The government must build trust through public & private collaboration | Blog

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There have been strides made by the government in collaborating with businesses. On 07 June 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa and members of his cabinet convened to discuss and address South Africa's economic outlook. One of the key resolutions reached during this meeting was the agreement between business leaders and the government to collaborate in providing the necessary skills and financial resources to tackle the challenges that are undermining the economy. This collaboration aims to unlock South Africa's potential for growth.¹

Currently South Africa is faced with a myriad of challenges, including issues such as load shedding, as well as social instability that is caused by high levels of unemployment, inequality, and poverty. The World Bank has recently reported that South Africa has a high level of inequality among the Southern Africa Customs Union countries.²

Both the business community and the government need to intentionally build a united front to address the prevalence of inequality, as this threatens the fabric of our social cohesion. Without addressing these issues, businesses will always be exposed to threats from communities, as we witnessed during the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July 2021, which resulted in the looting and violation of many businesses.

Therefore, there is a need for a proactive approach by businesses, the government, and society to work hand in hand in tackling inequality and creating a sustainable business environment that fosters the growth of our country.

In order to build a sustainable society, the government needs to face the hard truth of collaborating with the business community to craft policies that can effectively resolve the country's challenges. There is a perception that businesses are not concerned about the social ills of our society, but that is not true. For businesses to optimise their functionality, they need the support of society and the government. Society serves as the customer to businesses, while the government acts as a regulator. Without proper integration of society and government, any business is bound to fail.

However, the government needs to be extremely careful in understanding its role in society. Sometimes, the government must allow the private sector to play a role, especially in infrastructure development and addressing issues like load shedding. We have witnessed the strides made by businesses, society, and the government during the COVID-19 pandemic when they worked together to ensure that our society thrived during the difficult times of lockdown. Busi Mavuso, Executive Director of the Business Leadership South Africa, has repeatedly emphasised the need for government to provide intentional leadership and trust in society, allowing businesses to contribute more by opening up additional areas of network industries.

The government must work together with businesses to build a post-Covid pandemic economic recovery and take South Africa out of greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force. This has led to currency devaluation, increased inflation, and foreign direct investment and development being subjected to high levels of conditions.

Therefore, the government has numerous tasks in building trust within society. This will make it easier for the private sector or businesses to invest in capacitating the state and improve the livelihoods of South Africans.

Both the government and business share aspirations and a desire to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and this can only be achieved through private-public collaboration. The centre of SDG goals is to address the prevalence of poverty, unemployment, inequality and building society central to sustainability. The private-public collaboration model allows businesses to play a role in society by collaborating with the government to meet the SDG targets.