Eminent business executive Professor Bonang Mohale, who chairs the Business Unity SA (Busa), in describing the state of the economy said South Africa is “a failed state” due to a lack of leadership.
Mohale said at the Business Ethics Series event that the country’s regressing economy was dangerously close to the government being unable to afford the country’s astronomical debt burden and debt service costs.
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“We are not a failing State, but a failed State. Therefore, the importance of ethical leadership has never been more important,” Prof Mohale said.
“Each time we experience load shedding, we are wiping approximately 1% off the GDP (gross domestic product), affecting the future of each and every single South African – that is why we all have to care deeply and profoundly about the country’s future.”
Many CEOs of JSE-listed companies have chastised the government for failing to provide solutions to an ever-growing list of problems.
These include, among other things, the power crisis, a deteriorating logistics industry, infrastructure vandalism, record levels of unemployment and rising poverty, policing, and service delivery.
South Africa’s business sector is on the verge of losing faith in the country’s commitment to combat corruption and boost economic growth under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership.
This comes as business sentiment fell from a seven-year high in January, owing primarily to the negative effects of the worsening power crisis, after gaining strong momentum towards the end of 2022.
Following Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address earlier this month, economists and business leaders urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to walk the walk and protect the state’s money bags, following his declaration of a national state of disaster to deal with the ongoing energy crisis.
Professor Bonang Mohale was speaking on Wednesday night at the launch of the Business Ethics Series, hosted by the South African Chamber UK in collaboration with the University of Pretoria’s GIBS Business School.
The panel discussed, among other things, business ethics, collective action, effective culture in organisations, self-reflection and accountability, building and earning trust, whistleblower protection and support, transparent tender processes, and the importance of professional bodies in South Africa and their proactive participation in the country’s rule of law.
The discussion centred on how businesses can implement a practical turnaround strategy in collaboration with stakeholders to resurrect South Africa’s faltering economy.
Lord Peter Hain, a UK legislator and ethical business activist, warned that South Africa would be unable to combat corruption if a business did not play a role.
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“We believe that South Africa will not emerge from its past and current morass of corruption, dysfunctional public services, cronyism, crime, poverty, low to negative economic growth and unemployment, unless we all stand up to be counted to demand that it never happens again,” Hain said.
“It is, however, important to acknowledge that South African and global businesses are also culpable to State capture, in fact, it couldn’t have happened without the assistance of the business.”
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