Business Leadership South Africa congratulates the ANC delegates on the election of the new leadership team led by president Cyril Ramaphosa.

We call upon the new leadership of the ANC to now focus on the urgent task of addressing inequality, unemployment and poverty in our country. This can only be tackled by growing an inclusive economy that creates jobs. For this to happen, we require regulatory certainty and policy stability that will accelerate and deepen transformation.

More than ever, we need focused, ethical and moral leadership from the ruling party, government and business, working in partnership. Rooting out corruption and defeating state capture in both the private and public sectors remain a priority.

Business believes in South Africa. We stand ready to work with this ANC-led government towards achieving our NDP 2030 goals. We share the values set out in our constitution. We want to play our full part in the transformation that South Africa so desperately needs. When the economy is strong, South Africa is strong. When business does well, society generally does well too.

“Our call is a simple one: we cannot shatter the hopes of millions of South Africans. Government, business and civil society must work hard together to fundamentally change South Africa from a land in which the majority still live with little hope to one in which they can now live and work with dignity, with a renewed sense of self-esteem and confidence in the future,” said Bonang Mohale, CEO of BLSA.

Mohale continued: “For its part, business, as represented by BLSA, is committed to working with this new leadership. As set out in our Contract with South Africa, we have committed ourselves to work towards faster, inclusive growth, transformation of our workplaces, growth of small business and, most importantly, job creation – especially amongst our youth. In the last few months, we have made considerable progress in implementing these decisions. BLSA looks forward, with great anticipation, to working with the new president and team.”