In April, the president met with chief executives from key exporting economic sectors such as mining and minerals, agriculture and the automotive and freight industry representatives, he said.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss challenges facing the country, such as logistics systems, including the declining performance of the freight rail network.
Before that meeting, Ramaphosa had met with the Transnet board and executive management, where he directed Transnet to swiftly implement reforms and turn around the crisis in the country’s logistics systems. Ramaphosa then met business leaders in the steel and engineering industries to discuss measures that government, the industry and other social partners would take together to grow the sector and ensure its future sustainability, said Magwenya.
Before the recently held investment conference, the president met with CEOs including the representatives of Business Unity SA and Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA). “The engagement was constructive and touched on major issues affecting our country’s economy,” he said.
At that meeting they agreed to establish three work streams, mainly on energy, crime, corruption and logistics.
“That on its own should show us that we have a positive working relationship between government and business, albeit under very difficult circumstances that are facing the country and the economy.
“It is rather unfortunate that when people express, as they should, concerns, frustrations and unhappiness, that gets to be translated into a breakdown of relationship between those constituencies and the president. That is not the case,” said Magwenya.
He said Ramaphosa will this week meet relevant ministers to finalise the process of establishing the work streams as well as hosting follow-up meetings with business leaders.
“In all of the engagements that President Ramaphosa has held with business leaders, he has been ‘quite open and frank’ about the challenges facing businesses and the economy at large.
“The president has been encouraged by the constructive nature of the engagements, which had sought to form a closer working relationship between government, business and other social partners.”
He said wherein criticism has been levelled at government and at Ramaphosa, the president accepted that criticism as constructive.
Bloomberg reported last week that Ramaphosa had lost the confidence of the business constituency. The publication cited economic stagnation spawned by power outages, rampant crime, disintegrating infrastructure and foreign policy missteps as leading investors to the exits, with the rand fast approaching a record low of R20 a dollar.
Bloomberg quoted Investec CEO Fani Titi saying: “We are going nowhere fast. The government is disorganised. Totally disorganised.”
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Ramaphosa maintains a very constructive relationship with business: Presidency
Image: GCIS
The Presidency has rejected reports that the business sector has lost confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says Ramaphosa maintains “a very constructive” working relationship with business. “We have seen the reports citing some sort of breakdown between the president and business. That is far from the truth,” he said on Monday.
Magwenya said the issue was that one or two business leaders have publicly expressed their frustrations with respect to issues affecting the economy and challenges facing the country, which Ramaphosa accepts and which are broadly accepted.
“However, that expression of frustration does not signal a breakdown in the working relationship between government and business.
“That expression of unhappiness by business leaders, which by the way is not unique to business, it’s unhappiness that is shared commonly among many South Africans and does not in a way talk to the absence of engagement between the president, the government as well as business.”
Magwenya cited a number of meetings that Ramaphosa has held with representatives of the sector and their joint efforts to address relevant problems.
Can we afford another five years of Ramaphosa?
In April, the president met with chief executives from key exporting economic sectors such as mining and minerals, agriculture and the automotive and freight industry representatives, he said.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss challenges facing the country, such as logistics systems, including the declining performance of the freight rail network.
Before that meeting, Ramaphosa had met with the Transnet board and executive management, where he directed Transnet to swiftly implement reforms and turn around the crisis in the country’s logistics systems. Ramaphosa then met business leaders in the steel and engineering industries to discuss measures that government, the industry and other social partners would take together to grow the sector and ensure its future sustainability, said Magwenya.
Before the recently held investment conference, the president met with CEOs including the representatives of Business Unity SA and Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA). “The engagement was constructive and touched on major issues affecting our country’s economy,” he said.
At that meeting they agreed to establish three work streams, mainly on energy, crime, corruption and logistics.
“That on its own should show us that we have a positive working relationship between government and business, albeit under very difficult circumstances that are facing the country and the economy.
“It is rather unfortunate that when people express, as they should, concerns, frustrations and unhappiness, that gets to be translated into a breakdown of relationship between those constituencies and the president. That is not the case,” said Magwenya.
He said Ramaphosa will this week meet relevant ministers to finalise the process of establishing the work streams as well as hosting follow-up meetings with business leaders.
“In all of the engagements that President Ramaphosa has held with business leaders, he has been ‘quite open and frank’ about the challenges facing businesses and the economy at large.
“The president has been encouraged by the constructive nature of the engagements, which had sought to form a closer working relationship between government, business and other social partners.”
He said wherein criticism has been levelled at government and at Ramaphosa, the president accepted that criticism as constructive.
Bloomberg reported last week that Ramaphosa had lost the confidence of the business constituency. The publication cited economic stagnation spawned by power outages, rampant crime, disintegrating infrastructure and foreign policy missteps as leading investors to the exits, with the rand fast approaching a record low of R20 a dollar.
Bloomberg quoted Investec CEO Fani Titi saying: “We are going nowhere fast. The government is disorganised. Totally disorganised.”
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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