Sacci
The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) notes the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa of the Government of National Unity (GNU) executive team.
The team composition has been an outcome of intense negotiations among the political parties forming the GNU.
We hope President Ramaphosa and his executive team will succeed in tackling the major challenges facing South Africa.
While it is early days yet, we hope that the selection process looked into the capabilities of the candidates, in terms of ability to perform and alignment with the right values and culture.
We have been steadfast and still maintain that for South Africa to successfully and sustainably tackle the challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality, South Africa needs to move from a developing to a developed economy by ensuring that it delivers on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).
This will not be achievable if there is no meritocracy in the administration of the state and its institutions. It is in this regard that we are not sure what meritocracy template the GNU has itself used in identifying, selecting, and appointing the executive team. It is imperative for the government to be transparent in sharing with stakeholders its own ideas on the meaning of merit to avoid randomness in this critical area.
An agreement between the political parties does not in itself translate to a scientifically derived process of meritocracy in recruitment, selection and appointment. The tools to be used to measure and evaluate performance management also remain unclear. Therein lies the risk in performance and delivery.
The skills required to manage conflict will be a high priority given the conflicting interests and differing policy positions of the various political parties in the GNU.
We urge the various parties to always consider the interests of the Republic first, and maintain the stability of the unity government.
We congratulate the newly appointed, as well as the returning ministers, and look forward to constructive engagements.
BUSINESS REPORT