Johannesburg - New Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has said government is willing to debate economic policies like inflation targeting.
"Some role-players in South Africa like Cosatu have raised that question," said Gordhan in an interview on SAFM on Tuesday.
"My approach there - and this again [is] within the framework of the spirit the president [Jacob Zuma] is creating - is that we want to engage, we want to talk, we want to debate, we want to discuss and we want to have all role-players."
Gordhan was appointed finance minister on Sunday by President Jacob Zuma.
Zuma has the support of trade unions and the SA Communist Party, both of which want the government to end the SA Reserve Bank's policy of inflation targeting.
Gordhan said economic policies had to react to shifting global developments.
"We can't just develop policy in month one and still expect it to last in month 12.
"We've got to become a lot more responsive to developments around the world.
"As the new economic team settles down, it will take that on as an important part of the challenge."
Gordhan said South Africa managed its borrowing of money well.
"We have to borrow money both within South Africa and outside the country.
"Currently the director-general of the Treasury is overseas to raise money to the tune of a billion dollars in order that we can cover the deficit in South Africa." However, he said the more important thing was: "We are managing our borrowing and we are doing it in a way that we are careful."
Yet, he also said, South Africa needed to look where it got its money from and how it could get better savings "so that we can have our own access to capital than borrow from overseas".
Gordhan said job creation could only be achieved through a "multi-pronged approach" but the process could be accelerated.
"The economics team in the Cabinet will have to put its head together and... work out an energetic and passionate programme which will address both the short-term issues and lay the platform for a more effective way of working in the future."
It was important to create an entrepreneurial spirit amongst young South Africans and red tape restricting this needed to be addressed.
"Red tape is an issue and something which we as government need to tackle a lot more assertively."
Gordhan said he had a zero-tolerance approach to corruption.
"I have no time for corruption and corrupt people.
"South Africa will do itself a great favour in the future if all of us ensure that we do not engage in any kind of corrupt or even mildly corrupt kind of activity," he said.
He warned the tender system required a careful look or even "perhaps an entire revamp".
"Perhaps one of the things that I will do in the next two weeks is to talk to my colleagues at the Treasury and look at a review of the system to close those gaps that allow people to abuse the system.
"Here is notice to the South African public if you think you are going to benefit by bribing officials through the tender system; in a few months time you are going to get a shock coming your way."
Responding to media reports that the new expanded Cabinet would cost the country an additional R1bn, Gordhan said he did not think this was a huge cost.
"R1bn more out of R650bn, I don't think is a serious issue.
"The issue that we need to focus on... is how do we create more effective governance and government..."
- Sapa