The Inclusive Society Institute has embarked on an extensive economic research project, which will culminate in a comprehensive ‘Blueprint for rejuvenating South Africa’s economy’. The methodology includes a series of dialogues with various sectoral stakeholders and policymakers.
This dialogue, held on 8 November 2021, aimed at channelling the thoughts of the retail sector into the research.
A range of constraints and opportunities were noted, amongst others:
Business needs to step back from politics but engage on policy
Government operates in silos that place sectoral interest above the bigger picture
Growing lack of trust in government to deliver on commitments and to implement policies
Career civil servants do not understand how business operates and their role in creating an enabling environment
Civil service salary bill is high but coexists with too little skills and often vacancies in critical positions
Energy supply
Dealing with corruption, from both supply and demand
Environmental issues because of country’s big carbon footprint
Rising tax bill
Immigration challenges
Red tape from DTI and SARS is prohibitive
Incapacity of municipalities in small towns to provide services
Impact of insurance costs due to civil unrest
Implementation of BEE
Slow pace of vaccination
A number of proposed solutions were put forward, which included
The need for bold leadership
Visible accountability
Need for incentivisation of good performance
Need to fight crime, corruption, and gender-based violence
Relooking at the insurance industry and SASRIA
Partnerships with government
Bringing back teaching, nursing and artisan training colleges
Change in how governments support small businesses
Proposals will be captured in the report that will emanate from this discussion, and which will be fed into the broader research project.