Cape Town – One of the business CEOs who engaged in meetings with government said the process helped the private sector “really put South Africa first”, something Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan reiterated on Friday amid the Sars Wars saga.
Following reports of a Hawks letter relating to the alleged South African Revenue Service (Sars) rogue unit, Gordhan said on Friday there is a group of people that are not interested in SA's economic stability.
“It seems they are interested in disrupting institutions and destroying reputations,” he said, two days after delivering his crucial budget to Parliament.
“In the current climate of uncertainty in the global and domestic economy, it is necessary that we strengthen business and investor confidence so that the poor do not suffer as a result of our failure to act coherently in matters of national interest, as business, labour and government.”
This echoes what MMI CEO Nicolaas Kruger told Fin24 immediately after Gordhan’s Budget Speech on Wednesday. “We really put South Africa first,” he said, referring to the united effort business and government engaged on after the firing of Nhlanhla Nene in December 2015.
Indeed, South African business leaders will look back at January as a shift in the sand in their relationship with government, with their combined effort to find a solution to the country’s economic troubles.
Kruger, who heads up the group that owns Momentum and Metropolitan, told Fin24 that the CEOs used their own company resources to contribute towards tackling South Africa's economic woes.
READ Q&A WITH ALEC HOGG AND KRUGER: Pravin making difference, thawing business/govt ice floe
Kruger told Fin24 he was encouraged by the dialogue he had with government. “There’s been a major step up in the relationship and the discussions between business and government.”
He said the meetings before, during and after the World Economic Forum in Davos were productive, as were the small working groups that have since been formed.
“Certainly, we have to go beyond talking and now to the implementation phase,” he said. “That’s the critical thing.”
Kruger said he had taken part in a variety of discussions with government and other CEOs. “There’s willingness to contribute at all levels,” he said, adding that companies are making their company resources available.
“We really put South Africa first and we really need to avoid a downgrade at all costs,” he said. “We almost needed a crisis to really pull everyone together and to mobilise our resources.”
While President Jacob Zuma and Gordhan came together to welcome input from business leaders, news that their relationship is shaky could jeopardise the entire process to keep South Africa from being downgraded by rating agencies.
The infighting between the ANC and Sars as Gordhan squares off with Sars commissioner Tom Moyane “threatens to hand us a downgrading quicker then we think”, according to Umkhulu Consulting’s Adam Phillips on Monday.
“A third strike could spell disaster for us all,” Phillips said.
WATCH: MMI CEO Nicolaas Kruger speaks about government partnering business as well as the new retirement laws
LISTEN: Interview with Alec Hogg and Kruger