The cogent talk by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on rooting out corruption and dealing with state capture forms part of the strong message that South Africa will be taking to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos next week.
This is according to Brand SA CEO Dr Kingsley Makhubela, who said in an interview this week that the message Ramaphosa -- also now the president of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) -- will be taking to Switzerland would address all the issues that led to the country's recent economic downgrades.
These include "the question of political uncertainty, problems at state-owned enterprises, questions around fiscal discipline", and "issues of corruption".
"These are all strong issues that came through from the international ratings agencies," said Makhubela, the head of Brand SA, whose main objective is the marketing of South Africa.
Speaking at a pre-WEF breakfast in Johannesburg on Thursday, Ramaphosa, who will once again lead South Africa's delegation to Davos, said that the country was on a new positive trajectory in rooting out corruption and dealing with state capture.
Ramaphosa said the message that South Africa would be taking to Davos was that "we are taking action against corruption and we are deadly serious about it".
Credit ratings agencies late last year downgraded South Africa’s credit rating to junk status or placed it on review pending key events including the ANC's elective conference in December and the Budget speech in February.
Ramaphosa's election as ANC leader, narrowly defeating Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and setting the stage for him to become the next president of South Africa, however, saw local currency the rand strengthen sharply against the US dollar, gains which it has managed to maintain into the new year.
Makhubela said there was a stong commitment from the side of government to fiscal discipline, to only be "willing to spend within the limitations we have as a state and to not spend money we don't have".
"There is no question around the political stability of our country," he said.
"We are not an unstable country."
The run-up to the ANC elective conference had seen severe contestation, with factional battles and a number of regional party election outcomes being referred to court.
But Makhubela said this should not be mistaken for political uncertainty as there is political uncertainty and contestation in all political parties.
"You can't have elections with pre-determined outcomes, it is part of democracy."
He added that with the new ANC leadership elected there was no certainty on that front and that there needed to be a focus on the implementation of policies which are already in place.
"There is stability of the state and political system as a country, there are predictable policies and we are taking those messages to Davos."
- African News Agency (ANA)
