Africa-Press – South-Africa. Giving an update on plans to deal with the many crises affecting the country, from rolling power outages to crime, logistics, and corruption, President Cyril Ramaphosa told his charges that he wanted to see them move with “speed”.
He met with his Cabinet on Tuesday night to discuss a report on the collaboration between the government and Business for South Africa (B4SA), which was borne out of concern for the economy, according to his spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya.
The aim of the initiative is to restore investors’ and public confidence “through critical challenges” to address the energy, logistics, crime and corruption crises.
As part of the collaboration, businesses have seconded technical experts to help the government in crises, including load shedding.
He added:
Magwenya issued a joint statement from the Presidency and B4SA on the areas of collaboration.
B4SA steering committee chairperson Martin Kingston said they would meet with directors-general and ministers every six weeks.
He described the last meeting as “extremely productive” in tackling the many crises related to energy, logistics, crime and corruption.
Kingston added:
He promised that business would not compromise the integrity or authority of the government, but that it would bring skills and expertise on board.
Kingston undertook to give regular reports to B4SA’s constituency as well as the country on the progress made in the short term.
Presidency project management office head, Rudi Dicks, stressed that B4SA would not trample on the government’s decisions or authority.
“Business colleagues have come with a genuine offer of wanting to support and collaborate where there are shortages of skills and expertise – and that’s where the major focus has been,” he said.
He added that they were trying to identify weaknesses in the system.
He said businesses had helped with technical expertise at Eskom and provided input on how to help improve the diesel burn rate from 17% to 26% at the Cape Town-based Ankerlig power station.
“We need to move with speed and I think this is what the president reflected. He wants us to see us move much faster and with greater speed to try and resolve some of these issues going forward,” Dicks said.
Meanwhile, Magwenya said Ramaphosa took a swipe at the DA for taking the Presidency to court over the Lady R report on the Russian ship that docked in Simon’s Town.
The DA took exception to the appointment of retired Gauteng Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo.
But the president said the court action was “politically motivated” and said the appointment would stand up to scrutiny.
Ramaphosa will meet with the prime minister of Lesotho, Ntsokoane Matekane, for the inaugural session of the South Africa–Lesotho bi-national commission, at the Union Buildings. on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the president sent his commiserations to the Mandela family after the death of Zoleka Mandela, as well as sympathies to those who were affected by the Western Cape floods.
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