Zuma's power lunch - as it happened

At President Jacob Zuma's Business Luncheon with the CEOs and leadership of organised business and labour. Pic: Zukile Daniel, News24

Pic: Zukile Daniel, News24

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has meanwhile joined the Business Investors Luncheon following a prior engagement at the Mining Indaba.

The signing of agreements on labour stability and a national minimum wage, which was due to take place at the Business Investors Luncheon has been postponed until further notice. The postponement follows a request from Cosatu to be given time to provide a full report to its Central Executive Committee.

Cosatu earlier slammed the R20 an hour minimum wage as "ridiculous".

Despite an improved economy outlook, SA is not growing fast enough to reduce challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment, says President Jacob Zuma.

On the other end earlier Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told delegates attending the Mining Indaba:

Government are under increasing pressures to create better economic & social infrastructure. We have responsibility to give skills to youngsters and re-skill people because of technology.

From Jacob Zuma's address to captains of industry:

One of the key issues we discussed the last time was the need to remove obstacles to doing business in our country.  We established the Inter Ministerial Committee on Investment which has been discussing the coordination and alignment of investment policy and regulation including the marketing of South Africa as a preferred investment destination.

A dedicated division in the dti, InvestSA, has been established which will focus on investment promotion, facilitation and aftercare.

The national One Stop Shop service for investors will be launched in March 2017 at the dti Campus in Pretoria and 3 Provincial One Stop Shops will be launched by mid-2017. The One Stop Shops will be the focal point of contact in government for all investors to coordinate and facilitate with the relevant government departments involved in regulatory, registration, permits and licencing.

InvestSA will provide specialist advisory, intergovernmental coordination, fast track unblocking and red tape reduction in Government. 

From President Jacob Zuma's address to captains of industry:

A most important challenge we need to confront head on this year, is the scale of inequality and exclusion in this country. It needs urgent action. After two decades since democracy, the black majority still remains largely outside of the mainstream economy.

Social justice cannot be achieved if we allow the status quo to persist. Economic inclusion since 1994 demonstrated that we can grow the size of the economy. We have though, failed to ensure that the growth is shared. As we begin a new phase of economic recovery we have to make sure we take everyone along.  

We have to rework and sharpen our transformation model and more importantly demonstrate commitment and empathy. We should never rest until the vision for a better life for all is realised, all of us as labour, business, the community sector and government.  

Excerpts of President Jacob Zuma's address to captains of industry:

We meet this year under improved conditions economically. Following a period of low economic growth in the last few years, prospects have improved for the years ahead. 

We expect economic growth of 1.3 per cent in 2017 following an estimated 0.5 per cent in 2016. Improved commodity prices, and stronger global growth should encourage both investment and employment, and provide necessary support for exports.

Agriculture is expected to recover following improved weather conditions, while tourism and the manufacturing sector should be supported by the weaker rand and a recovery in economic activity in the region. We have reason to be optimistic. Despite the improved outlook, we have to acknowledge that we are not growing fast enough to significantly reduce our triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment.

Unemployment currently stands at 27.1%. This is the highest rate since June 2004. Our youth unemployment stands at 44% for 18 to 29 year olds. In South Africa as in the rest of the world, the largest employers of unskilled workers are shrinking in importance. This puts more workers in the job market, being not only unemployed but also largely difficult to employ due to lack of skills.

Low economic growth and pressure on revenue suggest that the public sector can no longer be the main engine of jobs growth. We used to rely on government to absorb the unemployed. The public service is also facing pressure.

The power lunches take place ahead of Zuma's critical State of the Nation Address and at a time of uncertainty, which Fin24 columnist Terry Bell describes as "a time of 'alternative facts' when truth has become nothing more than a factor in verbal spin. This is also a time when the poison of nationalism seeps into every fibre of the social fabric, starting to rot what it cannot calcify."

Media being booted out at Zuma's lunch so that business and labour can ask him any questions they like. Just before this the President said it is critical for SA that we work together as business, government and labour.

Zuma: Working together we can achieve more in developing economy and making it more attractive for foreign & domestic investment.

Zuma: We should never rest until the vision for a better life for all is realised.

Zuma: Largest employers of unskilled workers are shrinking in SA in importance. Puts more workers in market difficult to employ.

Zuma: We meet under improved economic conditions. See GDP growing by 1.3% in 2017.

Zuma: It is prudent that we get together again in this manner. We can only succeed if we work together.

Zuma gets ready to speak.

Cape Town – Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan acknowledged that mining companies who do business in South Africa need speedy solutions to the issues they are confronted with.

Gordhan was the guest speaker at law firm ENSafrica’s VIP lunch held on the sidelines of the 2017 Mining Indaba.

He added that the rules of mining has changed in the last couple of years and that it is simply not enough any longer to just “extract and export”.

“Today there are new pressures and mining needs to make a substantial contribution to GDP,” he said in reference to government’s beneficiation efforts. 

Gordhan telling delegates at the Mining Indaba: We have responsibility to give skills to youngsters and re-skill people because of technology

Gordhan: Concerns about base erosion & profit shifting will intensify in the future. Also raised at WEF.

Gordhan: Lots of work to do in rethinking mining in 21st century and rules of the game.

Fin24's Liesl Peyper is at the ENS Africa luncheon with Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

President Jacob Zuma's pre-SONA Business Investor lunch is at Grand West in Cape Town. Fin24's Matthew le Cordeur and Zukile Daniel, News24 are there.

President Jacob Zuma is hosting a pre-SONA business investor luncheon in Cape Town.

The session is attended by business leaders and leaders from organised labour.

According to the Presidency the meeting will serve as a platform to further strengthen cooperation between government, organised labour and business to promote inclusive economic growth, radical socio-economic transformation and job creation in South Africa.

This follows on a successful year (2016) of close cooperation between government, labour and business aimed at reigniting economic growth.  

President Jacob Zuma will call for unity in action to drive South Africa on a sustainable growth path.  

The President is accompanied by members of the Inter Ministerial Committee on Investment, which he established in 2016 to improve support and assistance to investors wishing to take advantage of vast investment opportunities in South Africa.  

Finance Minister is the guest speaker at the #ENSafricaVIPlunch at the Mining Indaba, the world's largest conference dealing with mining investment, and Africa's biggest mining conference, in Cape Town.