(4 minutes read)
· SA’s business lobby urges the government to fast track recovery plans
· The first phase of the government’s recovery program should have quick wins, which can boost investor confidence, says Business Unity South Africa (Busa) CEO Cas Coovadia
SA’s business lobby urges the government to fast track recovery plans
The first phase of the government’s recovery program should have quick wins, which can boost investor confidence, says Business Unity South Africa (Busa) CEO Cas Coovadia. Covid-19, he said, has taken a heavy toll on the economy and the recovery phase can gain momentum only when the government along with the private sector works in tandem to keep the Covid-19 blues away. The fallout of the crisis, he said, was very high.
Happily, there is a consensus among the state, civil society and organized business and labor about the recovery action plan as
arrived at the National Economic Development and Labor Council (Nedlac). The goal of these efforts should be to up the investor
confidence by pushing through ‘shovel ready projects, which will have a noticeable economic impact in the short run.
The Chamber has presented the plan to President Cyril Ramaphosa but is yet to be made public.
Coovadia says the negotiations for rolling out the revamp plan saw the participation of at least four ministers, the top leadership of Busa and the secretary generals of National Council of Trade Unions, the Federation of Unions of SA and the Congress of South African Trade Unions. He hoped very soon the government might come out with a roll out plan that, apart from kick starting the economy, create employment and income to the people. He also said that at crisis time, all partners in progress should come around and should decide to implement things that are important from the national perspective, burying differences.
Coovadia says that the document has been touted as an economic plan, but what it actually is, is a series of short-term implementables that the government can implement almost immediately, not requiring any new legislation or policies and largely just needs the government to implement programs. Even prior to the Covid-19 crisis SA’s economy was languishing and had gone into recession and unemployment , which was stuck at about 30%.
