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This week Tito Mboweni’s budget is likely to offer many words of encouragement to the entrepreneurs of the country – often seen as the salvation of the economy by the politicians. The words will be too late for one South African business that closed its doors this month after nearly half a century of sweat tears and brotherly elbow grease. The furniture makers Bakos Brothers of Johannesburg. CNBC Africa’s Chris Bishop filed this report.

How fate & the economy forced this family owned business to close its doors

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It’s the road to Davos, this morning the leader of the South African delegation. Tito Mboweni set out his pointers on how his going to sell his country to the world. CNBC Africa’s Chris Bishop filed this report.

FinMin Mboweni on Davos

FinMin Mboweni on Davos, budget, thieves, rats and mice

South African finance minister Tito Mboweni held a priceless piece of history in his hands but tossed it the bin in the snows of Switzerland. It would have been worth a fortune today. 



The pile of paper in question contained a speech by the then president- in-waiting Nelson Mandela who was the star of the World Economic Forum in Davos back in 1991. Fresh from 27 years in prison, Mandela addressed the forum and earned a 10-minute standing ovation before he uttered a word.



READ: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2020/01/16/sas-finance-minister-how-rats-and-thieves-are-nibbling-and-pilfering-sas-pockets/">SA’s Finance Minister: How rats and thieves are nibbling and pilfering SA’s pockets</a>



Mandela was also trying to negotiate his way to power by carrying the wishes of the rank-and-file African National Conference members. On the cusp of power they wanted nationalisation of the banks and mines as laid down in the country’s sacred Freedom Charter penned by liberation activists in 1955. 



READ: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/2020/01/16/this-is-how-sa-will-sell-its-investment-case-at-wef-2020/">This is how SA will sell its investment case at WEF 2020</a>



Mandela has laboured over a hand written speech promising nationalisation as
a cornerstone of a socialist economy. At the time, with globalisation on the
march, it would have gone down like a lead balloon with foreign investors who
were already edgy about the ANC, that had not long put down its weapons, taking
over the then biggest economy in Africa.



Mboweni recalled that among the first people Mandela met with in Davos, as
he worked on his nationalisation speech, were leaders of the communist parties
in Vietnam and China. 



&#8220;Both of them said to him we are leaders of communist parties we have
economic liberalisation programmes on our agenda. They said leading a national
liberation movement and we are leading communist movements how come you are
more radical than us?&#8221;



But ANC advisors persuaded Mandela to throw the speech away and the young
31-year-old exiled activist, duly cast the pile of papers in the bin.



“He was persuaded that a very long speech on nationalisation might be appropriate
for another forum but not Davos,” says Mboweni at the breakfast on the road to
Davos held at a Rosebank hotel in Johannesburg Thursday.&nbsp;



“It was a big pile of paper. My biggest regret is that I threw it away
because it is part of history and it would be worth a fortune now. The one we
used was only about three pages.”



Those three pages changed history and ushered in a golden decade of growth
and prosperity. Foreign investors, encouraged by swift free market reforms and
easing of exchange controls, queued up to invest in the new South Africa when
Mandela took power in 1994. GDP growth peaked at around 5% in 2005; fourteen
years on the country’s battered economy, plagued by power cuts, is struggling
to make one per cent.



“It’s no longer 1994!” exclaimed one business editor at the road to Davos
breakfast when asked about the country’s current new investment prospects in
Switzerland , “South Africa is just another small country in a big and more
complicated world.”



Fair enough. There are those in business who feel that South Africa didn’t
cash in enough on those gilded days of the Mandela feel good factor and is now
paying the price in the current difficult world economic climate. Many of them
are probably right. &nbsp;&nbsp;

How Tito Mboweni tossed a fortune into the bin

South African finance minister Tito Mboweni has two major headaches to sort out before the budget in February- how to cut the ballooning civil service wage bill and how to banish “rats and thieves” in the cause of cutting government spending.



Mboweni, who heads to the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, says wastage and corruption were the biggest drains on the country’s fiscus.



READ: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wef/2020/01/16/this-is-how-sa-will-sell-its-investment-case-at-wef-2020/">This is how SA will sell its investment case at WEF 2020</a>



“The problem with government contracts is that when there are the big ones
with lots of money – that is when the rats and thieves come out!” he told a
Davos breakfast in Rosebank, Johannesburg.



“The public sector wage bill is also a huge threat to the fiscus and we will
be trying to find a solution before the February budget.”



Mboweni has his work cut out. Along with the job of convincing the world,
next week, that South Africa can change its economy quicker he has to think
hard about the budget in February. He has pledged many times not to risk
fuelling inflation by printing money to bail out government coffers, the
prudent alternative is likely to take a lot of canny though.



Corruption is only likely to be quelled by convictions and stiff sentences.
The civil service wage bill may be an even more arduous task and more than one
previous finance minister have fought shy of cutting it; the unions are strong
in South Africa’s civil service and are likely to fight the minister
tooth-and-nail.



February’s budget could be very interesting indeed.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

SA’s Finance Minister: How rats and thieves are nibbling and pilfering SA’s pockets

South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni heads to the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week ready to tell world leaders that South
Africa does have electricity – despite what they may have read in the papers –
but also ready to admit that the country is lagging in its economic reform.



The outspoken finance minister will field questions in the Swiss ski resort
– where 30,000 delegates will gather next week &#8211; resort from everyone from
presidents to the heads of multinational companies about everything from reform
the economy of Zimbabwe. The South African mission is bent on networking with
international investors and journalists asked Mboweni at a breakfast in
Rosebank, Johannesburg, Thursday about how difficult will this be for a country
struggling to maintain its electricity supply.



“When we are asked why there is no electricity in South Africa our answer is
going to be that this is not true. Yes, we are experiencing load shedding while
Eskom fixes this… You cannot be a doom day sayer and say there is not
electricity in South Africa. It is not true and that is the approach we will
take,” says Mboweni.



“We don’t want to go and lie to people if you lie to people you get caught.”



The finance minister also said the unbundling of the national power
generator Eskom into generation, transmission, distribution entities was moving
forward and be financed from the state budget and not the printing of money.



Yet Mboweni was scathing about failing state owned enterprises in general.



“We will tell in Davos of the determined effort to put state owned
enterprises on a good path, those which do work, those that don’t work should
get out of the way.” 



The finance minister also admitted that the structural reforms of South
Africa, promised with the advent of President Cyril Ramaphosa two years ago,
are behind and he expects questions about this in Davos.



“They will ask about the Reserve Bank and I will tell them the Reserve Bank
will stay independent and serve the needs of the people without fear nor
favour. We will also tell them that it is honest to say the pace of structural
reforms is not the way we want it to be so we must speed up,” says Mboweni.



Economic development minister Ebrahim Patel said South Africa could report
back to Davos on progress on a number of promises made in Switzerland last
year. He said the business portal – a one stop shop for entrepreneurs – had
made setting up and registering a business in South Africa much quicker.
&nbsp;&nbsp;

This is how SA will sell its investment case at WEF 2020

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During his second Mid-term Budget Policy Statement, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni asked for ‘patriotic and country-loving’ discussions with unions in order to reduce South Africa’s government’s wage bill. At almost R600 billion, the state wage bill represents about 35 per cent of projected annual spending of about R1.67-trillion. Public Servants Association&#8217;s Deputy General Manager Tahir Maepa joins CNBC Africa for more.

Showdown with unions looms ahead of planned job cuts at SOEs

By Kopano Gumbi, CNBC Africa reporter 



State-owned entities are on the chopping block. The minister of finance, Tito Mboweni says the state will be selling some assets and that discussions are underway to re-evaluate the countries portfolio.



READ: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2019/10/30/sa-mtbps2019-finance-minister-tito-mbowenis-full-speech/">SA #MTBPS2019: Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s full speech</a>



“We have an agreement that we are selling assets but we won’t tell you which ones,” said the minister ahead of his medium-term budget policy statement. He says the government has between now and the budget speech of February 2020 to negotiate which assets will have to be let go. The minister said South Africa needs to have a serious conversation, with no grand standing, if it is to get back on the growth path.



READ: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/financial/2019/10/30/mtbps2019-low-growth-high-spend-continues-to-plague-sa-economy-but-saa-eskom-get-more-funds/">#MTBPS2019: Low growth, high spend continues to plague SA economy, but SAA, Eskom get more funds</a>



The country currently has a tax collection
shortfall of R53 billion and a widening budget deficit. In addition, South
Africa is struggling with a runaway debt-to-GDP ratio, which the minister
called unsustainably high. Releasing some assets would inject some much needed
liquidity into the state’s budget and relieve the burden of constantly bailing
out unsuccessful state owned companies.



“Maybe the time has come to consider
closing or selling SA Express,” said the minister, “it may be an interesting
case study, if in future you want to close something else.” SAA and SA Express
have been struggling to remain a going concern. The airline requires R21 billion
in order to stay in the sky but the government is only willing to extend R5.5
billion to SAA and R300 million to SA Express. 



Public expenditure needs to be reduced by
R250 billion a year in order to bring down the countries debt-to-GDP ratio to
an acceptable level, the minister advised. &nbsp;But the minister admits that getting to this
point would require very decisive actions.

SA #MTBPS2019: We are selling assets Finance Minister Tito Mboweni declares

By Kopano Gumbi, reporter at CNBC Africa 



In his inaugural medium-term budget policy statement, Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni had the difficult task of explaining to South Africans and the broader investment community how each one of the levers&#8211; save, spend and grow&#8211; would be pulled, and in what ratio, to arrest fiscal wastage, reignite economic growth, stave off a sovereign downgrade and improve the lives of 56 million South <a>Africans</a>. 



READ:<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/zdnl-mc/2019/10/30/sa-mtbps2019-finance-minister-tito-mbowenis-full-speech/">SA #MTBPS2019: Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s full speech</a>



The South African economy has struggled to recover after over a decade of low and jobless growth. The downward spiral, partly initiated by the global financial crisis, was exacerbated by a failure to implement structural reforms, policy uncertainty and wide spread looting. GDP growth since 2010 has averaged at 1.8 percent. Lagging far behind continental peers of similar market sizes and economic activity. South Africa’s debt-to-GDP ratio is currently at an unsustainably high, 56.7 percent, with outlooks estimating up to 80 percent in the next decade, if nothing changes. 



READ:<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/financial/2019/10/30/mtbps2019-low-growth-high-spend-continues-to-plague-sa-economy-but-saa-eskom-get-more-funds/">#MTBPS2019: Low growth, high spend continues to plague SA economy, but SAA, Eskom get more funds</a>



“Our
problem is that we spend more than we earn. It is as simple as that,” said the
minister, while delivering his speech in parliament. And while he tried to
assure the public that this bad habit would soon be kicked, the government
finds itself in the not so simple situation of needing to save, spend and grow
the economy.



GDP growth has been revised down for the year
to 0.5 percent. In February this year growth was forecast at 1.5 percent but
was later revised down to 0.6 percent. Unemployment is at the highest it has
been in over 10 years, currently at 29.1 percent. In this MTBPS, the government
acknowledges that there is little chance that the 9.4 million unemployed adults
will find a job. 



Tax revenue collection continued to be constrained. The government expects a collection shortfall of R53 billion this year and R84 billion next year. The majority of tax, 38 percent, is collected from personal income taxes, 16.7% from company taxes and just over a quarter from Value-Added Tax. 



“We
must also wean state-owned companies off the national budget. They must learn
to stand on their own feet,” said Mboweni during his speech. Currently this is
easier said than done. The state has committed to spend an additional R60
billion this year to make sure delinquent state-owned entities remain going
concerns. 



Power
utility Eskom, is seen as the biggest risk to the South African economy and
will receive an extra R26 billion in this financial year. &nbsp;This is in addition to the R23 billion it
received at the beginning of the year. Smaller state-owned entities will
receive R11 billion and R450 million will be given to support an increase in
student housing. On top of that, the National Prosecuting Authority will receive
R1.3 billion to continue its work, including prosecuting state capture crimes.
And the South Africa Revenue Services will receive R1 billion over two years. 



Another state-owned entity which has failed to
take off is struggling airline South African Airways and its subsidiary SA
Express. The companies are currently discussing the possibility of a merger as
well as equity buyouts from the private sector. 



“We have essentially chosen to subsidise the
middle class and wealthy flying around the country and other parts of the
world,” said Mboweni, “rather than the ordinary workers who sit in old trains
from the townships every day, often getting stuck and being late for work.” The
minister has been clear in that he doesn’t see the value of having a state-controlled
airline, and yet the national carrier will receive R5.5 billion in a bailout
this year. 



Savings efforts have been muted, the minister says
that efforts to reduce spend and save have not materialised. Stricter measures
around cabinet and provincial executive salaries have been proposed, as well as
the controversial e-Toll system remaining as an additional revenue collection
stream.



Whether
the minister’s stern words will be enough to stave off a sovereign downgrade,
remains to be seen.&nbsp; Moody’s is the last
of the international ratings agencies to keep South Africa at investment grade.
They are expected to release a note on our ratings on November 1, 2019. 



“We
shall return to this House next February with the nation’s beloved Aloe Ferox
plant having flourished and show a government at work,” said the minister in
closing. 



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#MTBPS2019: Low growth, high spend continues to plague SA economy, but SAA, Eskom get more funds

SA #MTBPS2019: Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s full speech

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South Africa will be waiting in anticipation tomorrow to hear what the Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni has to say as he addresses government plans for the next three years at the medium-term budget policy statement. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Kopano Gumbi filed this special report.

What will the outcome be for finmin Mboweni’s MTBPS?

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As Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan announced a special paper on Eskom and unemployment hit a 11 year low the Currency took a hit. The rand reversed the gains of recent past, losing as much 20 cents to the dollar. Will tomorrow&#8217;s medium-term budget policy statement by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni also wag the currency tail? What will happen to our state owned enterprises? Xhanti Payi, Lead Researcher and Economist at Nascence Advisory joins CNBC Africa for pre medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS).

Here’s what finmin Mboweni’s MTBPS should address to revive the economy

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The ANC NEC gathered at Luthuli house earlier to discuss plans to deal with South Africa&#8217;s ailing economy based on a meeting they had over the weekend. The restructuring of state-owned enterprises, attacks on foreign nationals and gender-based violence was top priority. CNBC Africa’s Yolanda Mabanga filed this report.

ANC’s NEC outlines turnaround plans for SA’s ailing economy

It was a <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wef/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="World Economic Forum (WEF) (opens in a new tab)">World Economic Forum </a><a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wef/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="World Economic Forum (WEF) (opens in a new tab)">(WEF)</a> on Africa like no another as thousands of delegates from around the world descended on Cape Town, South Africa from the 4th-6th September. &nbsp;They were there to <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/05/how-to-garner-a-large-slice-of-africas-overcrowded-telecoms-market/">strike deals</a>, see what the <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/05/standard-chartered-banks-saif-malik-on-the-digital-era-of-banking-in-africa/">best of Africa had to offer</a> and <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/uncategorized/2019/09/10/wef-africa-debate-africas-economic-update/">how its economies are performing</a>. For example, <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/09/zimbabwe-is-working-on-currency-challenges-mnangagwa/">Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa</a>, <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/04/masisi-khama-is-not-botswana-and-neither-is-masisi/">Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi</a>, <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/uncategorized/2019/09/06/the-good-the-bad-and-ugly-zimbabwes-founding-father/">Namibia’s President Hage Geingob</a> and <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/04/finmin-mthuli-ncube-on-the-investment-case-for-zimbabwe/">Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube</a> went into detail during their interviews with CNBC Africa at the World Economic Forum Africa on how their Southern African counties are open for business.


		
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The delegates were also there to discuss and
devise polices on “<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/uncategorized/2019/09/12/why-siemens-believes-east-africa-is-an-investment-hotspot/">Shaping
Inclusive Growth</a> and <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/uncategorized/2019/09/10/visa-breakfast-panel-the-impact-of-4ir-on-the-state-of-female-entrepreneurship/">Shared
Futures in the Fourth Industrial Revolution</a>”, a subject both South Africa’s
<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/02/shaping-inclusive-growth-and-shared-futures-in-4ir-wef-africa-holds-media-briefing-ahead-of-wef-2019/">Finance
Minister Tito Mboweni</a> and <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/04/emir-sanusi-on-how-can-africa-achieve-inclusive-growth/">Nigeria’s
Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II</a> where particularly passionate about. 



But while inside the Cape Town
International Convention Centre (CITCC) things were cordial it was outside the
CITCC where the real action was happening. 



<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/04/sa-women-protest-against-gbv-at-wefafrica19/">Hundreds
of protesters gathered</a> against gender-based violence, and members of the
Nigerian delegation departed on the first day of WEF Africa in protest against
the xenophobic violence that rocked the country. &nbsp;Even South Africa’s <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/uncategorized/2019/09/05/sa-president-addresses-gbv-afrophobic-violence/">President
Cyril Ramaphosa had to take time out of his busy schedule</a> at WEF Africa to
address the continent and investors on these matters. 


		
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Delegates at the event spoke out strongly against
Afrophobia during their interviews with CNBC Africa, such as: 



<ul><li><a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/04/anglogold-ashantis-sipho-pityana-on-how-sa-is-dealing-with-xenophobic-attacks/">AngloGold Ashanti’s Sipho Pityana on how SA is dealing with xenophobic attacks</a></li><li>South Africa’s International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor: <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/05/sa-embassy-shut-in-nigeria-buhari-still-to-visit/">SA embassy shut in Nigeria – Buhari still to visit</a></li><li>The African Union Commission’s <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/04/albert-muchanga-on-how-mutual-tolerance-is-key-in-trade-xenophobia-africas-shared-future/">&nbsp;Albert Muchanga: on how mutual tolerance is key in trade, xenophobia &amp; Africa’s shared future</a>.</li></ul>



On the final day WEF Africa was also marked
by the passing of an African villain and liberator, Zimbabwe’s former President
Robert Mugabe, both inside and outside the CITCC people remembered him. 



Such as:



<ul><li>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/uncategorized/2019/09/06/namibian-president-geingob-on-the-good-the-bad-and-ugly-zimbabwes-founding-father/">Namibian
president Geingob on the good, the bad and ugly: Zimbabwe’s founding father</a></li><li><a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/06/zanu-pf-spokesperson-mandaza-reflects-on-mugabes-contribution-to-zimbabwes-liberation-struggle/">Zanu-PF
Spokesperson Mandaza reflects on Mugabe’s contribution to Zimbabwe’s liberation
struggle</a></li><li><a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/06/tiamiyou-radji-on-mugabe-the-fight-he-fought-has-yielded-freedom-for-us/">Tiamiyou
Radji on Mugabe: “The fight he fought has yielded freedom for us”</a></li></ul>

Missed the World Economic Forum (WEF) Africa 2019? Here are all the highlights

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s economic growth is unlikely to reach the treasury’s target of 1.5% in 2019 because conditions have changed and the country is facing increasing headwinds, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said on Friday.



This week ratings agency Moody’s, the last of the top three credit firms to rate South Africa’s debt at investment level, said it had lowered its growth forecast to 0.7% from 1%.



The central bank sees gross domestic product at 0.6% this year.



Both have cited slow economic reforms as the key drag on economic activity, and massive bailouts to state-owned companies, including 59 billion rand ($4.05 billion) to power firm Eskom.



This has limited the government’s scope for stimulus and raised debt while the resultant uncertainty has kept investment subdued.



“The assumptions underlying the forecasts have clearly changed &#8230; the actual deficit now is probably much higher,” Mboweni told a banking conference in Johannesburg.



He said that increasing calls for the treasury to bail out state firms was putting pressure on growth and spending.



“We must re-focus our economy on agriculture …but we also have to continue to support Eskom, because without electricity there is no growth,” Mboweni said.



A Reuters poll of economists this week forecast South African economic growth at 0.7% this year, up from 0.6% in the previous forecast. Second quarter growth bounced back 3.1% after a revised contraction of 3.1% in the first quarter.



($1 = 14.5521 rand)



Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; editing by Andrew Heavens and Jason Neely

South Africa’s is likely to miss 1.5% growth target, here’s why

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The World Economic Forum (WEF) held a pre-meeting press conference with South Africa&#8217;s Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni. CNBC Africa’s Head of Programming Chris Bishop unpacks events that unfolded.

Shaping inclusive growth and shared futures in 4IR: WEF Africa holds media briefing ahead of WEF 2019

By Chris Bishop, Head of Programming, CNBC Africa 



As the business minds ready for the World Economic Forum Africa
in Cape Town next week the finance minister of the continent’s most advanced
economy revealed Treasury’s plan how to revive growth and create a million jobs.
Economists say the plan is nothing new and cast doubt on what good it will do.
It is likely to generate talk – the fear must be that it is all it may do.



The forthright South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni
published the plan this week, <a href="http://www.treasury.gov.za/comm_media/press/2019/Towards%20an%20Economic%20Strategy%20for%20SA.pdf">on
the Treasury website</a>, giving the public until mid- September to comment,
just ahead of the mini-budget in October. Many are seeing this as an unspoken challenge
to the slow moving cabinet following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s promise in the
state of the nation address, in February, of better economic times. &nbsp;



Analyst Peter Attard Montalto, the head of capital markets research
at Intellidex in London, says the timing of the growth plan is significant
ahead of the mini-budget in October.



“Treasury is not really reinventing the wheel with this,”
says Attard Montalto.



“I think the purpose of this is to deliver a giant kick up
the backside to cabinet.”



Treasury and Mboweni claim the plan will create growth of
2.3% as well a million new jobs. It plans to boost agriculture with better
marketing of exports, telecom reform promising more broadband, more development
finance, a 25% decrease in red tape over five years to make business cheaper
and easier. How the latter will be calculated boggles the mind.&nbsp; 



“Ï think there is nothing new here. It is very clear that
the Ramaphosa administration is weakening and I think his ministers are getting
scared,” says economist Lumkile Mondi, Senior Lecturer at the School of
Economic &amp; Business Sciences, Wits University.&nbsp; &nbsp;



“What they need to do is implement and take the political
flak. Trevor (Manuel) took the flak for his economic reforms many years ago –
why can’t they?”



At least one of the proposals for growth put forward by
Mboweni is a no-brainer. He calls for the changing of the visa regime to boost
tourism. The former Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom told me last year that it
would be done at the stroke of a pen and would give the industry a fillip. Why
the government is still debating it a year later is beyond most people in the
industry.



There is another proposal in the plan that may also raise
eyebrows. Mboweni proposes that the government could auction off South Africa’s
ageing coal-fired power stations.



“Private business could make money out of this with the
contracts that are attached to these power stations, but this plan is a bit
pie-in-the-sky. Politically, it is not on the table.”



Reform towards growth, creating a million jobs, would be as
welcome as a glass of water in the desert for the dry South African economy
right now.



Yet, talk can be as abundant as jobs are scarce when it
comes to growth plans. Earlier, I checked my notebook from a hot sweaty December
afternoon, in Pretoria, back in 2009.



I was at the Union Buildings with the then President Jacob
Zuma as he gave us a report back on his pledge to create jobs, in response to
the global economic crisis, back in 2008. In that year, President Zuma set up a
task team to work out how to create millions of jobs.



The report back didn’t go well. It turned out that the
government had lost 959,000 jobs in that first year of job creation. True, Zuma
assured us, 4,482 had been saved through arbitration, 7,000 more through training
instead of retrenchment…The Industrial Development Corporation claimed to have saved
an estimated 7,700 jobs by lending to distressed companies.



Yet, nearly a million jobs were lost, not created. A note to
the Ramaphosa administration that talk and task teams won’t get you far; the
time for action is now.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Tito Mboweni’s tips for economic growth in SA – is it more talk and task teams?

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Rating agency Moody’s has warned that the tabling of an appropriation bill in parliament to give Eskom an extra R59 billion of government support by finance minister Tito Mboweni is “credit negative” for the sovereign as it is a further drain on fiscal resources. Moody’s is the last of the three big international ratings agencies to have South African debt at investment grade. CNBC Africa spoke to author of this report Lucie Villa, Moody’s Lead Sovereign Analyst for South Africa.

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FinMin Mboweni on Davos, budget, thieves, rats and mice

How Tito Mboweni tossed a fortune into the bin

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Moody’s: Here’s how the Eskom govt bailout will impact SA’s rating

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