Address by President Jacob Zuma to the SA Chambers of Commerce and Industry Annual Gala Dinner, Gallagher Estate, Midrand

The President of the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr CliveManci,

Captains of Commerce and Industry,

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

Good evening!

Let me begin by thanking you for invitationto attend and address this annual convention again.

The convention comes as the country preparesto celebrate our 20th anniversary since the start of democracy.

Looking back now, we are proud of what wehave since achieved as a nation.

Not only did we resolve one of the seeminglyintractable political conflicts, we have also laid the foundation for aprosperous, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist society.

While there are many challenges that we stillneed to resolve, we have achieved much in the past 20 years.

We have created a stable political systemfounded on constitutionally protected rights and a multiparty democracy.

It is this environment that has enabledbusiness to thrive and venture out into new markets within the domesticeconomy, Africa and the rest of the world.

We have expanded trade relations with manymore countries, including BRICS members China, Brazil, India and Russia and nowtrade very substantially with the rest of the continent. 

We have finalised the National DevelopmentPlan as the socio-economic blueprint for the country.

We have already begun to implement the Planthrough the strategies of the New Growth Path, the national infrastructure planand the Industrial Policy Action Plan aimed at promoting inclusive economicgrowth and development.

As youwould be aware, we have decided to intensively promote six sectors for growthand to boost jobs.

 

Theseare;

 

·Infrastructuredevelopment,

·Agriculture,

·Miningand beneficiation,

·Manufacturing,

·Thegreen economy and

·Tourism. 

 

We arepleased with the results in most and in particular the national infrastructurecoordination programme, announced in last year’s State of the Nation Address.

We decidedto coordinate infrastructure in the Presidency under the PresidentialInfrastructure Coordinating Commission.

 

Already,a number of roads, dams, schools and hospitals have been completed while theroad, rail and ports projects continue as well.

 

Peoplewill begin to see and feel the benefits of the investment and focus.

 

Two weeksago, we re-opened Grootvlei power station in Mpumalanga. On Tuesday I openedthe R81 road from Polokwane to Giyani while the R71 from Polokwane to Tzaneenis also almost ready.

Theseimproved roads will reduce accidents; boost the transportation of people andgoods and also tourism towards Kruger National Park.

 

The Departmentof Basic Education has opened 16 brand new schools in the past few weeks in theEastern Cape, built as part of the government programme of eradicating mudschools.

Lastweekend I opened a top of the range school in Mbizana in the Eastern Cape,which was built by Anglo American Platinum.

 

We arehappy that the private sector is coming to the party and investing incommunities where they draw labour.

 

SouthAfrica is certainly changing for the better. 

Butchallenges remain, for example, unemployment.

 

You willrecall that we announced in the February State of the Nation Address the plansto invest in youth employment and employment generally through employmentincentives.

 

We havepublisheda Draft Employment Tax Incentive Bill which is aimed at encouraging employersto give opportunities to workers of all ages in the Special Economic Zones(SEZs) as well as young first-time job seekers outside the SEZs.

We hopethat the bill will generate a lot of constructive debate aimed at findingsolutions.

 

Compatriotsand friends

 

As we areall aware, the South African economy has faced some strong headwinds in recent times.

 

Whilethis is related to the global economic climate, there are also domesticchallenges.

 

Ourcountry has a progressive labour relations framework enshrined in both theConstitution and labour laws.

Ourmessage to employers and labour is that with the advantage of such a legalframework, they should conclude labour negotiations and disputes speedily.

 

We urgethose sectors with disputes that have not yet been resolved to attend to themspeedily so that the economy can return to full production.

 

Over thepast nine months, government has intervened in the mining sector in particularto stabilise the situation.

We have workedclosely with business and labour to ensure a more rapid and peaceful resolutionof labour disputes, while at the same time improving the operational and policyenvironment in the sector.  We appreciate the cooperation of business andlabour in the mining intervention programme.

 

Compatriots,

Among our achievements of the past 20 yearsis that South Africa plays a positive role in the continent. This country isalso a favourable destination for foreign investments, imports and technicalknow-how.

We are pleased therefore, that you are focusing on Africa in this year’sconvention.

Africa is a major growth frontier. Alsoimportant is the fact that Africans are actively beginning to do businessamongst themselves, in addition to trading with other parts of the world.

A case in point is that South Africa was the single largest investor inthe rest of Africa in 2012. We are playing our part.

The presence of South African companies in many capitals in thecontinent demonstrates that as government we are achieving our goal of openingup the continent to South African business.

We will continueto create an enabling environment for South African companies to trade betterwithin the continent.

 

Oneaspect is the relaxation of cross-border financial regulations and taxrequirements, making it easier for banks and other financial institutions toinvest and operate in African countries.

 

Similarmeasures will also apply to foreign companies wanting to invest in Africacountries using South Africa as their regional headquarters.

 

Over thelast few years, the South African Reserve Bank approved nearly 1000 largeinvestments into 36 African countries. These mutually beneficial investmentsgenerate tax revenue, dividends and jobs between countries.

 

We alsosupport the participation of our state owned companies and development financeinstitutions.

 

TheDevelopment Bank of Southern Africa is intensifying investment into the SADCregion by supporting infrastructure projects, particularly in key areas ofelectricity supply and improving road infrastructure in the region.

 

TheIndustrial Development Corporation is also involved in several projects across17 African countries.

 

The bulkof these investments are mining, industrial infrastructure, agro-processing andtourism.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

We have noticed that the concentration of the country’s trade with thecontinent is primarily in SADC. For example, 87% of South Africa’s exports aredestined for the SADC market, most probably due to geographical proximity.

Only 6% are destined for West Africa, 5% to East Africa and only 2% toboth Central and North Africa. This indicates the difficulties relating toinfrastructure in the continent.

To visit one African country you may need to first go to Europe.This then tempts manyof your members to avoid going beyond SADC.

The African Union has taken the decision already that wesimply need to build infrastructure networks to be able to move people, goodsand services.

We have adopted theProgramme for Infrastructure Development in Africa and the PresidentialInfrastructure Championing Initiative. The implementation of many projects isongoing. 

 

South Africa championsthe North-South Corridor, road and rail, from Durban to Dar es Salaam andultimately Cape to Cairo, as part of the Presidential InfrastructureChampioning Initiative.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Compatriots,

The important thing to remember is that ourcountry has achieved a lot in the past 20 years.

South Africa is a much better place now thanit was before 1994, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Difficultiesthat arise at times can be exaggerated to make us forget what we have achievedand what we are also still going to achieve.

We should continueworking together to build the economy and the country. This cannot be theresponsibility of government alone.

Let me once again express our appreciation for your decision to focus onthe African continent.

We urge you to continue flying the South African flag on the Africancontinent.

We also remain ready to work with business to achieve our collectivevision of a growing and prosperous South Africa, as expressed in the NationalDevelopment Plan.

Working together, let us continue to do more.

 

I thank you.