SA Inc is doing it for itself this year to the beat of American singer Aretha Franklin’s lyrics. This as it lightens the load of the government’s challenges to rebuild the economy.
Yes, it is the same song that played on the company report JSE channel last year.
The country faces the Herculean task in 2024 to generate growth amid a myriad international and local headwinds.
In 2023, business in South Africa realised that the government was not coming to the party. They got emotional. CEOs spoke out in annual reports. So they decided to not only get to do it for themselves, but to engage the government and get a better outcome.
The gory details of the millions and billions of rand lost due to load shedding and how companies’ investment in solar, generators and more was put on the operating table and displayed to horrified investors.
Similarly, water infrastructure and transport woes were in the spotlight due to the billions lost, which hamstrung business. This was money that could have been better used to create growth and jobs.
Being greylisted was the cherry on top.
But at the end of the day all businesses created innovative plans on how to find any margin of growth possible. They had to become self-reliant, build their own services and infrastructure, in the face of the government’s seeming inability to do so.
It became akin to the Greek mythology tale of Sisyphus.
Online, it explains that the moral of the myth of Sisyphus is that there is no greater meaning in life but what we give it.
The moral of the myth of Sisyphus is that there is no greater meaning in life, but what we give it.
“When we accept that the universe has no inherent meaning or reason, we can be free of artificial expectations and embrace the absurd,” it explains.
The government put its shoulder to the wheel and presented the country with a Freight Logistics Roadmap and an updated energy roadmap.
And as both the private and public sector try to get that ball of growth going, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana faces the rough task of delivering a Budget next month.
He too, and his predecessors, have faced an uphill battle to deliver Budgets that provide financial stability and direction in the face of these Herculean challenges.
It is perhaps for that reason that Godongwana in his tenure as finance minister has adopted an approach to plain speech, with no analogies to aloe ferox or a higher power.
He will not mince his words as he unveils the state of the economy, with the growing budget deficit, growth to domestic product, taxes required, international economic headwinds, among other factors.
Godongwana with his plain speech aims to inspire investor confidence in South Africa and the ratings agencies.
And as Godongwana goes cap in hand to the World Economic Forum (WEF) held next week to punt SA Inc, it is no coincidence that this year the theme is “Re-Building Trust”.
Sadly, along with South Africa, the world’s population has lost trust in its political leadership after the travesty of what went down in Covid and the lies that are crawling out of the woodwork and being exposed.
From South Africa’s personal protection equipment corruption scandal to pharmaceutical giants greed and policy missteps combined with a high inflation environment, a cost of living crisis, geopolitical volatility, among other factors, it has left a legacy of lack of trust in leaders.
On home turf, South Africa also faces an election year, which is always a risk to business.
In an election year, frequently statistics are distorted by politicians for their own ends, sadly not the greater good, leaving South Africans with a trust deficit.
And South Africa has seen it all. It knows that we have been lied to repeatedly. This has left citizens, infrastructure and the economy a hollow shell.
As South Africans face the triple challenge of inequality, poverty and unemployment, the power crisis and moribund economy is impacting human rights in this country.
Last year, research commissioned by JSE-listed Shoprite to focus national attention on food insecurity found that nearly half (49%) of South Africans would be food insecure by 2025 in its Food Index Report.
At the end of the day, this is just not right. It is not what Nelson Mandela stood for or what South Africa wants.
But providing that silver lining, the Chinese zodiac tells us 2024 is year of the Wood Dragon, a symbol of innovation, strong leadership and green shoots.
So as South Africa and world leaders go to the WEF, network, and talk shop, the key message of that thing we call trust is accountability and taking responsibility.
It is about not mincing your words, it is about leadership, being a bit foolish like poor old Sisyphus and trying to make a difference for the better even if it is one step back and one step forward.
At the end of the day it is the aloe ferox, higher power or the will to just keep on going against all odds. To get things done.
So while perhaps WEF leaders will enjoy perhaps a slice of chocolate cake, bread is what is required in this year we call 2024.
* On a more personal note, I want to thank Independent Media to my appointment as acting Editor of Business Report and Personal Finance after my mentor Adri Senekal de Wet was promoted to Editor-in-chief of Independent Media
BUSINESS REPORT