BL Premium reports that labour federation Cosatu has criticised the government and the business sector for moving slowly to implement the economic recovery and reconstruction plan and has called for decisive action to address SA’s stubborn socioeconomic challenges.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the plan in October 2020, which hinges on an expanded public employment programme; a R1-trillion infrastructure effort mostly leveraged from the private sector; a pledge to accelerate energy generation; and a raft of structural economic reforms. The SA economy has been battered by the global Covid-19 pandemic, contracting 7% in 2020 and resulting in the loss of more than 1.4-million jobs. Briefing the media on Thursday following Cosatu’s three-day central executive committee (CEC) meeting, general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said the federation was “worried about the slow pace” that the government and business were moving at to implement their commitments under the economic recovery plan. The CEC called on the private sector to stop making excuses and employing delaying tactics “when it comes to local procurement”. The labour federation, said Ntshalintshali, was working to ensure that unions, economic sectors, pension and investment funds all become “active and decisive champions of local procurement”. The stakeholders needed to demonstrate that buying local was about investing in quality, in sustaining local businesses, and in keeping jobs at home, he stated.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive
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