President Cyril Ramaphosa, during his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) last week, made an important point that a capable State is not just about the quality of public servants, but also about how citizens are empowered to participate.

Government must provide civil society organisations with appropriate avenues to work with the public sector to ensure its capacity, says business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso.

“A capable State should be able to deliver needed services across the range. It should be able to deliver housing and essential services to all citizens. But it should also be able to provide the services that business needs to be able to thrive and grow in the country,” she says.

“Civil society organisations hold government to account and support our citizens who cannot find support elsewhere. Business is obviously an important constituent and provides livelihoods to millions of our citizens. We understand that business depends deeply on a State that can function optimally.”

The loss of a capable State has been the greatest loss to the country and businesses can tell many stories of the frustrations they encounter in dealing with the public sector, particularly at municipal level. Many have had to shift operations, giving up hope that municipalities can ever deliver basic services like water and refuse removal, she says.

“That is why the BLSA and other business organisations have dedicated significant focus and resources to supporting government. We fund several senior retired engineers and other specialists to work in government departments to help solve the technical skills shortages. Through Business Against Crime South Africa we support the criminal justice system in several areas.

“We also commission research to develop evidence to support good policy making. We also, it must be said, contribute to accountability through ensuring a business perspective is heard on matters of national importance.”

There are many important ways that business could ensure capability.

However, business has its own interests and one must be wary of businesses having undue influence on government. The support that organised business aims to provide must be done appropriately, she stresses.

Business should not use its resources to extract beneficial treatment.

Instead, it must ensure it is aligned with the democratic mandate that the government has and ensure it is capable to deliver to that mandate, rather than the particular desires of business.

“In the support we currently provide, the government is always the policy maker and decision maker. We only aim to fill the capacity constraints in the public sector in the interests of all South Africans.”

Despite the SoNA being a missed opportunity to have demonstrated real progress since the prior SoNA on economic reforms and the planned large-scale infrastructure rollout, there were very encouraging indications that the President has a clear view on another area needed for business to thrive, namely removing red tape, says Mavuso.

“The Presidency has long had a dedicated unit to improve the ease of doing business. However, I don’t think there has been much progress; running a business in South Africa is still a hard thing to do, largely because of the complexity of navigating the many rules and regulations, as well as the cumbersome mechanisms available to engage with government about them.

“There is much that can be done to simplify the processes and reduce the cost of complying with regulation. The appointment of Sipho Nkosi, a former CEO of Exxaro Resources, to work with the Presidency to cut red tape is encouraging.

"Sipho has exactly the right kind of experience, namely the perspective of someone who has fought to build a business with a closeup view of how harmful red tape can be.”

Further, there were many other points made in the speech about new infrastructure projects and sector masterplans. These are too often spoken about and too seldom done. These are the areas that the President needs to talk delivery and not plans, particularly at this stage of his administration, Mavuso adds.

Meanwhile, the lifting of the state of disaster, subject to legislative amendments, will allow for the pandemic to be fought through normal legislative instruments, she says.

“This may still take some time. I hope when it is done, there is clear legislative support for companies to mandate vaccination among employees,” she says.

The President also said nearly all restrictions on economic and social activity have already been lifted but business continues to be constrained by the restrictions, which are having a particularly detrimental impact on employment. These restrictions should be dealt with "while we wait for the right legislative reform".

“With legislation pending that will prevent foreign nationals from gaining jobs in certain sectors, it’s important to bear in mind that job reservation for South Africans will not create any new jobs,” she adds.