South Africa revival needs reform jumpstart, business lobby says

South Africa’s new multi-party administration must prioritise reviving State-run port, water and power networks and work to automate processes to attract investment and boost lagging growth, Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busisiwe Mavuso said. President Cyril Ramaphosa of the African National Congress put together a government of national unity after a May 29 election failed to produce an outright winner. Some voters opted for other parties after 30 years of ANC-majority rule ended in rolling power cuts and logistics snarl-ups, an economy that has barely grown over the past decade, a jobless rate of 33%, endemic crime, and corruption. “The beauty of what we have right now in the GNU is that policymaking has been liberated from Luthuli House,” Mavuso, said in an interview Thursday, referring to the ANC’s headquarters. “There are going to be a whole lot more robust conversations about the policies that are put in place.”