Government-private sector partnership drives key economic progress

Government’s strategic partnership with the private sector is yielding tangible results in tackling critical economic challenges, with major strides made in stabilising energy supply, improving logistics, and addressing crime and corruption. 

This collaboration, which began over a year ago, entered a new phase with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s launch of Phase 2 of the Government-Business Partnership on 1 October 2024.

Phase 2 of the Government-Business Partnership aims to address critical economic challenges facing the country. Amongst others, this partnership will ensure that the country addresses corruption and crime both in business and government, has a secure energy supply, and efficient freight and logistics to facilitate trade. 

ALSO READ: Second phase of Government – Business Partnership launched

Speaking to SAnews, Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) Acting Director-General (ADG), Nomonde Mnukwa, highlighted the significant progress made under the auspices of the Government-Business Partnership, citing key milestones in the energy, logistics, and law enforcement sectors.

Stabilising the energy sector

Mnukwa emphasised the pivotal role the partnership has played in addressing the country’s energy crisis. 

As part of the Energy Action Plan, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment of the Minister of Electricity (renamed Minister of Electricity and Energy) ensured dedicated leadership that unlocked bottlenecks, which has reassured both investors and citizens. 

“As a result of the partnership and steps that we have taken through the Energy Action Plan, we have experienced over 200 days without load shedding. Reforms in the energy sector have unlocked hundreds of billions of Rands in investment, helping to address the long-standing shortfall in our electricity supply,” Mnukwa stated.  

The ADG said the deployment of technical expertise, particularly at key power stations like Kusile, has been central to the turnaround. 

“The focus has been on ensuring that Eskom becomes a stable institution. This included appointing a new CEO and collaborating with businesses to deploy technical and project management expertise, particularly at key power stations. These efforts have ensured continuous maintenance of power plants, and we are seeing tangible results,” she said. 

Furthermore, the partnership has attracted significant investment into the energy sector. Reforms have unlocked hundreds of billions of rands in investment, addressing the long-standing shortfall in electricity supply.  

The country has also received international funding to support its Just Energy Transition, with several Green Economy projects, such as Green Hydrogen and Electric Vehicle initiatives, poised for implementation.

Reforming freight and logistics

South Africa’s port and rail infrastructure are strategic national assets, and 2023 saw President Ramaphosa putting in place a roadmap for the freight logistics system in order to improve the performance of South Africa’s ports and rail network and drive economic growth.

Mnukwa underscored the progress made by the National Logistics Crisis Committee which led efforts to streamline logistics, reducing congestion at the country’s ports and improving traffic flow.

Through the National Logistics Crisis Committee, government is making progress in stabilising and improving the logistics system to support the nation’s key export industries. 

Recent government interventions, coordinated through Operation Vulindlela, resulted in a significant reduction in port congestion and contributed to ensuring the ease of doing business, which is crucial for the growth of our economy. Both exports and imports play a vital role in driving economic growth, and addressing these logistical challenges is key. 

“Interventions at Transnet are already yielding encouraging results in reducing port congestion and progress is also being made to support economic recovery,” Mnukwa said.

In a bid to ensure long-term efficiency, government has introduced the Freight Logistics Roadmap, which opens up the logistics network to private sector participation, particularly in container terminals. The reforms are aimed at stabilising and modernising the sector to facilitate trade and growth.

“As echoed by our President, government has embarked on a process of fundamental reform through the Freight Logistics Roadmap, enabling open access to the freight logistics network and introducing private sector participation in container terminals for the first time,” ADG said. 

Fighting corruption and strengthening law enforcement

The partnership between government and business has also focused on combating corruption and strengthening law enforcement agencies. 

Mnukwa highlighted the progress made in reversing the effects of State capture and rebuilding the capabilities of institutions such as the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). 

“The second component, in terms of the partnership, was to deal with criminality, and we’ve seen the prosecution of individuals involved in criminal activities at Eskom. Assets have also been seized because of the work between the NPA, the SIU and the Hawks.

The morale among Eskom staff has also improved, as highlighted by the Minister of Electricity and Energy, and this is essential for productivity,” she said.

Government has also prioritised removing South Africa from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list by strengthening anti-corruption measures. 

In the past few months, the President signed several Acts into law to advance these reforms, including the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act, the Economic Regulation of Transport Act, and the NPA Amendment Act.

Accelerating progress with Phase 2

With Phase 2 of the Government-Business Partnership now underway, Mnukwa stressed that the focus is on accelerating interventions to deliver quicker results.

“The launch of the second phase is about shifting into high gear, accelerating interventions to achieve faster results. We’ve learned valuable lessons from the first phase, and we’re now applying those insights to improve and enhance our efforts going forward. We’ve moved from stabilising the economy to saying let’s grow it for our people,” Mnukwa said.

The President stated this during the launch of Phase 2 of the Government-Business Partnership, emphasising the importance of sustaining and amplifying these efforts. 

“We’ve made real progress in stabilising critical sectors, and now it’s time to grow the economy for the benefit of all South Africans,” President Ramaphosa said.

Job creation

As part of this new phase, the partnership is expanding its reach to tackle more areas, including job creation, particularly for the youth.

“Through existing partnerships with business, such as the Youth Employment Service (YES) programme, we have been able to create over 155,000 work placements for unemployed young people.

“Significantly, as much as 45% of these young people went into full-time jobs after their internship, demonstrating the impact of the partnership,” Mnukwa said. 

Government has also developed SAYouth.mobi, in partnership with Harambee, with strong support from the private sector. More than five million young South Africans are now registered on the SA Youth network. 

Mnukwa stressed the need to continue fostering business-government cooperation to create a brighter future for South Africa. – SAnews.gov.za