ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma is on a charm offensive to assure global markets and local investors that his potential presidency will not be characterised by radical changes meant to appease his left-wing backers.
Zuma, whose candidacy as ANC president is backed by left-wing organisations within the ANC-led tripartite alliance, is caught between a rock and a hard place. Labour federation Cosatu and the South African Communist Party expect him to pave the way for a transition from a capitalist macro-economic framework to a socialist future.
Cosatu is opposed to privatisation of state assets and seeks to implement the Freedom Charter’s nationalisation policies.
In a campaign to allay the fears of the business community Zuma has sought to charm foreign and local investors at private breakfast meetings.
Analysts suggest the investment community and markets appear to be readying themselves for the possibility of a Zuma presidency, and “decided to hear it from the horse’s mouth”. Author William Mervin Gumede says: “As the December conference draws near, the business sector wants to get a sense of Zuma’s economic policy positions — up to now obscured by insistence that his policy positions are strictly those of the ANC. At the end of the day, investors will ask for reassurances about the safety of their investments — and that the country remain business- friendly.”
Zuma has been traversing the globe recently to shed his anti-business tag. In April, he organised a meeting with officials of the European Union in Brussels, where he met members of the European Parliament, EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
Last month he met with international fund managers at the invitation of Citigroup in Johannesburg.
Chairperson of the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust, Don Mkhwanazi, said: “What big business needs is predictability and consistency of policies. It does not really matter who is the political head. I mean, China is receiving so much investment despite being a communist state.”
Mkhwanazi says Zuma will not tinker with the current policies but is expected to emphasise issues such as education and rural development. “Comrade Msholozi has stated it in no uncertain terms that each leader has his own flavour or emphasis.”
He said the antagonism between big business and Zuma stemmed from Zuma’s insistence that the state should also play a role in capital investment and ensuring positive economic growth. “Big business is interested in knowing to what extent the state enterprises should be involved.
“The nature of the capitalists is that they are too happy for the state to get involved when the risks are high, but as soon as they realise profits they want the state out.
“Zuma’s argument is that state enterprises can play a more crucial role in the areas of education, rural development and providing the necessary infrastructure,” Mkhwanazi says.