector
investment in state owned companies.
Fourth, we are exploring appropriate mechanisms of strengthening our
State-owned enterprises so that we reduce the risk they pose to the fiscus
so that they can play a stronger role in driving development.
Fifth, the credit ratings workstream will identify potential areas of
reforms and interventions to avert further credit rating downgrades.
On behalf of government, let me commend business for its efforts and desire
to partner with government in taking the country forward.
We also thank Labour for joining the process with a positive spirit and for
pledging to become active passengers in this wagon that is moving South
Africa forward under a difficult economic climate.
I will be having a special meeting with Labour soon to take discussions
forward.
Today's meeting is yet another major achievement for our country.
The workstreams that were established in February will continue their work
and work out an implementation programme.
South Africa is now beginning to realise how we can work together as Team
South Africa in the interest of our country and people.
We look forward to substantial progress being made within a short space of
time.
We remain optimistic that we will be able to weather the storm, especially
if we continue working together in this manner.
Together, we move South Africa Forward.
I thank you
--
--
You are subscribed. This footer can help you.
Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this
message.
You can visit the group WEB SITE at
http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options,
pages, files and membership.
To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You
don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put
anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this
address (repeat): [email protected] .
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"YCLSA Discussion Forum" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
