President Cyril Ramaphosa believes the formation of the government of national unity has renewed local and international investor confidence in the South African economy.
With the GNU reaching the 100-days mark since its formation, Ramaphosa is also pleased to see his ministers from different political parties committed to ensuring the success and longevity of the GNU, says his spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya.
“The 100-day measure is not an adopted government measurement instrument of government delivery. As far as I know, there was nothing from the government that said this and that will be done in 100 days,” said Magwenya.
“However, one can say from a GNU perspective that there are a few encouraging areas.”
He said there was generally a positive energy and a forward-looking approach.
The interactions with investors on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly showed there was increased investor confidence in the country.
“Investor and business confidence is high, and the results of those raised levels of confidence are beginning to show. We are also experiencing the same levels of bullishness towards South Africa from international investors as we experienced while interacting with the investor community in New York,” said Magwenya.
Some of the steps taken by the previous administration to deal with issues that undermined economic growth were now delivering positive results, including the Energy Action Plan.
“The recovery work that's been done by Eskom has ensured in the immediate term ongoing stability of our electricity supply while in the long term reforming our electricity industry. Similarly, green shoots are beginning to show in the logistics sector that had been receiving intense government focus towards the later months of the sixth administration,” said Magwenya.
There was also increasing collaboration between social compact partners, including government, business and labour.
“It started during Covid and has been carried through to assist with the resolution of the energy and logistics challenges. We have taken that collaborative approach to also attend to challenges in local government. eThekwini is a good example of how this collaborative approach is beginning to turn the metro around,” he said.
Mangwenya emphasised that Ramaphosa did not believe in 100 days as any form of measure.
“Whilst we do not subscribe to the 100-days milestone as an effective measure of government delivery, the president is deeply satisfied with the level of co-operation he is seeing among ministers from different political parties,” he said.
“More importantly, we are continuing from the work of the sixth administration to drive forward the reforms that will soon deliver more on growing the economy.”
