Publications
Partners
Either that, or it may imperil South Africa's growth and investment targets, analysts said.
The IMF has just released growth prospects, placing South Africa at a projected 3% for the year, while the rest of Africa is slated to grow at a cracking 6.1% in 2014.
Speaking in Davos, where Davies is part of a delegation showcasing SA as an investment destination, he said "we are not unique in having strikes"."The strike is fairly localised at the moment."
He was part of a panel at Davos, along with representatives of other resource rich countries, and said mining often attracted protest, either from unions or the communities in which they are based.
The minister said he and the team had a harder time with the South African investment community than with global investors, who accepted strikes as a factor of modern economies.
"The other important contextual factor is that the mining super-cycle is over. The future lies in beneficiation and industrialisation," he said, though mining remains a major contributor to export earnings.
"One of the noticeable things is that the Africa story has shifted from the margins to the mainstream," Davies said of his experience in Davos. South Africa will benefit, he said.
Investors are particularly interested in South Africa's
one trillion rand infrastructure investment drive, which is kicking out of the
starting blocks. "It is a major and counter-cyclical response (to an
economic downturn)."
Universal challenges
What struck him about the debates and sessions at the World Economic Forum was that South Africa's challenges were quite universal, said Davies.
Both youth unemployment and inequality are high on the Alpine agenda. Given that South Africa is calculated to have the third highest rate of youth unemployment, do we have a plan?
"We have the third highest (youth unemployment) of those who collect appropriate statistics. We need to put in a package of measures. Education and training are huge challenges. We now have the youth employment incentive."
Trade unions have set their face against the incentive - it is a factor clawing the union movement away from the ANC-led government.
Davies is something of a trade Father Christmas at Davos. He is carrying a package of incentives with him, touting to interested investors. His manufacturing investment cluster has approved 580 projects for R5bn with a projected investment of R22.8bn and 87 380 jobs, according to a government document.
Davies said he was particularly impressed with the potential in motor manufacturing, clothing, call-centres (business process outsourcing) and the potential of fish-farming - all industries the dti had supported.
But last year's strikes in the motor manufacturing and component sectors had almost imperiled the industry and deterred new lines. Would the same happen this year where strike season looks to have sustained into the new year?
"We have to reinvent the credibility of the collective bargaining system," said Davies.
