Black Business Council CEO Kganki Matabane says 30 years into the country’s democracy, it’s a significant time for there to be what it calls an ‘economic reset’ on the part of the ANC.
Matabane was referring to the economic disparities that still prevail in the country along racial lines.
Matabane added that the governing party needs to be honest about its failures in this regard and do things differently.
Matabane says institutions like the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) need to invest in more unlisted companies and also invest in up-and-coming black businesses.
He says there needs to be the professionalisation of the public service to avoid black professionals being compromised by dodgy political principals.
“When you look at the ownership of the economy and in the running of the economy, you’ll know the employment equity commission releases a report every year, almost 70% of the CEOs of the JSE listed companies are white males. This is 30 years into democracy. When you look at ownership of the economy, black people still own less than 5% of the economy; I don’t even want to talk about the ownership of the land and everything else.”
Meanwhile, the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) president, Bheke Stofile, says he expects President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the growth in municipal population.
According to the recent census by Statistics South Africa, the country’s population is at 62-million.
Stofile says municipalities are buckling under pressure and struggle with service delivery.
“It then tells us that there will be a significant pressure of these municipalities in terms of infrastructure and service delivery generally. And how do we link that with the government as a whole in responding to challenges that communities are facing and working together with local government.”
