SA still gateway to continent

Midrand - Although South Africa faces a number of challenges, it is still seen by the world as the gateway to the African continent and is looked upon for the direction in which emerging economies are moving, says secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Jean-Guy Carrier.

"South Africa is still the gateway to Africa; it is seen; as it can speak for the continent," said Carrier. 

Speaking on international perspectives on employment and the economy at the annual convention of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) on Friday, Carrier said SA was the economy to watch when projecting the growth prospects of rising economies.

"South Africa is a country... that the world looks to for leadership in terms of the direction in which emerging economies are going to go, and how will they work with all of us in the world to make it a better place," said Carrier at the convention organised under the theme 'Mobilising business to create jobs'.

Carrier used the platform to raise concern over the financial strain in Europe. Rising unemployment levels in countries such as Spain and Greece were much talked about, while countries like China had growth rates as high as 7.5% when growth in most of the developed world was declining. 

The ICC secretary general said business had a role to play in difficult financial situations as governments on their own could not solve the problems.

"Governments are not going to get us out of the situation alone. They may be simply too indebted," he said.

The ICC provides a forum for businesses and other organisations to examine and better comprehend the nature and significance of the major shifts taking place in the world economy. It also offers an influential and respected channel for supplying business leadership to help governments manage those shifts in a collaborative manner for the benefit of the world economy as a whole.

South Africa, as it stands, is dealing with its own battle in addressing unemployment, poverty and inequity. 

Although it had the biggest GDP on the continent (which was at 3.2% in the second quarter of 2012, up from 2.7% in the first quarter), South Africa still faced challenges in areas such as the education system. 

"On the issue of competitiveness, taxes are high compared to the rest of the continent and education is needing and productivity is low," noted Carrier.

He called on business not to wait for government to come up with solutions to job creation. 

Sacci's newly appointed president, Clive Manci, said partnerships with government were crucial. 

"The private sector is keen to invest in infrastructure," said Manci of government's major infrastructure plan.

President Jacob Zuma, in his State of the Nation Address earlier this year, announced an infrastructure plan for the country. It lists 17 strategic integrated projects which cover a range of economic and social infrastructure projects across all nine provinces, with a special emphasis on poorer regions. 

The plan is intended to transform the economic landscape of South Africa, create a significant number of new jobs, strengthen the delivery of basic services and support the integration of African economies.

Following a three-day Lekgotla in September, Cabinet agreed to include a new Strategic Integrated Project (SIP) on water and sanitation as part of government's infrastructure plan.

Speaking at the SACCI gala dinner on Thursday evening, President Zuma called on business and labour to work together to ensure "shop floor peace" and stability in the country.

This, the President said, was necessary in order to work towards the collective responsibility of promoting economic growth and development. 

"We have gone through a difficult period in our country in the past few weeks with wild cat strikes, one of which tragically claimed the lives of 46 people in Marikana. We should not seek to portray ourselves as a nation that is perpetually fighting. We must create a climate of constructive social dialogue, which South Africans are known for," he said. - SAnews.gov.za

Govt, Cosatu consultation on GFIP extended

Pretoria - Consultation between government and Cosatu on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) has been extended.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on the GFIP met with the trade union federation in Pretoria on Friday, where it was agreed that more time was needed for both parties to consider the proposals on the table, the IMC said in a statement.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Cosatu President Sidumo Dlamini led the government and labour delegations respectively. Friday's meeting followed consultations between the two earlier in the year.

The meeting is expected to reconvene in a week's time.

Last month, the Constitutional Court set aside a Pretoria High Court ruling handed down in April that prevented the e-toll system from going ahead, pending a judicial review in November. 

This means SANRAL and the Department of Transport are legally entitled to begin rolling out the system.

In light of the Constitutional Court's ruling on the implementation of the GFIP, government has been meeting all the different stakeholders for a second and final round of talks.

Government intends using these meetings to respond to the issues that were raised by the stakeholders and to put on the table the way forward. - SAnews.gov.za

Electricity supply important to aid job creation

Johannesburg - Sustainable job creation will not be possible without an adequate electricity supply, Eskom Chief Executive Officer Brian Dames said on Friday.

"Sustainable job creation will not be possible unless we have adequate supply of electricity to keep the lights on to make sure that business works," Dames said at the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) Annual Convention held in Johannesburg.

He said Eskom's R340 billion expansion programme represented immense job creation potential that would be unearthed in the building of new plants - a boon for the development of local industries and the country's skills base.

Eskom is constructing the Medupi and Kusile coal-fired power plants in Limpopo and Mpumalanga respectively. The parastatal has invested R100 billion in Lephalale in Limpopo and close to R2.6 billion in housing and infrastructure for the local community.

It is expected that the gross domestic product of the area where Kusile is being built in Mpumalanga will increase by about 30%.

"The new capacity we are building will relieve constraints and grow jobs. We have a mandate from government with the emphasis on not just building infrastructure but building local jobs and skills," said Dames, adding that this would leave a legacy of skilled people that could be employed elsewhere in the economy. 

Currently, the skills gap is a challenge. "We have a real problem around skills of people in manufacturing, we don't have enough artisans," he said.

Eskom is addressing the issue by building its expertise through training. A total of R1.4 billion has been invested in training and a total 12 000 people are being up-skilled.

The power parastatal has set up a welding school so as to build skills. "We are criticised because we import welders, we don't have enough high class welders," said Dames. 

To date, Eskom has 5 700 engineers, technicians and artisans, while it has also agreed to employ an additional 5 000 youngsters. 

The new capacity being built will contribute to the economy growing at a faster pace as lack of a secure, reliable electricity infrastructure can be a constraint to the economy. 

If the constraint is not addressed "business cannot grow nor can they invest and create jobs", noted Dames.

"At present we are seeing the demand for electricity declining in the country, mostly for the wrong reasons - because of the weak state of our economy and the impact of the global demand on commodities and not to mention what's happening around industrial action," he explained.

However, demand for electricity will return and the utility would much rather see a faster growing economy, one in which jobs are created.

Eskom's build programme, which began in 2005, is expected to be completed in 2019. -SAnews.gov.za

Development at Nkandla not unique - Nxesi

Pretoria - The developments underway in President Jacob Zuma's hometown of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal are by no means unique, says Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi.

Similar security arrangements would have taken place at the homes of former presidents, although possibly on a different scale, depending on the security analysis, he pointed out.

It was unfortunate and a coincidence that these developments took place at a time when the President was carrying out a major upgrade to his residence at his own expense, the minister added.

Addressing the media in Pretoria on Friday, Nxesi noted that the security project in Nkandla had raised enormous public interest.

"Although it is not the standard practice to comment on security arrangements of dignitaries, it is now clear that certain parties will continue to make allegations about this project unless these serious misconceptions are refuted with facts," he said.

The minister acknowledged that discussing some of these security arrangements may endanger security, but government had decided to give "as many details as the maintenance of sound security arrangements would allow".

He explained that when Zuma was elected as President, security had to be beefed up at places considered high security risks.

A team comprising representatives from the SA Police Service, Defence and State Security reviewed the circumstances surrounding the President, addressed shortcomings and plans were drawn up and implemented.

"As part of this process, new capacity was requested for Nkandla, in and surrounding the private residence of President Zuma. The approach to providing security at the Nkandla high risk area was based on a frank assessment of the security threat there and the requirements of the security forces," said Nxesi.

The security threat analysis pointed to a deep rural area in which there were basically no services such as those in urban areas took for granted, he said.

These included an erratic supply of water; no waterborne sewerage; hazardous access by air; transport difficulties as a result of the steep terrain and mountains; the high threat of fire; the need for security forces to be accommodated locally and the need to improve the roads.

It was also noted that the venue was the location for functions, including meetings of heads of state, Cabinet ministers, other high risk dignitaries, local communities, provincial and national government, as well foreign and local dignitaries.

Nxesi said it was decided that the President's private residence was a private resident, which had been declared as a National Key Point.

It was also decided that there needed to be a clear separation of expenses that were for the private account of the "principal" and those that arose from the state's duty to provide appropriate security.

Security forces and other government employees needed to be accommodated locally as basing them in the nearest town of Eshowe was impractical.

In addition, proper helipads where needed for landing instead of continuing to land in the veld; proper health care provision needed to be provided on site; and military and police assets needed to be properly safeguarded.

Also, "any new capacity should benefit the local community in the short term to the extent possible and then maximised when the principal was no longer President -- for example, the clinic and security compound", the minister added.

Measures needed to satisfy the requirement of the security forces included reinforcing barriers; erecting high security fences, fire fighting capability for the helipads, road construction around the precinct; building of a security compound, security systems for the entire area and the provision of a clinic.

"...Although there were a few hiccups, as would be expected with these high security projects and the difficult local circumstances, most of the state requirements have been met. We have taken special care to allocate expenses to private and public entities, as appropriate," said Nxesi. - SAnews.gov.za

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Head Line/Title of Press release:	John Rabie to share business insights at MEET SUCCESS Cape Town
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Textarea:	South Africa has produced many successful businessmen and woman who have gained valuable knowledge and insights about doing business that upcoming entrepreneurs and executives can glean from. "For this reason, the MEET SUCCESS business networking sessions have been conceptualised", says Kim Webster Managing Partner at Gecko Connect Consulting. MEET SUCCESS is a series of events providing a platform for guests to hear from and engage directly with those who have proven their success within their industry and professional life. The keynote speaker for each event is handpicked from South African success stories, based on specific business achievements that stand out from the norm. "We started off with the theme: 'Maintaining business stamina during global economic crisis.' The next event in the series is themed: Look at what is and imagine what can be..," Webster continued. The keynote speaker and panellist for the evening is John Rabie (Founder and Chairman of the Rabie Property Group & Signatura Private Property Label). Known as one of South Africa's leading property entrepreneurs, John Rabie is recognised beyond the Property Development and Investment Circles. The name Rabie has become synonymous with successful developments throughout the country including the Century City complex in Cape Town. Starting out as a Quantity Surveying student, now over 3 decades later, Rabie is one of the most experienced property players in South Africa. At the age of 57, he is not slowing down and maintains his momentum as a visionary to "look at what is and imagine what can be..." This engagement opportunity will be facilitated by Gary Graham (Director of 3i's Consulting & Founder of FutureFit) Date: 25 October 2012 Time: 18h00 for 18h30 Cost: R300p/p Venue: Atlantic Imbizo Conference Centre -3rd Floor Clocktower Building V&A Waterfront. John will share some insights and business lessons his learnt along the way, followed by a Q&A and cocktail function. If you are interested in attending, please register online at www.geckoconnect.net/events.html. For more information contact info@geckoconnect.net or Kim at 082 227 5209.
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