Lobby group Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) on Tuesday urged the ruling ANC party’s new leadership led by Cyril Ramaphosa to urgently tackle inequality, unemployment and poverty bedevilling the country.
Ramaphosa, South Africa’s deputy president, was on Monday elected leader of the African National Congress, meaning he’ll likely succeed Jacob Zuma as the country’s head after the 2019 elections, given that the former liberation movement has held onto power since 1994.
In a statement, BLSA said the new ANC top leadership could only tackle the country’s economic woes by growing an inclusive economy which created jobs.
‘For this to happen, we require regulatory certainty and policy stability that will accelerate and deepen transformation,” it said.
Critics say the ANC has done little to address the economic inequalities created by South Africa’s apartheid past which favoured minority whites. Beneficiaries of its black economic empowerment programme have largely been the members of the ruling elite, the critics say.
“More than ever, we need focused, ethical and moral leadership from the ruling party, government and business, working in partnership,” BLSA said on Tuesday.
“Rooting out corruption and defeating state capture in both the private and public sectors remains a priority.
CEO Bonang Mohale said the government, business and civil society must work hard together to fundamentally change South Africa “from a land in which the majority still live with little hope to one in which they can now live and work with dignity, with a renewed sense of self-esteem and confidence in the future.”
“Our call is a simple one: we cannot shatter the hopes of millions of South Africans.,” he said.
African News Agency (ANA)
