speech deliv ered by dr mathews phosa, treasurer general of the ...

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BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY LONDON - 29 OCTOBER 2009 PAGE 2 OF 4 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It is one of the major reasons that I am here today as the Treasurer General of the African National Congress. I also convey the w ishes of our party’s leadership as well as that of the President to strengthen and deepen our commercial relationship. In that regard, you have been a mining partner of ours for a very long time. Your recent substantial investments by Barclays into our local bank, ABSA, as w ell as Vodafone into our ow n Vodacom critically enhanced that preferred partner relationship betw een us. It is my fervent hope that my visit can, in time, unlock further opportunities for both British and South African investors. I am told that I can now go and drink coffee here at the South African coffee shop Vida e Caffe and have lunch at our restaurant group, Spur. Financial services groups such as Old Mutual, Investec and Standard Bank utilize London as a springboard to identify opportunities in Europe. It is my fervent hope that even more British companies w ill utilize our major cities as a similar springboard to broaden your business activities into Southern Africa and the African continent. On a political level, w e believe that w e have been a sound and trusted partner for our friends in multi-lateral forums such as SADC, the African Union, the G20 and the United Nations. We w ill continue to utilize those forums to w ork for the advancement of the agenda of political and commercial partnerships that w ill further enhance our agenda of South and Southern Africa as a favoured developmental, political and commercial partner. In the challenging global economic environment in w hich Jacob Zuma became the fourth President of the Republic of South Africa at the end of April this year, he inherited the follow ing: • A strong governing party with a clear and decisive majority at the polls. • A region dominated by the instability in Z imbabwe where the Zanu PF/MDC alliance is a cause for concern, amongst many other concerns. • A continent w here the final form and format of the African Union is still being debated. • A country where crime and corruption is at unacceptable levels and an issue of concern for our British, European and global partners. In this regard, w e will and must move aw ay from a culture of greed and self enrichment to one of transparent accountability. We should also consider additional legal measures, one of them being the potential appointment of a Corruption Commissioner w ith w ide ranging legal powers. • A country where we have no other choice but to focus a large amount of energy on addressing decades of old backlogs in education, health and housing. In the mini budget delivered by our Minister of Finance on Tuesday, he announced an additional package of almost R1 billion for HIV/AIDS as w ell as substantial increase in spending in
BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY LONDON - 29 OCTOBER 2009 PAGE 3 OF 4 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ housing and education through a number of initiatives, inclusive of infrastructure creation. We hope to create more than 4 million jobs in the next three years. In addition, there is a view that, because of the above, the South African government will incrementally move its economic policies to the left of centre and thereby cause concern amongst some of its partners. You can expect the follow ing from the ANC government, headed by President Zuma: • That Mr Zuma, as President, w ill move sw iftly to restore the legacy of reconciliation and nation building, bequeathed to him by Mr Mandela. South Africa w ill operate as a team from a non-racial, non-sexist basis. • That w e w ill w ork tirelessly to find democratic solutions to enhance a political settlement in Zimbabwe. • That w e w ill w ork very hard towards defining our role on the continent in such a w ay that we act as leaders, but also enhance unity and solidarity on the continent. • That w e w ill launch a massive effort to enhance stability ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, but at the same time finding the right mix of socio-economic measures that w ill combat poverty and unemploy ment, issues that are at the root of crime. One of the announcements in Tuesday’s mini budget w as that we will put more than 22,000 new policemen on the street and that a massive spending programme w ill be launched to improve security in our country over the next three years. I know that you are concerned about the noise that you have been hearing around the issue of the nationalization of mines in South Africa. I understand that you regard this as a very serious issue, and I w ant to reassure you that w e will manage it, keeping your substantial and historical interests in mind. Given our democratic nature as a party, the ANC has no choice but to allow its’ structures to voice their opinions about this matter. It is the open and transparent w ay that we conduct our business and w e will continue to do so. Nationalization of the mines is, however, not the policy of the ANC, nor that of the ANC led government. We w ill, how ever, explore w ays and means of broadening this debate and finding creative long term solutions to the serious issue of the broader distribution of w ealth in a responsible fashion. It is not a debate in isolation, and your serious and blunt view s about the issue w ill be welcomed. You are also concerned about repeated view s that have been expressed regarding the possibility that the ANC led government w ill start a move tow ards economic policies that are investor unfriendly and less responsible than our current fiscal and monetary policies. I am confident that Tuesday’s mini budget made a contribution tow ards dispelling those views over
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