Two business formations have slammed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national dialogue as offering no solutions to the challenges faced by the country — but others have vowed to give the talks a chance.
Piet Le Roux, CEO of Sakeliga, described the national dialogue as little more than a political ploy by Ramaphosa ahead of what is expected to be a brutal local government election next year.
The so-called national dialogue is performative politics. It is not a serious attempt at solving the deep, structural problems in South Africa that lie at the heart of the order itself. There is no chance that the format, objectives, and resolutions of this government-run free-for-all public engagement circuit can produce any focused action on the fundamental problems.
— Piet Le Roux, CEO of Sakeliga
“The so-called national dialogue is performative politics. It is not a serious attempt at solving the deep, structural problems in South Africa that lie at the heart of the order itself. There is no chance that the format, objectives, and resolutions of this government-run free-for-all public engagement circuit can produce any focused action on the fundamental problems,” he said.
Le Roux said he understood why organisations and political parties decided against participating.
“It is perfectly understandable that most have declined to participate in what would amount to a waste of time and resources. By not entertaining the national dialogue’s performative politics, non-participating organisations are accelerating the timeline toward real and constructive [solution]."
The dialogue’s precursor, the national convention, kicked off last Friday inside the ZK Matthews Hall of the University of South Africa, and was attended by more than 1,000 delegates from 200 organisations.
In his opening address, Ramaphosa urged South Africans to support the initiative. “The national dialogue is a call to action. It is a call to all South Africans to seize this moment for change and progress, and this we cannot do when we are sitting on the sidelines; this we cannot do when we do not want to be part of this conversation, and when we sit on the sidelines and just criticise. We need to be inside the tent rather than outside.”
He said the national dialogue was critical, as it would “produce a clear vision for the country, and adopt a social compact that outlines the roles and responsibilities of all sections… from business, labour… to civil society”.
There’s pressure on the government to deliver as economic growth is projected to average just 1.8% in the medium-term, unemployment is at 33.2%, and global economic headwinds threaten to worsen the country’s economic rut.
Gerhardus Papenfus, CEO of the National Employers Association of South Africa (Neasa), was even more scathing, however, saying he gave the forum “zero chance” of success. “The solution to our country is actually very simple. We know what needs to be done. You don’t need a national dialogue to determine what needs to be done. They must stop corruption. They must stop stealing. They must let those equipped to do the job do the job.
“I give this zero chance of success. This is not the way to do it. We have a national convention, it’s called parliament. That is supposed to be where this gets done. Even parliament is too big. The stuff is worked out in portfolio committees. That is where this is discussed.”
Papenfus said civil society and the business community were “waking up”, and “will get rid of the current government”.
Formations that support the national dialogue cautioned that South Africa was running out of options to turn its economic fortunes around.
Kganki Matabane, CEO of the Black Business Council (BBC), told Business Times the council would give the process a chance, as South Africa has serious problems and challenges that need to be addressed urgently.
“We have an unemployment [rate] of almost 50%, meaning that half of the people who should be working are unemployed. The economy is not growing, and economic transformation is not happening. So far, 31 years into democracy, there seems to be no solutions to our challenges. Perhaps the dialogue may come with solutions. The convention was the start of a year-long process, and we will monitor the progress and see how it goes.”
Matabane said Ramaphosa has tried to be the “bigger person” and persuade all South Africans to rally behind the dialogue. However, solving the country’s problems would not be easy, and the frustration of institutions that have boycotted the dialogue is “not misplaced”.
“There is a genuine trust deficit between government and society due to unmet promises and serious corruption. The dialogue has no choice but to debate the frustratingly low and non-existent economic growth and come up with proposals that must be implemented by the government.”
He said the BBC, as a confederation and parent body of black business in South Africa, will participate to ensure black business interests and aspirations are aligned and represented.
Matthew Parks, Cosatu’s parliamentary co-ordinator, said the labour federation would participate in the dialogue to resolve the “many deep-seated socio-economic challenges” in South Africa.
“We will sharply raise the many crises affecting workers — from a dangerously high unemployment rate… and stubborn levels of poverty, crime and corruption, to stagnant economic growth, and struggling public and municipal services,” he said.
He said the “business as usual” approach of “neoliberalism and reckless austerity budget cuts” will not resolve the country’s challenges, and that Cosatu looked forward to holding government and business accountable for their part in implementing proposed action plans.
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