Striving to make SA world class

Business and government need to create a relationship of equals

One day two brothers went fishing in a boat. In the middle of the lake their boat hit a rock and water streamed in over the older brother's feet. The younger brother leaned back and laughed.

"What's so funny?" the older brother asked.

"The leak is in your part of the boat," his brother answered.

The recent war between the government and business has mostly missed this crucial point: we are in it together. The question is how should the relationship work to best achieve our common goal of a successful South Africa?

If we sit down and agree on the rules of engagement, it can become quite superficial and the rules themselves can become ammunition in a disagreement.

It should be a relationship between equals, where we can work together and develop trust  in each other. The government needs to understand that business' interests reach deeply into government activities, just as business has to accept the government's role in creating the framework in which it operates.

Robust debate, such as we have seen recently, is good for us. It affirms us as a democratic and vibrant society - one that creates a hothouse for growth and development.

Those who have been watching the missiles fly overhead may be forgiven for thinking that the relationship between the government and business has broken down.

It has not.

Below the radar thousands of men and women from business and the government have their heads down, aimed at really positive results.

While the top-level debate may have missed some points, at ground level a great deal of cooperation and mutual listening is happening. No, everything is not perfect, but I think it is time to take stock of what is being achieved.

As the apex business umbrella organisation, Business Unity SA (Busa) has brought business on board in four key areas that will help to ensure the successful roll-out of the New Growth Plan.

These are basic education, skills development, local procurement and the green economy.

There are real success stories. Companies have committed themselves, with the Setas, to train 30000 new artisans this year, take on 12000 graduates from Further Education and Training (FET) colleges, give further training to 16000 FET lecturers and 5000 internships for technology students. Business has also committed to spending 3-5% of payroll on training, well above the 1% training levy.

Each one of these beneficiaries will create a good spin-off in the economy, with positive results for at least 6-10 people around each person.

Busa's top 84 companies have committed themselves to substantially increasing local procurement and have established the SA Supplier Diversity Council to provide a reliable database of black-owned manufacturers of goods and services. Companies will also empower emerging suppliers with mentorships and training to strengthen local procurement.

As a result of Busa's inputs at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) retired accountants and engineers have been deployed to assist local government on service delivery and help build future capacity.

Business invests resources into issues that affect our international competitiveness, such as roads, freight, ports, customs and energy and as a result has been able to offer solutions to challenges faced by government.

For example, business found practical ways to deal with the country's power supply and avoid load shedding with the introduction of a power-saving initiative with Eskom and the national energy regulator.

A critical area and very successful partnership with the government is international trade.

Busa led a delegation of some 50 companies to the second Brics business forum recently in India and business delegations have visited Russia, UK, Saudi Arabia, US, China and Turkey, resulting in significant trading opportunities for South Africa. Busa has even set up Indian, French and US trade partnerships on behalf of its members.

We are constantly actively engaged with government in a wide range of issues that affect business, from immigration, anti-corruption, women and youth empowerment, to health, climate change and transformation.

Unfortunately, one important area has not been successful. We have not had positive results with the labour law amendment bills currently before parliament.

Although Busa represented businesses' interests at Nedlac, the forum at which the bills could be debated, business' concerns about the negative aspects of the legislation have been ignored.

Busa's basic concern has been to ensure that the labour law amendments should be employment friendly at a time when South Africa's biggest challenge is to reduce unemployment, especially youth unemployment.

It remains important that there should be a meeting of minds between the government and business in addressing these mutual concerns.

Not business, the government or any other stakeholder can solve South Africa's socio-economic challenges by themselves. Unemployment, poverty and inequality need collective action as much as they need individual initiative.

We will continue to row our boat with the government, always checking for leaks irrespective of the side they may be on, while keeping our eyes fixed on the beckoning shore of a successful South Africa.

• Majokweni is CEO of Business Unity SA