SAFARI - the Progressive Business Forum website

WOMEN IN BUSINESS SUMMITPAYING OUR WAY:Mobilising domesticresourcesfor national infrastructureThe investment programmes of state-ownedcompanies are vital in both bolstering demandto stimulate economic activity and investment,as well as in driving programmes that will putin place the capacity to drive future economicgrowth. We cannot allow these investmentprogrammes to be affected by the globaleconomic slowdown, and therefore need toengage in a national dialogue on domesticresource mobilisation to fund national economicinfrastructure, says Malusi Gigaba, Ministerof Public Enterprises.The recent events surroundingMarikana send out a starkmessage, namely that a lotis wrong with our mining sector inSouth Africa today. The sector stillsuffers a great deal from the coloniallegacy from whence it emerged, wherethe mineral wealth of our countrywas owned for the benefit of a few,while the majority were condemnedto poverty. The mineral wealth of thiscountry has brought to our peoplemany tragedies, including the SouthAfrican War of 1899–1902, the 1946and 1987 mineworker strikes, andnow this, the Marikana tragedy. Forcenturies, as a result of this colonialplunder of Africa’s mineral wealth, ourcontinent has maintained an unequalrelationship with the world, where weare the providers of cheap labour andcheap primary commodities, whilethey sell back to us manufactured,value-added products.That is both the sharp reminderof Marikana as well as the reasonfor the massive infrastructureroll-out programme announced byPresident Jacob Zuma in his 2012State of the Nation address. It is thisunequal relationship that we seek tochange through our infrastructureroll-out programme as well as thebeneficiation and mining policies weare currently exploring. They willundoubtedly contribute to ensuringthat our minerals work for us, theirowners.The difficult reality we face,however, is that all these programmesare to be pursued amidst a high levelof uncertainty about the immediateprospects for the global economy.Presently, there is no convincingpolicy response from Europeanauthorities to the ongoing Europeanfinancial crisis. Rather, the regionseems to be stumbling from one crisisto the next. The European economyin recession and a slow USA economyboth have a negative impact on thedemand for exports from emergingeconomies. In addition, there isa global review of banking sectorregulation.It is in this context that theinvestment programmes of stateownedcompanies (SOCs) play acritical role in both bolstering demandto stimulate economic activity andinvestment, as well as in drivingprogrammes that will put in placethe infrastructure, skills and capacityto drive future economic growth.Consequently, the SOC spendingframework is deliberately designedto support growth, as is evidencedby the Transnet market demandstrategy, which has expanded its