SA will be attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, in a much stronger position than previous years because business, labour and government are now pulling in one direction, President Cyril Ramaphosa said this week.
Ramaphosa, pursuing his five-year $100bn investment target, will lead a delegation comprising government ministers and more than 30 business and civil society representatives.
The president told a pre-WEF briefing on Wednesday that the investment summit held last year would be repeated this year and become an annual event.
"We are competing with other emerging markets and we want SA to be well positioned," Ramaphosa said, adding that SA was recognised and accepted at Davos as being a serious player.
Relationships between business, the government, labour and communities that had been strained under the Jacob Zuma administration were "going extremely well and we are able to openly and honestly touch on a number of important issues", he said.
Stephen Koseff, former Investec CEO and a member of the CEO Initiative launched in 2016 to, among other things, help the country avert a ratings downgrade, said at the briefing that SA was in a much better position than it had been for a long time. "We have to keep the momentum going."
Companies and organisations in the WEF delegation include The Clothing Bank - a women's empowerment enterprise - BroadReach Healthcare, the Motsepe Foundation, Absa, MTN, Telkom, Mitsubishi, Sasol, Transnet and African Rainbow Minerals.
Also attending are finance minister Tito Mboweni, trade & industry minister Rob Davies, energy minister Jeff Radebe, communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, and public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan.
Team SA's theme is "Mobilising public-private collaboration for inclusive growth and development, with particular focus on increasing investment".
The WEF gathering, which opens on Tuesday and runs till Friday, is themed: "Globalisation 4.0: Shaping a global architecture in the age of the fourth industrial revolution."
Ramaphosa said that this year SA was heading to Davos amid difficult global and domestic economic conditions.
Eskom was still a major challenge though there was a "glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel". A task team was working "feverishly" with the power utility's management to find solutions to its financial problems.
Other messages SA is taking to Davos are that governance at state-owned entities (SOEs) is being strengthened and the legacy of state capture is being dealt with. Key reforms are under way such as the revision of the Mining Charter and the release of the integrated resource plan for public comment.
Ramaphosa said potential investors would be assured that the land reform process was being undertaken in a transparent manner in line with the constitution and the rule of law.
The Reserve Bank's independence would be upheld despite discussions about nationalising it.
The delegation would stress SA's status as one of the "hot emerging-market economies" with a growing middle class, affluent consumer base and "excellent returns on investment", and that it is the most diversified economy in Africa, a regional principal manufacturing hub, and an investment destination for the services sector.
Delegation members will highlight SA's advanced financial services and banking sector, its air and sea connections, its logistics network, its young, trainable workforce, the favourable cost of living, the hospitality sector, and the country's diversified culture.
"My take is that we are going to Davos on a firm footing . We do have a fairly positive message. We've been building and stabilising the platform," said Ramaphosa, who will, ahead of the WEF, join the International Labour Organisation centenary celebrations.
He co-chaired the ILO's Global Commission on the Future of Work with Stefan Lofven, Sweden's prime minister. After the WEF he will embark on a state visit to India.
SA could benefit from the current improved sentiment towards emerging markets, said Isaac Matshego, a senior Nedbank economist.
The emerging-market outlook was "very dim" last year but had improved thanks to hopes for a resolution of the US-China trade war. However, economic indicators in leading emerging markets remained weak.
Matshego said SA's institutions were strong and progress had been made in stabilising SOEs. "But we still don't know the full extent of the financial troubles in the key SOEs like Eskom and SAA," he cautioned.
"The budget on February 20 should give more light. At least until after the budget we are going to be very cautious regarding prospects for the economy because government finances are going to be key this year."..