Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso says there is a sense that government is too easily bent by powerful lobbies instead of acting clearly in the best interest of all people.
In a weekly newsletter, published on Monday, she expresses her concern that South Africans are increasingly feeling that government is not on their side, which, as people become more desperate given unemployment and economic conditions, gives rise to the risk of palpable anger and dangerous confrontations.
“The scenes of police using water cannons against protesting restaurant workers in Cape Town last week were shocking. People have a right to protest. Government has destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of hospitality workers through restrictions that make it impossible for restaurants to operate.
“At the same time, by caving in to the taxi industry and education unions, it has shown that protest is the only language it hears. I strongly condemn meeting peaceful protests with violence.
“We live in a country in which peaceful protest is a Constitutional right. Amid increasing desperation, government should respond with compassion and rationality, not water cannons,” Mavuso laments.
She says the sense of alienation from government was compounded by President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech to the country on the same day of the nationwide protests by restaurant workers in which he did not mention their plight.
Instead, he announced that public schools will be closed for four weeks, further damaging the outlook for children and constraining the ability of parents to work.
Mavuso states that while the President asked for understanding, it is difficult to give when he did not comment on the obvious suffering of those whose livelihoods have been undermined.
She mentioned in a prior newsletter that the President’s reasons for the alcohol ban had been clouded in secrecy, with no consultation having been undertaken with the liquor manufacturers or traders, or restaurant and taverns industry.
Two things are now clear to the public, Mavuso believes, one being that decisions are being made without their concerns being listened to, and when they then take to the streets to protest and make their voices heard, they are being met with State-sponsored violence.
“It surely cannot come as a surprise to government that when it makes decisions behind closed doors that have a damaging impact on people’s livelihoods, the result is going to be protest action. What is it that government thinks will happen when it responds with violence? Can it not see the same pattern playing out in other places in the world such as the US?”
Mavuso says South Africa cannot allow this alienation of the public from government to continue and the President needs to show the leadership he did during the early stages of the crisis by listening, being empathetic and reversing course when the consequences of decisions become clear.
As the numbers of unemployed and hungry increase, it will be increasingly important that government be perceived as enabling as much economic activity as possible.
“We need to rekindle a spirit of being on the same side in the fight against the pandemic or we risk a steadily increasing rupture between the people and the government in which scenes of protest and violence will become more common.
“It is extremely tough for us all. Business and consumer confidence are at record lows. The sense of desperation is growing. The world is also starting to diverge – those countries hit earlier are recovering, bouncing back, while our disease trajectory is accelerating,” notes Mavuso.
She further explains that perceptions will grow that the differences reflect quality of governance and not just timing and natural conditions.
Mavuso motivates that now is the time for political leaders to rationally balance policies to protect both lives and livelihoods.
“Right now, it feels like government is acting impulsively, driven by ego rather than heart. And the callous treatment of protesters will generate more and more resentment.”
BLSA hopes the industries that are still being restricted will be allowed to resume trading in a manner that ensures the virus does not spread.