Cutting through the red tape - South Africa’s Government of National Unity gets down to business

President Cyril Ramaphosa met on Wednesday with members of Business for South Africa (B4SA) after Cabinet members, senior business leaders and technical experts from the government met on Tuesday to discuss what has been deemed a new era of collaboration for a partnership launched last year to address barriers to growth in South Africa.

Sanusha Naidu, an analyst at the Institute for Global Dialogue, told Daily Maverick that while the Government of National Unity (GNU) had shown strong intent in the programme it outlined with business, it faced challenges, including red tape and the role of labour unions.

“I think it has to be about how it is operationalised by the bureaucracy. This will include cutting the red tape for small businesses,” said Naidu. 

“There is a question of the labour unions and you have seen how the Tripartite Alliance, through how the SA Communist Party has reacted to the GNU and understanding what their role is, is important for the implementation of government.”  

She believes that the two biggest parties in the pact — the ANC and the DA — are mostly aligned when it comes to business and markets. 

“The challenge for the GNU is to find the common ground and I think that is very important for us to focus on. In terms of the ANC and DA, they are the same in terms of how they look at the markets and economy. Ministers have been alluding to public-private partnerships,” she said. 

Read more: After the Bell: The possibilities – and limits – of the government-business partnership

The deputy vice-chancellor of institutional support at the University of Zululand, Sipho Seepe, believes that with the DA as a member, the GNU will inspire business to have more confidence about South Africa’s future. 

“There was an assumption that when Cyril Ramaphosa became President the relationship between government and business would be enhanced because he is from business, but he failed to walk the talk. The DA’s position is going to bring business to government, especially in departments where they have ministers,” he said.  

The DA Federal Policy Unit outlined its key plans for business in South Africa in its report The DA’s Plan to Unleash Enterprise, Grow the Economy and Create Jobs, 2024. 

Its aims include increasing access to funding for entrepreneurs to start or scale up their businesses, developing a comprehensive business starter toolkit and accelerating the roll-out of one-stop shops across the country to reduce the time and cost of opening a business.

‘Model of collaboration’