By Rofhiwa Madzena
The Steinhoff saga could not have unfolded at a better time, for the African National Congress (ANC).
It is being used as means for the ANC to drive the narrative that monopoly capital is not colourless as previously stated but is ‘white’, and goes against all that the ANC looks to achieve in South Africa in terms of social and economic transformation.
Speaking at the 54th National Conference of the ANC, President Jacob Zuma did not hold back any punches against corporate South Africa as he delivered his Political Report.
“The private sector is treated with kid gloves, and is referred to in softer terms such as collusion, accounting irregularities or lapses in corporate governance. Theft and corruption in the private sector is as bad as that in government and must be dealt with decisively by law enforcement agencies,” he said.
President Zuma went on to highlight that “corporate greed is a threat to the organisation- corporates looking to garner influence within decision making structures of the ruling party. “We need to protect the organisation from corporate greed.
He went on to say that the movement is 105 years old with experience to match and does not need to utilise corporate South Africa as crutch to manage the social and economic constraints the country currently faces.
He went on to highlight that the ruling party has received numerous threats that the economy will collapse if there is an outcome that the markets do not want and added that the direction of the ANC would not be determined by the private sector.
President Zuma did however recognise that the economy is in dire straits.
“The economy remains fragile. Economic growth of 1.3 per cent is projected for 2017, reaching 2.2 per cent by 2019, supported by global growth, stabilising commodity prices and a modest recovery in business and consumer confidence. Improved policy implementation, which must be a key focus area in this conference, will improve the employment and investment outcomes.”
Opposition which has been following the National Conference described the president’s views on economic transformation as a veiled swipe a presidential hopeful, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa who is known to be the preferred presidential candidate by corporate South Africa.
