President Cyril Ramaphosa today convened ministers and senior business leaders under the Government Business Partnership. The partners agreed to fast-track the implementation of key structural reforms and support performance improvements at Transnet and Eskom through an accelerated delivery plan and an intensified phase of the Partnership’s ongoing efforts to expedite delivery on priority interventions vital to economic growth and job creation.
The partnership believes that this acceleration is necessary to achieve a step-change in progress in response to difficult economic headwinds. Focus will remain on improving Eskom’s Energy Availability Factor (EAF) and unblocking delays in new generation capacity to ensure a continued reprieve from load shedding. Work is underway to resolve grid access and allocation bottlenecks that hinder new generation projects. Whilst Transnet’s performance is not at the level required, it has stabilised and there is a significant focus on growing volumes which will increase exports and revenue collected to support economic growth and preserve and grow employment.
Expediting reforms and performance improvement is crucial to reducing the possible negative impact of the complex global and domestic environment, which continues to present substantial challenges and uncertainty. GDP growth projections for 2025 have been revised down, and current forecasts remain far below the minimum 3% required to create the level of jobs needed to make an impact on the country’s high levels of unemployment.
The Government Business Partnership, established in 2023, is focused on accelerating crucial reforms and operational improvements to lift confidence levels and to drive economic growth in four priority areas: energy, transport and logistics, crime and corruption, and youth employment (the latter added in January 2025).
President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “Through the strength of this partnership, we have been able to unlock many constraints that undermine growth and job creation. While there is much to improve, the dedication and commitment from both government and business remains undiminished. The pace of our work must increase to match the scale of the challenge.”
Important progress has been made to lay the groundwork for sustained accelerated action, including the finalisation of the Transnet Network Statement, the launch of a Request for Information (RFI) to attract private investment in port and rail infrastructure, and NERSA’s approval of electricity wheeling regulations. These reforms enable broader private sector participation in energy and transportation and logistics. Both the crime and corruption and the youth employment focal areas are largely tracking against their plans which have a longer-term time horizon.
In line with this commitment to focused execution, the Partnership welcomed the launch of the second phase of Operation Vulindlela, which has a delivery focus that closely aligns with the Partnership’s objective of more rapidly accelerating reforms and operational improvements that will drive growth and job creation.
Adrian Gore, BUSA Vice President and business co-convenor of the Partnership, said: “We are entering this accelerated execution “sprint” with a real sense of urgency. Progress has been made, but it’s not enough. This requires a step change in the pace of decision making and execution. We need to redouble our collective efforts to help shift the country onto a sustained upward trajectory and deliver on our shared ambition of a virtuous cycle of growth, jobs, a more positive narrative and increased investment.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.
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