Fin24 reports that while President Cyril Ramaphosa said at the start of his State of the National Address (Sona) on Thursday that the present was the time for implementation, no real implementation plans followed in the rest of the speech.
"Instead, the Sona is a restatement of the myriad challenges SA faces and a broad sweep of what we need to do. We now urge the president to engage with business to put on the table hard plans with clear implementation timeframes and milestones," Sipho Pityana, president of Business Unity SA (Busa), commented on Friday. He welcomed the president's commitment to a social compact in the national interest and said they stood ready to work with him, “but within a context of taking hard decisions and unequivocal messages that build investor confidence." The SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) also said it wanted an understanding of the actual execution plans. Jabu Mabuza, co-convenor of the CEO Initiative, agreed that it was vital for government to take firm and practical action to address SA's most pressing issues. Like Busa, the CEO Initiative said it remained committed to working with government and labour "to urgently address the hurdles that stand in the way of SA achieving sustainable and inclusive growth that benefits all who live in this country".
- Read the full original of Carin Smith’s report in the above regard at Fin24
- Read too, We need detail, and we need it soon, business says in Sona response, at Mining Weekly
- Read Busa’s press statement on Sona at Busa News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page