Press Release - 2015/05/29/: INAUGURAL SEIFSA AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Winners of the Awards, organised by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA), were announced at a dinner at the end of the first day of the Southern African Metals and Engineering Indaba.
South African pump manufacturer Hazleton Pumps International took top honours in the Most Innovative Company and Customer Service of the Year Awards categories, with Scaw Metals declared winner in the Health and Safety and Artisan of the Year categories Power transmission specialist Voith Turbo scooped the Best Corporate Social Responsibility Programme of the Year, with the Most Transformed Company of the Year Award going to Africa Steel Holdings for companies with fewer than 100 employees and to automation technology group ABB for companies with more than 100 employees, In addition, the SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba presented four CEO’s Awards to:
- Kgaogelo James Sello for being the Top 2014 Artisan Student for scoring the highest marks and achieving his Mechanical Engineering – N6 Certificate;
- Melco Conveyor Equipment for being the company that had made extensive use of SEIFSA’s products and services and participated in the Federation’s workshops, events and forums;
- The Construction Engineering Association of South Africa for being SEIFSA’s affiliated association that has been most active, having participated in various SEIFSA activities;
- a Lifetime Leadership Award in the metals and engineering sector to Arthur Stuart(Tubby) Boynton-Lee.
The awards were established because of a need to recognise and encourage excellence in the ailing metals and engineering sector.
Mr Nyatsumba said that the sector was faced with several challenges, including the prevalence of cheap imports from Asia, the lack of competitiveness in local manufacturing and policy uncertainty.
“In such turbulent economic times and a challenging business environment, we at SEIFSA believe that it is critically important for those companies which excel at what they do to get the acknowledgement and recognition they deserve,” Mr Nyatsumba said.
He commended all the companies that had taken the initiative to enter for the Awards and congratulated the winners in the respective categories
“I would like to congratulate all the winners and encourage them to continue to work hard towards excelling and providing the sector with examples of excellence. This will inspire other companies to improve their operations so that they can be afforded the opportunity to win at future SEIFSA awards,” Mr Nyatsumba said.
Press Release - 2015/05/29/: BUSINESS AND LABOUR EXPRESS DISAPPOINTMENT AT FAILURE BY MINISTERS, ESKOM AND JOHANNESBURG CITY POWER TO ATTEND CONFERENCE
Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown, Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Petterson, Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan, together with Eskom Chief Executive Officer Brian Molefe and Johannesburg City Power Managing Director Sicelo Xulu were invited to address the “South Africa’s Electricity Constraint and its Impact on the Economy” session of the conference – and all of them declined the invitation.
The session went on with business and Democratic Alliance leaders addressing it, but delegates resolved to make known their bitter disappointment at the failure by the Ministers and the two power utility companies to be part of the discussion.
At the request of one of the delegates, the conference adopted a resolution saying: “We are bitterly disappointment that Eskom, Johannesburg City Power and the Ministers of Energy and Public Enterprises could not make themselves available to brief us, the business and labour communities, on efforts to contain the power crisis, the one thing currently posing by far the biggest threat to the economy.”
Speaking at the conference, Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises Natasha Mazzone said that secure energy supply was the lifeblood of any economy and that South Africa’s current energy situation could be described as “utter chaos, born out of a lack of proper maintenance and further exacerbated by the utility’s current financial constraints”.
Meanwhile, energy expert and EE Publishing Managing Director Chris Yellend said South Africa needed to move away from being solely dependent on State-owned utility Eskom for electricity provision if the country is to overcome the current electricity crisis.
Mr Yellend said it was of critical importance that South Africa not only moves away from relying on a single monopoly (Eskom) for electricity provision, but also that the country moves away from depending on coal as a single source of energy.
“In the current economic environment, where levels of uncertainty related to demand and rates of exchange, among other things, is high, South Africa needs to manage risks by, among other things, improving technologies that would see the country move away from coal as the only source of energy,” Mr Yellend said.
Mr Yellend said that the country also needed to move away from an old model which revolved around central command planning. The old model, Mr Yellend said, was failing South Africa and the country needed to build smaller electricity generating units instead of massive power stations that are difficult to manage.
“Smaller units are much more efficient because they are much easier to manage,” Mr Yellend said.
He suggested diesel, oil, wind energy, gas, nuclear and waste heat as alternative energy options. He also suggested that the private sector play a more prominent role in electricity provision.
The Southern African Metals and Engineering Indaba, organized and hosted by the Steel and Engineering Industries of Southern Africa, is attended by policy and decision makers, business owners, senior executives and other stakeholders in the metals and engineering sector from across the SADC region.
Press Release - 2015/05/29/: BUSINESS AND LABOUR CONDEMN AWARDING OF TENDERS TO FOREIGN COMPANIES AND CALL ON GOVERNMENT TO IMPOSE NECESSARY TARRIFS TO PROTECT LOCAL MANUFACTURERS FROM CHEAP, SUBSIDIZED IMPORTS
During the first session at the conference this morning, delegates – made up of business and labour leaders – also called on the Government to impose necessary tariffs to protect local manufacturers from cheap, subsidized imports from Asia.
“While recognizing the need for local manufacturers to be more competitive, delegates nevertheless call on the Government to do much more than it does at the moment to support manufacturing in South Africa,” read the resolution.
The delegates’ concerns come on the back of recent developments that saw State-owned companies awarding multi-billion-rand tenders to foreign companies and, most recently, out-sourcing Cuban engineers to help with service delivery in the Free State.
The Southern African Metals and Engineering Indaba, organized and hosted by the Steel and Engineering Industries of Southern Africa, is attended by policy and decision makers, business owners, senior executives and other stakeholders in the metals and engineering sector from across the Southern African Development Community region.
Press Release - 2015/05/28: SEIFSA KICKS OFF HISTORIC SOUTHERN AFRICAN METALS AND ENGINEERING CONFERENCE
Featuring high-profile speakers and panelists such as Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant, Business Leadership South Africa Chairman and mining veteran Bobby Godsell, ArcelorMittal Chief Executive Officer Paul O’Flaherty and NUMSA General Secretary Irvin Jim, among others, the Indaba is aimed at
deliberating on and coming up with sustainable solutions to address challenges currently facing the manufacturing sector.
Delivering his opening remarks, SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba said the Southern African Metals and Engineering Indaba was an industry conference intended to afford all stakeholders with an interest in the survival and success of manufacturing, but especially the metals and engineering sector, in Southern Africa an opportunity to devise ways to revive the sector.
“The intention is to build it from strength to strength in the years to come until it equals or exceeds in importance the Mining Indaba that takes place in Cape Town in February each year,” Mr Nyatsumba said.
He added that the conference would concretely advance the interests of the metals and engineering sector and, in the process, the interests of South Africa and the Southern African Development Community.
The metals and engineering sector represented a third of all manufacturing in the country and contributed 6% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
Mr Nyatsumba said that in order for this strategic sector to overcome the challenges it currently faces it was of critical importance that Government, labour and business work in collaboration, instead of pulling in different directions. Among the challenges faced by the sector are unfair competition from highly-subsidized countries, high input and administered costs and electricity outages.
“We believe firmly in the need for a strong partnership among government, business and labour if South Africa and our region are to achieve their economic potential. It is our contention that none of us alone can reverse the worrying decline that has been so evident in manufacturing and in metals and engineering in recent years.”
Mr Nyatsumba said he looked forward to the respective inputs of all stakeholders and their collective wisdom in the course of the discussions over the next two days.
“We look forward to honest, robust but constructive discussions that will move the sector forward,” Mr Nyatsumba said.
Mr Nyatsumba also expressed his appreciation to the conference sponsors, partners exhibitors and speakers.
“Our heart-felt thanks and appreciations go to our wonderful sponsors, partners, exhibitors and speakers who, despite this being the inaugural year of the Southern African Metals and Engineering Indaba, believed in us and took a giant leap to support us. We look forward to their continued support,” Mr Nyatsumba concluded.
Attended by policy and decision makers, business owners, senior executives and other stakeholders in the metals and engineering sector in the SADC, the Metals and Engineering Indaba will, today, focus on the following topics:
- Does Manufacturing Have a Future in Southern Africa?
- South Africa and the National Development Plan
- Striking a Healthy Balance Between International Competition and Dumping
- The Metals and Engineering sector and the absence of women
- South Africa’s Electricity Constraint and its Impact on the Economy
The conference is attended by business owners, labour leaders and policymakers from
across the SADC region.
Press Release - 2015/05/28/: GOVERNMENT, BUSINESS, LABOUR COLLABORATION KEY FOR THE GROWTH OF THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR
Speaking at the Inaugural Southern African Metals and Engineering Indaba held at Emperors Palace in Ekurhuleni this morning, Mr Hill-Lewis said that policy uncertainty, confusing trade and investment policies in addition to unstable industrial relations and the power crisis hampered the growth of the South African economy in general and the manufacturing sector in particular.
“There is a disconnect between the Government’s stated economic policies and actions of its Departments. It is very important that the Government’s trade and investment policies are clear if the ‘long dark night’ currently engulfing the Southern African manufacturing
sector is to be turned around and if the South African economy is to prosper,” Mr Hill-Lewis said.
Speaking on the same panel discussion, Department of Trade and Industry Deputy Director-General Garth Strachan said the Government was committed to working in collaboration with business and labour to turn South Africa’s economic tide around.
“There is no question that the manufacturing sector is of critical importance to the economy. Steel, for instance, plays a significant role in other sectors such as the automotive industry. It is against this backdrop that the Government has put in place several initiatives to help the manufacturing sector compete,” Mr Strachan said.
Mr Strachan said that the Government had deployed incentives in the steel sector and is continuing to rescue steel producers who are in distress, in addition to ensuring that South African producers are able to export their products to foreign markets.
“We remain committed to working with business to stimulate the economy and to ensure that the creation of employment happens,” said Mr Strachan.
He also emphasized the importance of the new growth structure and broadening the base of economic participation to grow the South African economy.
Speaking on a different panel, University of Cape Town’s Professor Haroon Bhorat said in order for the new growth path to come to realization, the Government needed to rethink its industrial policy by, for instance, funding targeted sectors which are dedicated to employment creation.
“We also need to ensure that public sector procurement focuses on the small business sector in order to grow South Africa’s informal sector. The informal sector plays a very crucial role in the development of any developing country’s economy,” Professor Bhorat said.
He also emphasized the importance of education and human capital development.
“If we don’t improve the schooling system of South Africa, the new growth path will not be realized and we will remain an unequal society.” Business Leadership South Africa Chairman Bobby Godsell said in order for the manufacturing sector to come out of the doldrums, it was of paramount importance that South African producers adapted to changing economic environments and globalization.
“Local producers need to gear themselves to be able to compete on a global playing ground if the manufacturing sector is to survive and thrive,” Mr Godsell said.
Sphere Holdings Chairman Jabu Mabuza said it was of pivotal importance that the Government supported black businesses and real transformation.
NDP Commissioner and International Women’s Forum South Africa President Dr Vuyokazi Mahlathi emphasized the importance of the Government and business working in collaboration in the interest of the South African economy.
“South Africa needs a strong leadership drive across the board. The time for pointing fingers is gone; we need active citizenry and active participation from all stakeholders if South Africa’s economic tide is to turn,” Dr Mahlathi said.
Press Release - 2015/05/20: ELECTRICITY CONSTRAINT AND ITS ECONOMIC IMPACT TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT THE INAUGURAL METALS AND ENGINEERING INDABA
South Africa has, over the years, experienced frequent energy supply shortages. In addition, uncertainty about the security of its supply going forward as well as constant reports of delays in solving supply challenges are bound not only to impact negatively on South Africa’s already ailing economy, but also to change how the country is perceived as an investment destination, the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) said today.
SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba said that, on average, energy costs in the metals and engineering sector account for about 8% of intermediary input costs. He said that it stood to reason that, without reliable energy supply, the sector cannot grow.
He added that it was unfortunate that even right now the sector could not operate at full capacity as a result, among other things, of energy constraints.
“Actual or realized economic growth in the South African economy has fallen substantially below its potential. While energy provision should support our growth ambitions, there appears to be a real danger of the two gradually drifting apart,” said Mr Nyatsumba.
Mr Nyatsumba said that it was regrettable that electricity generation had become a significant physical constraint that hampered the economy’s ability to grow at a faster rate. He said that the situation ran counter to the Government’s stated intention to stimulate local manufacturing and value addition.
Electricity constraint and its impact on South Africa’s economic growth will be discussed robustly on the first day of the upcoming two-day Southern African Metals and Engineering Indaba scheduled to take place on 28 and 29 May at Emperors Palace, in Ekurhuleni.
Debating this issue and providing sustainable solutions will be a panel comprising:
- Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises Natasha Mazzone,
- Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Kevin Mileham,
- EE Publishing Managing Director Chris Yelland, and
- Karpowership Company Limited Sales Director Patrick O’Driscoll (UAE).
Also invited to be part of the panel discussion are Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Petterson, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown, Eskom CEO Brian Molefe and Johannesburg City Power Managing Director Sicelo Xulu.
To be attended by policy and decision makers, business owners, senior executives and other stakeholders in the metals and engineering sector in the Southern African Development Community, the Metals and Engineering Indaba will focus on the following topics, among others:
- Does Manufacturing Have a Future in Southern Africa?
- Striking a Healthy Balance Between International Competition and Dumping
- Transformation in the Metals and Engineering Sector
- International Competitiveness and Intra-African Trade
- South Africa and the National Development Plan
- Southern Africa and the Huge Infrastructure Backlog – How To Finance It?
- South Africa’s Electricity Constraint and its Impact on the Economy
The Indaba will bring together business owners, trade unionists and policymakers from across the Southern African Development Community to deliberate on strategies to revive manufacturing in general and the metals and engineering sector in particular.
Press Release - 2015/05/25: TOP COMPANIES THROW WEIGHT BEHIND INAUGURAL SOUTHERN AFRICAN METALS AND ENGINEERING INDABA
"The region's economy is growing and it is urbanizing fast. Someone will supply Africa’s economic hardware, the rail, the ports, the power, the city infrastructure and meet the needs of our states, citizens and businesses. We think South African industry can do this, but everyone who is committed to South Africa's industrial success needs to work together.
"We need to meet and agree on what to do about electricity, regulations, meaningful transformation, supporting our industries, skills, as well as financing and making the real changes that will turn South Africa into an industrial champion. This is why we are sponsoring the Metals and Engineering Indaba. We are excited about contributing to these conversations, and because we mean to do business,” Mr Mabuza said.
Sphere has a diversified portfolio of successful companies focused on industrial and business servicing the rail, power and manufacturing sectors through its diverse holdings which include Babcock engineering, Babcock Target crane and plant hire, Honeywell automation and control systems, Pandrol rail fastenings and Greif industrial packaging, amongst others.
Organized and hosted by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA), the Indaba brings business, government, labour and civil society together to hammer out a better future for Southern Africa’s metals and engineering sector.
SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba said he was very pleased to see captains of industry come out in full support of the Indaba, a conference that will become a major feature on the calendar of the steel and engineering sector in the Southern African Development Community.
“It is very important that businesses operating in the manufacturing sector come together with policy makers and labour representatives to engage and provide solutions that would help our sector rise out of the current doldrums and prosper,” Mr Nyatsumba said.
Sphere CEO Itumeleng Kgaboesele said: “South African industry needs private sector investment as much as it needs State and State-Owned-Entities (SOEs) support. With the right partnerships between investors and business, and between business, SOEs and the State, we can create an exciting and competitive industrial economy. Since Sphere believes in this future, we are investing in industrial, manufacturing and business services and look forward to meeting more players in these sectors."
Other sponsors of the Indaba include the Standard Bank, ArcelorMittal, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council and merSeta.
The Indaba will bring together business owners, trade unionists and policymakers from across the Southern African Development Community to deliberate on the fortunes of the metals and engineering sector in particular and manufacturing in general. Among its key focus areas will be an update on and concrete plans related to the Government’s ambitious National Development Plan.
The list of Indaba speakers and panelists includes Minister Mildred Oliphant, NUMSA General Secretary Irvin Jim, Business Leadership South Africa Chairman Bobby Godsell, South African Institute of International Affairs Deputy Chairman Moeletsi Mbeki and Pan African Capital Holdings Chief Executive Officer Dr Iraj Abedian.
Press Release - 2015/05/27: HISTORIC SOUTHERN AFRICAN METALS AND ENGINEERING CONFERENCE KICKS OFF TOMORROW
Featuring high-profile speakers and panelists such as Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant, Business Leadership South Africa Chairman and mining veteran Bobby Godsell, ArcelorMittal Chief Executive Officer Paul O’Flaherty and NUMSA General Secretary Irvin Jim, among others, the Indaba is aimed at deliberating on and coming up with sustainable solutions to address challenges currently facing the manufacturing sector.
SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba said it was of paramount importance that Government, business and labour get together to deliberate on issues affecting the manufacturing sector and come up with solutions that will address the challenges.
Among the challenges faced by the sector are unfair competition from highly-subsidized countries, high input and administered costs and electricity outages. “The Indaba is certain to become a major feature on the calendar of the steel and engineering sector in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Those not attending the inaugural event this week will be missing out,” Mr Nyatsumba said.
He said that the conference is set to reach the same heights as the annual mining indaba and is intended to revive the fortunes of manufacturing, but especially the metals and engineering sector, in Southern Africa.
“The mining sector has the annual Mining Indaba, which has become synonymous with Cape Town and is attended by all players in the mining sector and the relevant Government stakeholders from different parts of the world, but especially the African continent.
The metals and engineering sector, which is a vital supplier to the mining, auto and construction industries, had no such international conference of its own. Therefore, it was very important that SEIFSA stepped in and corrected that situation,” Mr Nyatsumba said.
To be attended by policy and decision makers, business owners, senior executives and other stakeholders in the metals and engineering sector in the SADC, the Metals and Engineering Indaba will focus on the following topics, among others:
- Does Manufacturing Have a Future in Southern Africa?
- Striking a Healthy Balance Between International Competition and Dumping
- Transformation in the Metals and Engineering Sector
- International Competitiveness and Intra-African Trade
- South Africa and the National Development Plan
- Southern Africa and the Huge Infrastructure Backlog – How To Finance It?
- South Africa’s Electricity Constraint and its Impact on the Economy
It will be attended by business owners, labour leaders and policymakers from across the SADC region.
Seifsa must get recognition it deserves - Business Report
The industry, which is an important pivot between the sectors of manufacturing, mining and construction, will next month – through the auspices of Seifsa – hold its first ever indaba to bring to the fore matters of concern which, if well addressed, would help it to contribute to the growth of the economy.
Seifsa chief executive Kaizer Nyatsumba highlighted to Business Report that it was time the sector was proactive in putting itself in the eye of policymakers, industry, the government and business.
Seifsa is planning an indaba next month, the question is why now, what has brought about the need for an imbizo for the engineering and metals sector?
The manufacturing sector in South Africa, of which the metals and engineering sector is part, has not done very well since we had the economic challenges in 2008 around the world, which manifested in South Africa from 2009 onwards. There have been more challenges economically – we have fewer jobs today than we did in 2009 in the metals and engineering sector and manufacturing generally, we also have a flood of cheap imports that make things more difficult but going even beyond 2008/2009, we had the global recession. We have had a situation where the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) has been declining gradually by a percentage point each decade.
This is a concern, and we believe it is critically important for industry players, business leaders, captains of industry, policymakers, the government and labour to come together to talk about what it is that can be done and should be done, to revive manufacturing in South Africa specifically in the metals and engineering sector.
There has not been an opportunity in this sector to bring stakeholders together annually to talk about matters of mutual interest, we are a very strategic sector and it hasn’t had this opportunity, and we thought it important to correct it.
We supply the auto manufacturing sector, mining and construction and whatever happens there, affects us.
Going into the indaba itself, what are the most prominent issues that need to be tackled?
The first is whether in this country there is in fact a future for manufacturing. A very legitimate question given what I have just said about the flood of cheap imports into the country.
There are many things that used to be manufactured entirely in South Africa, not just in the post-apartheid era when there were these high Chinese walls in the form of tariffs, but after that South Africa was doing quite well.
It has, however, lost much of that capability because the tariffs were not just reduced but in most cases eradicated.
South African manufacturers found themselves competing with the rest of the world, where most of whose manufacturers had higher degrees of efficiencies than we don’t and some of whom are at the cutting edge of technology.
A significant number of them, particularly from Asia are also subsidised and we are not, and that saw a number of manufacturers going out of business while struggling to be competitive in the local market.
A significant number of them resorted to importing, where there used to be a manufacturing here, or certainly imported components and assembled them here before selling them.
The situation is that dire, we believe it is important to talk about what we need to to as different stakeholders, policymakers, business and labour to arrest that situation.
So, whether or not manufacturing has a future in South Africa, is the main discussion on the agenda. In this country there is a great deal of industrial instability, among other issues.
When people sit in London, Paris, New York or wherever and look for places to invest in, they must of necessity be concerned of the number of strikes here, which tend to be violent.
Can we find, can we agree as stakeholders and business and labour with the assistance of the government to work together to attract investment, to ensure that the businesses that are currently in existence continue to survive.
Given the extent of the importance of this sector, why does it seem to be more of a victim when a lot hinges on it?
A whole lot of factors, by far the most crucial is the eradication, not gradually but overnight, of import tariffs. Many countries protect their strategies and industries, and manufacturing is one of them. The World Trade Organisation is there to ensure that there is free trade around the world, but it recognises the need for tariffs that it deems acceptable.
So, we have moved from one extreme where there is high tariffs to the other where there are no tariffs at all. And we are extremely vulnerable.
Local companies have been undercut and driven out of the market in valve manufacturing, for example, by Chinese and Indian companies which come from subsidised environments, which is unfair competition.
South Africa has removed tariffs here so there is equal competition, but if there are no tariffs offered here those companies where the cost of labour is much cheaper than it is here and are subsidised, have more of a competitive advantage.
The cost of labour, compared to the countries I have mentioned, its important for us given where we have come from as a country to make sure that people are paid decently, because we had to address the legacy of apartheid. But countries like India and China that are vast and where labour is cheap because of the abundance. We don’t have the labour-cost advantage they have.
Some countries, especially the Western countries, have adopted mechanisation and are much more efficient in terms of their manufacturing. The unit about costs are much lower.
We are a small country, bigger than some neighbouring countries, but in the bigger scheme of things we are a small country and therefore the market here is smaller.
Where factory utilisation capacity is lower, we have to, in order to reduce costs have machines running 24-hours a day so that the unit costs come down. But if you start and stop your machines and your capacity utilisation is therefore 40 to 60 percent, it sometimes means that the unit cost of production is much higher. All these factors affect the degree to which we are able to compete, not just internationally, but also within our markers too.
We haven’t yet fully as a country, especially as a sector, taken advantage of the opportunities that exist on the African continent, because frankly, that is where we can be competitive, where opportunity lies for us.
Infrastructure development in those countries is not where it should be, and we supply to industries that are in infrastructure development and so we need to penetrate the African market, which we are encouraging our members to do.
And regrettably, if I may say that what has been happening in our country, the attacks on fellow Africans by South Africans makes things more difficult for us to penetrate those markets and to be welcomed with open arms. It makes things extremely difficult, it’s unfortunate and deplorable.
What would be Seifsa’s ideal in the regulatory environment?
By lobbying in the interests of business. We keep saying that South Africa wins where business wins. Business and labour and the government are not enemies and should never regard themselves as such, because when business shrinks, when its not doing well, people are laid off and the unions are affected and less taxes are paid to the government.
But if business booms, the converse is true. It is a delicate partnership, and you always have to look at it in that way, and we get the sense that it’s not always done that way.
We have to lobby the respective departments and ministries in government on a number of issues, and we have mutual interests with labour.
It’s in all our interest to make sure there is more investment here, companies here need to do more than survive, they need to thrive, it’s a mutual interest.
Unfortunately when it comes to discussions and negotiations there is this adversarial attitude. Do we have the ear of the government? Yes, we do, in some departments and not in others. You will find that the Department of Trade and Industry is very receptive, but there are ministers who are not available, regrettably.
We also observe the existence of policy incoherence. Sometimes within the same ministry you find the deputy pushes in one direction and the minister in another direction, we have noticed that.
merSETA
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