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EF: What accomplishments from your previous years at BUSA are you most proud of, and which ones do stakeholders think you accomplished most successfully?
CC: I believe that BUSA has been effectively positioned as the largest business organization in the country, serving as a reliable voice for business as a whole rather than simply its members. Since it is in the country's best interests, Business for South Africa (BUSA) was founded on the structure that it is not a stand-alone business organization but rather a platform we use for any work we collaborate with the government.
Consequently, the events of the past few years, especially in light of COVID, along with the work we have been doing on the Businesses for South Africa (B4SA) platform regarding energy and logistics as well as crime and corruption, have positioned BUSA as an organization that, first, effectively represents businesses and, second, works to create an environment that is legislative, regulatory, and policy-wise favourable for businesses to operate in. Thirdly, in recent years, we have also adopted the view that, given the circumstances in which South Africa finds itself, businesses cannot adopt the stance that it will simply wait for the government to establish the proper laws and regulations before taking action.
The structured partnership between BUSA and the government shows that we can hold the government accountable and strengthen its ability to carry out its mandate in the country's best interests. To bring expertise into government, we have raised funds. We have raised R100 million in the energy sector and appointed 40 members to the national Energy Crisis Committee. As a result, there hasn't been any load shedding in a while. The private sector's electricity generation has increased by 5000 megawatts in the past year. The regulatory environment has been established, and we are now taking a similar approach to logistics. We established the National Logistics Crisis Committee and are currently bidding down the necessary resources to provide the government with the necessary resources to carry out this task. While we are a little behind schedule, we are still working on other projects related to crime and corruption.
BUSA has proven its adaptability by demonstrating our ability to adapt our strategy and relationship with the government to the specific circumstances in our country at any given time. That does not imply that we do not hold the government to account or criticize it; rather, it means that we are moving in the right direction and making steady progress in the three areas where we are collaborating with it. The President said in April last year that we would meet every six to eight weeks to assess our progress. There are roughly ten ministers and heads of security, law enforcement, the prosecuting authority, Transnet, Eskom, and other agencies present at these meetings with our fifteen to twenty CEOs. There are few places in the world where business has played the role BUSA has been playing in the last few years. We have raised between 300 and 400 million Rands to carry out our job, but most of that has been used to provide the government with more capability.
The business community has adopted the stance that we must address the country's infrastructure, socioeconomic issues, and other structural problems. If we are successful in doing so, we will also be helping to create an environment that will support the growth of the business sector.
EF: How can you make sure the legacy you have been creating continues?
CC: Since Khulekani Mathe worked with me at the Banking Association, I know him rather well. I was thrilled to see him raise his hand for Deputy CEO at BUSA. He started working with me in February of last year, so he has been with BUSA for more than a year already. When my contract with BUSA expired in March 2022, they asked me to continue working for another two years. In March 2024, they asked me to continue working, and I agreed to do so until December on the understanding that Khulekani would become the CEO designate. We made this publicly known, and now that it's been handed over, it was a successful transition. We have had plenty of time to complete the transfer.
BUSA is currently mainly led by Khulekani. He works with me on the Business for South Africa (B4SA) and other things I deal with, but he has been running BUSA and doing an excellent job. He is equally as passionate, which gives me a lot of confidence in him. Khulekani is well-versed in the subject matter, having served during Thabo Mbeki's Presidency as one of the drafters of the National Development Plan.
EF: How can the level of trust in South Africa be raised? What criteria must be met to build trust?
CC: The government and businesses now have more trust due to our work over the past year. Certain government officials will inevitably take the stage and make outrageous remarks. One of the Presidency's communication ministers made public remarks a few months ago, stating that businesses are not collaborating with the government. We immediately brought up the ministers' remarks during the meeting with the president, and the president said that we were correct, and that action was required. The president is open to collaboration with the business being successful. It appears to me that trust has been established between business and government.
We released a statement before the elections stating that while it is not our place to dictate how the government should operate, it is our responsibility to outline our expectations. We made a few points clear. First, we want a government that upholds and defends the Constitution. Second, we desire a government that fosters and establishes the conditions necessary for an economy based on free markets. Thirdly, we want a government that recognizes the importance of business to the economy and works to support it. In addition, we want a government that upholds law and order and possesses the knowledge, resources, and political will to provide services to the people and enhance their quality of life.
First and foremost, it is important to recognize that the ANC handled the election results quite well. The elections have demonstrated how robust and effective our democracy will contribute to developing public trust. Though there will undoubtedly be ups and downs, I am fairly certain that we can accomplish some positive things if we continue to build on our cooperation and collaborate with the new government. We are now there; I believe we have a foundation to grow. I'm happy to be in South Africa, in light of what is happening in other regions, such as Europe and America. The ANC and DA taking the lead in forming the Government of National Unity was positively received by the markets.
EF: What goals do you have for creating a functional, affordable, and constitutionally sound NHI? What is necessary for it to take place?
CC: We made it known to the president, both public and private, that we would evaluate all of the options if the government funded the bill. We have made it clear that we support the NHI and believe that it is a useful first step toward achieving universal healthcare coverage if drafted correctly. We provided thorough submissions outlining the necessary changes and their justifications to the National Council of Provinces and Parliament, but all of that was ignored.
After the amount of work we put into the NHI, we are now at a point where we can take legal action if necessary. That is possible, but the Department of Health has also contacted us and asked if we could assemble strong government and business teams to discuss this. We are looking into it but will not participate in any conversations regarding how the Department of Health intends to implement the NHI in its current form. It is perfectly acceptable if the talks focus on getting closer to the necessary adjustments, even if they happen over the next few months. We will then speak with them. We've decided to get more involved since we do not want this to go on too long. If those interactions do not work out in the coming months, we will think about taking legal action.
On this, AfriForum has already taken the government to court. We will also take them to court if needed because has a significant macroeconomic impact in addition to the impact it has to the healthcare industry. We shall try to work things out through engagement if we can. All interested parties are part of this, including doctors, private hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and others. Therefore, from a business perspective, we are pursuing this as inclusive as possible.
We have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the American Chamber of Commerce in Washington. We also organized a roundtable for President Ramaphosa and over thirty of the country's leading CEOs during the UN General Assembly in September of last year. That was in New York; Rick Menell, who is currently extremely interested and a member of the old mining family, was also present, along with Martin Kingston and me. Following my speech and that of the president in charge of the American Chamber of Commerce's Africa desk, it was Q&A. The majority of the questions concerned NHI. Of the companies listed, only one was related to the medical field; the others included Citi, Procter & Gamble, Amazon, etc.
EF: Given that you are leaving and have a clear plan, what can we anticipate from BUSA over the next five years? What is the roadmap for sustaining sustainable investment in South Africa's healthcare ecosystem?
CC: One crucial element is that, as BUSA, we will chair the B20 the following year, an amazing chance to promote South Africa to collaborate with B20 partners. We also want to explore ways to jointly advance trade and investment ties between our countries rather than merely the partnerships themselves. We want to include African businesses in this since it is the first time an African business organization is chairing the B20.
I just ended a call with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), who expressed interest in collaborating. Additionally, the American Chamber of Commerce in Washington and CIB in America, which represents employers, expressed a desire to cooperate with us on this as well. I informed my chair and Khulekani that major organizations now want to collaborate with us. Since they are currently chairing, we stay in touch with and communicate with our colleagues in Brazil regularly. In the upcoming months, Khulekani and I plan to travel down there. Therefore, we want to ensure we perform the tasks as well as possible.
Considering that South African businesses are present on the African continent and that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement has been concluded, I believe that one of the main issues for BUSA going forward is that we need to play a much bigger role. For the simple reason that the organizations are ineffective, BUSA hasn't been working all that much with Business Africa and other sister groups. We've decided to take a more active part in coordinating African business and ensuring that the Continental Free Trade Agreement promotes intra-African investment and trade.
I have been adamant that we cannot ignore the fact that geopolitics has altered throughout the past several years. We need to start considering how businesses should react to some of the recent changes in the geopolitical landscape. We want to keep and deepen our relationships with the North. Still, we also need to figure out how to engage with the South realistically and positively since that reality exists, and when correctly analyzed, I don't think it's bad. Although I do not think of BRICS as an alternative to the IMF and the World Bank, it does represent a sizable portion of the global economy and population, and we must continually consider how best to support South African businesses in this regard.
Lastly, restructuring the business architecture in South Africa is one of the things we are considering. We're asking ourselves things like: Are we being efficient? Are we being effective? The relationship between Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) and BUSA is under question. Busisiwe Mavuso, CEO of BLSA, and I collaborate closely. However, one may wonder if we need both organizations.
In the coming years, BUSA will need to map out precisely what the architecture of South African business should look like and figure out how to represent business most effectively and efficiently while also being a credible representative of business that the government and other stakeholders view as such. These are a few of the items I believe are crucial to business.
