Peddlers of doom for South Africa remain hard at work, but the real story of South Africa is one of hope, South African President Thabo Mbeki argued on Friday in his weekly online column, ANC Today.
Mbeki dwelled at length on negative perceptions of black people by white people both in South Africa and abroad — arguing that there is a perception that blacks are sexually rampant and unable to run companies
He said the “purveyors of pessimism” remain hard at work marketing “the canard that the new South Africa is gradually sinking under the combined burden of rampant crime and corruption, maladministration, growing impoverishment, a lethargic economy and massive job losses, a rapidly increasing death rate, and growing marginalisation of the national minorities”.
But, instead, the reality is a story “of a growing and resilient economy”, said the president.
Information from the Grant Thornton consultancy’s International Business Owners’ Survey of 2004 — issued this month and covering 26 countries, including South Africa — tells a story “that is radically different from the one communicated by those who find it in their interest to propagate negative stereotypes about us [South Africa] as an African country”.
“It is a story of increasing job opportunities. It is a story of hope for a better life for those who will qualify from our skills-development programmes. It is a story that says the principal owners of productive property are supremely confident about the future of our country.
“It contains an appeal by these business people to our government, that it should make it easier for them to increase their productive activities and create new jobs.”
He noted that the Grant Thornton survey reported that South African business people “were more than twice as confident about their economic prospects compared to the previous year”.
He reported that “our business people came fourth in the level of global business confidence, with India topping the rankings, followed by Australia and the United States”.
The survey found that during the previous year, 56% “of our companies had increased their number of employees. Thirty percent had maintained the same number, and 13% had cut down on jobs. During the previous three years, 75% had increased their revenue/turnover.”
Mbeki said concerning the current year, “79% expected to increase their turnover/output. Fifty-one percent expected to increase the number of their employees, and 6% foresaw a decrease. Fifty-four percent would invest in new plant and machinery, and 36% in new buildings.
“Compared to the previous year, 23% said they were ‘significantly more focused’ on attracting and retaining key skilled members of staff; 48% were ‘more focused’; and 22% were ‘as focused’ as during the previous year.
“The business people identified regulations and availability of skilled workers as the two biggest constraints in terms of the possibility to grow their businesses. Most interestingly, contrary to everything said about the impact of crime, the threat of terrorism and insecurity in general were insignificant as causes of stress among the business people.” — I-Net Bridge