Clientele chair Gavin Routledge has cautioned that the market optimism that has followed the establishment of the government of national unity (GNU) will not lead to a flurry of jobs overnight, saying much still needs to be done to make a dent in SA’s jobless rate, which ranks among the world’s worst.
Routledge in his letter to shareholders published in the group’s 2024 annual report said there was a long way to travel to make inroads in reducing unemployment.
“There is no doubt there will be bumps and potholes in the road. It will take longer for progress to be made than we would all like. Though there are green shoots in the economy, there has been no load-shedding for an extended period and signs of progress at Transnet. All of these problems will take a long time to be fixed and unemployment will continue at the current, unacceptably high levels for quite some time,” Routledge said.
“Before the elections [the] focus was on the risks inherent in the outcome, from potential violence, economic disaster and further decline in service delivery and the standard of living, to the only envisaged positive outcome of a future coalition between the ANC and the DA that many saw as unlikely but the only outcome that could save SA and place us on the road to economic growth.”
The establishment of the GNU has caused SA equities to rally, with the all share index up 11.78% year to date on financial stocks doing the heavy lifting, up 20% in the period.
The CEO of the JSE, Leila Fourie, last month said new ministers of home affairs and trade, industry & competition had hit the ground running, inspiring confidence in the newly formed GNU.
She particularly made mention of home affairs minister Leon Schreiber and trade, industry & competition minister Parks Tau, crediting him for taking proactive steps to engage in business, including the competitiveness of SA goods on global markets.
Schreiber has moved swiftly to grant temporary extensions to foreigners awaiting the outcome of visa, waiver and appeal applications. He has also moved to relax SA’s rigid visa regime to attract skilled foreign workers.
Routledge said South Africans should be proud of how the country reacted to the election outcome, which caused the liberation movement, the ANC, to lose outright power for the first time since the dawn of democracy in 1994.
“For all that is suboptimal and bad in SA, we can be proud of how the nation responded to the election results. A government of national unity has been formed and a new cabinet has been constituted with some new faces and new energy, which is positive.”
He also reflected on the US election, set to take in place in November, pitting Donald Trump against Kamala Harris.
“The attention of the world has been focused on the upcoming elections in the US as the outcome has such an effect on the world. Much of the world has been transfixed (and horrified) by the prospect of another four years of a Trump presidency.”
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