"It is, understandably, difficult for the head of a political party to acknowledge that many of his party’s policies are primary causes of key ailments listed in his address," said Sakeliga CEO, Piet le Roux.  

"Still, what was needed was not a rephrasing of lofty goals heard before, inspirational quotes, or unaffordable and distracting speculations about some new city. Nor was it encouraging to hear the president suggesting an entrepreneurial role for the state in the very speech bemoaning the state’s incapacity and recent experiences of corruption and self-enrichment." 

Le Roux said Ramaphosa needed to demonstrate leadership by repealing, reconsidering, suspending or announcing exemptions "from failed government programmes and legislation". 

According to Le Roux, these include the national minimum wage and sectoral minimum wages, Black Economic Empowerment, government monopolies on energy generation and myriad others.  

"Moreover, in a time of severe fiscal stress it is more important than ever to announce how money will be saved before announcing new initiatives and further bail-outs running into the billions of rand," said Le Roux. 

"We welcome the president’s restatement of the constitutional mandate and independence of the Reserve Bank. While his reservedness on the proposed constitutional amendment for expropriation without compensation adds no further uncertainty to the market, here too was a missed opportunity to reinvigorate business confidence," he said. 

African News Agency (ANA)