Some signals are being sent that the era of ‘soft diplomacy’ between government and business might be coming to an end.

Speaking at a SwissCham South Africa function last week, Business Leadership South Africa CEO Michael Spicer described as “valid” an assertion by Minister Trevor Manuel that the domestic business community had been cowardly for not providing a counterbalance in the current public discourse. Manuel made his controversial comment, for which he was lashed by labour, in June, at the World Economic Forum, in Cape Town.

Business, Spicer admitted, had not been speaking to its interests and articulating an “enterprise driven” vision of society. But he also cautioned that there was a need for business to choose its battles and to discover a tone that was neither “hand wringing, nor gratuitously confrontational”.

A very similar aspiration was set out in the so-called Dinokeng Scenarios, which proposes a collaborative effort between an “enabling State” and an “active citizenry” to find solutions to South Africa’s many challenges.

Now the obvious vehicle, on the economic front, is the National Economic Development and Labour Council, or Nedlac. But there is much scepticism about Nedlac’s effectiveness, particularly from within business, which has been an increasingly reluctant participant.

In many ways, business has itself to blame for this lack of effectiveness, having been reactive rather than proactive on many issues. In fact, Spicer acknowledged this, describing its current stance as “defensive”. A case in point was the recent discussion around the so-called emergency response to the economic global crisis, where business allowed labour to set the agenda and “failed to argue for a wealth creating and productivity and competitiveness enhancing set of measures”.

But for business to play a more constructive role, it surely has to get its structures in order. True, it will be impossible for businesspeople, whose interests are hardly ever aligned, to speak with a single voice on every topic. But there surely are areas where consensus can be achieved and articulated.

It appears that Business Unity South Africa is beginning to provide the platform for such a programme. But there is also no question that business is a country mile from regaining the central role it once played, together with the religious community, in moving politicians and society in the right direction and away from apartheid.