BL Premium reports that government leaders, bureaucrats, planners, economists and civic and union leaders are set to meet for the National Economic Development and Labour Council’s (Nedlac’s) annual national summit on Friday, more than a year after partners failed to hammer out a social compact to address runaway unemployment and slow economic growth dogging SA.

During his state of the nation address in February 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government and its social partners would, within 100 days, hammer out a comprehensive social compact to deal with poor economic growth and unemployment. In March, a chastened Ramaphosa sought to explain why the social compact had not been realised: “We had wanted to have a comprehensive social compact and we had put together a timeline and we were not able to reach that timeline, but what we have seen over time is that we have been able to reach a number of compacts.” The social partners have constantly berated the government, saying it lacked seriousness to see to the cohesion required for strong economic growth. Deputy President Paul Mashatile is expected to deliver the keynote address at Nedlac’s annual national summit. Employment and labour minister Thulas Nxesi, and Cosatu president Zingiswa Losi are also expected to address the gathering at Gallagher Estate in Midrand.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Luyolo Mkentane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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