Organised business reacted positively to the news of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s re-election as party president.
Ramaphosa achieved a resounding victory over his rival, former health minister Zweli Mkhize — the other contender for president of the ruling party. Ramaphosa ran his campaign on the ticket of renewal and unity and was voted in as leader of the ruling party at its 55th national elective conference at Nasrec in Johannesburg.
The rand strengthened more than 2% against the dollar when Ramaphosa’s victory was announced.
Black Business Council CEO Kganki Matabane said while the news was good, he would urge Ramaphosa and his leadership to focus on growing the economy, creating jobs, dealing with crime and reassuring investors.
“We advise President Ramaphosa to be bold and decisive in his approach to rebuild the economy. He must deal with the Eskom crisis as load-shedding is destroying our economy,” he said.
“He needs to be tough on crime and especially the lawlessness of the so-called construction mafia that are hijacking construction companies and also driving investors away and they must be dealt with once and for all.”
He said the BBC will meet the new ANC leadership early in 2023.
“We will be calling for a meeting with the top seven leadership of the party in early January. We are pleased that the party has a 47% female representation in its leadership and the first woman treasurer-general.”
Business Leadership SA (Busa) appealed to the ANC to do everything in its power to assure investors.
Busa’s Stavros Nicolaou said he hoped the single biggest outcome of the conference is that investors are given confidence and policies are implemented.
“Business is looking for a stable leadership to take the country forward and in particular to provide an environment of consistency and predictability,” he said.
“This is an opportunity for the ANC as a ruling party to reset and ensure that there is proper policy and execution and implementation of policy. We keep hearing repeatedly from investors abroad that the movement is not following its own policies. It is creating significant discomfort and a lack of confidence.”
He said a “picture of confidence” was needed to kick-start growth in the economy.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.