BUSA AND ANC MEET IN JOHANNESBURG TODAY

A top level BUSA delegation met today with the officials of the ANC at Luthuli House in Johannesburg. The ANC delegation was led by President Jacob Zuma accompanied by Chairman, Baleka Mbete, Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe and Deputy Secretary General, Thandi Modise and the BUSA delegation was led by its President Futhi Mtoba, accompanied by Vice Presidents, Brenda Madumise and Michael Spicer, Deputy CEO, Raymond Parsons, Board of Trustees members Junaid Allie and Dean Mogale and Executive Director: Transformation Policy and Operations, Kganki Matabane. It was a frank and intensive nearly 2-hour discussion.

At the outset both the ANC and BUSA agreed on the importance of developing a common vision for South Africa and to identify what key stakeholders could bring to its realisation. Both the New Growth Path and the National Development Plan were important building blocks to the achievement of a shared vision for South Africa and it was agreed that this would be further explored between the two organisations.

The meeting also received an update on the four signed accords which had emerged so far from the New Growth Path on education, skills, local procurement and the green economy. It was agreed that the New Growth Path remained an important instrument to promote employment and growth in the South African economy. The advantages and disadvantages of a youth wage subsidy were also interrogated.

The major focus of the meeting was a discussion around the steps needed to make a success of the planned Presidential Infrastructure Summit in July. It was agreed that large scale infrastructural development now needed to be urgently implemented, not only from an internal economic point of view, but also given the deteriorating global outlook.

To this end it was agreed that business should play a positive role in the planning and crafting of the arrangements for the infrastructural summit to maximise its contribution to growth and employment. There was consensus that the participation of the private sector and cooperation with government was essential to the success of the infrastructural summit and that early steps would be taken to forge such cooperation.

Statement issued by Masego Lehihi, PR and Communications Officer BUSA, May 28 2012

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