Publications
Partners
Bloemfontein - The government's partnership with labour, the private sector and civil society is crucial in solving South Africa's problems, Deputy Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said on Monday.
The government's relationship with the other three had to change for the country to move forward, he told reporters in Mangaung.
“We welcome all concerns from all sides. We need to begin by identifying the problem… and then say what is it that each partner brings to solve the problem?
“What we have to admit is to have an on-going relationship rather than trying to build this relationship when there is a crisis.”
Nene said the Marikana shooting was an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the government, organised business, labour, and civil society.
“We should take advantage of such opportunities than wait when we have a crisis.
“We need to acknowledge our failures and come in as players who want to resolve the problems.”
The government's infrastructure rollout programme, which entailed spending R884bn in the next three years, was another opportunity for the private sector to forge partnerships with the government.
“The problem is not lack of funds. It's about a good project. We deploy resources where we have a plan…where we know that those funds will deliver an impact on our people.”
The government was considering various options to fund its multi-billion-rand infrastructure projects.
On the bailing out of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), Nene said there were conditions attached to the funding of government-owned companies. He said a study had recently been completed which looked at the entire environment in which SOEs operated, and their profitability.
“We are not going to stop putting conditions whenever public resources are deployed in order to rescue any institution that requires government assistance.”
On the government's ever increasing wage bill he said: “What goes into the wage bill should also be measured against the productivity that the public sector brings on the table.
“You can spend as much as possible as long as the outcomes are commensurate to what we put into it,” Nene said.
