The BLSA Hub

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The National Electricity Crisis Committee last year pulled together the best minds on electricity and set out a plan to address the crisis.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

BLSA has called on government to take a clear position on arms trades with Russia, as other non-aligned countries like China have done.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The attack on De Ruyter and the risk assessment that BLSA part-funded must be seen in terms of who stands to benefit.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Last week I got to see a success story of what can happen when business and local government work together.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Our greatest economic challenge is the electricity crisis. And we have a plan to deal with it.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

While the investment conference’s R1.5 trillion is impressive, it has happened during five years of the weakest economic growth we’ve seen for decades.  

By Busisiwe Mavuso

It requires constant care to position the “brand” of South Africa as an excellent opportunity for investors.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We need to give international companies the sense that they are welcome in South Africa and the confidence to plan on investments here without the fear that they will simply be unable to send their people because we cannot manage our own bureaucracy. 

By Busisiwe Mavuso

I believe last week was a positive indicator of how government and the private sector can work together to improve the security situation.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We know what needs to happen, and so does government. We just need to get it done.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We have over the last few years had to find ways of working to overcome all kinds of external shocks and today presents another.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

BLSA is already working on the areas of concern expressed by S&P and the issues that are keeping South Africans, international stakeholders and investors awake at night.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We hope to see the creation of the RMF become the turning point in our efforts to address the electricity crisis that has plagued us for years.

The electricity crisis has been exacerbated by the lack of alignment between key stakeholders.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

A lack of delivery on key reforms, maladministration and corruption have conspired to bring the country to what is a crisis position.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

In drawing attention to progress, we shouldn’t minimise the very real and serious challenges we face.

With resolving the electricity crisis so critical to our economic prospects, BLSA hopes government will be united in implementing the Energy Action Plan.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The conversations I had last week demonstrated the great deal of creative energy and passion for this country that is out there.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We must take heart that Mauritius was able to get itself off the grey list in less than two years after implementing the necessary reforms.

BLSA hopes that the JET-IP package is not now at risk with the countries that are funding it already concerned about SA’s international positioning.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

BLSA was relieved to hear that concrete measures are finally being taken to address the debt owed to Eskom by municipalities.

BLSA expected the country’s fiscal trajectory to weaken given the Eskom debt transfer and while SA’s high debt level is a concern, we believe this was necessary to help address the crippling effects of loadshedding.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

A solution to Eskom’s debt problems will undoubtedly be the most important feature of this budget.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

With loadshedding now causing massive economic destruction every day, addressing the energy crisis will be central to the budget.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The form that any incentive takes is therefore crucial to stimulating off-grid installations. Zero-rating VAT for renewable energy components and invertors is a simple option.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Social friction undermines all elements of society including business.

More accountability is being shifted away from cabinet and into the presidency.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

While some fear it is now “up in the air”, it’s important to emphasise that SA’s energy transition is inevitable and is progressing in certain areas.

It’s important for government to limit the use of the extra powers it has granted itself purely to address the loadshedding crisis on a least-regret basis.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Business is heavily invested in the fight against corruption because the application of the rule of law is essential to the business environment.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

A state of disaster triggers emergency powers that can limit constitutional rights.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

It is critically important for leaders to make calm decisions based on the facts. Anything else is irresponsible.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Patronage and corruption exist in other states too, so SA is not alone in having a crippled public service – but that is no excuse for complacency.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

With a cabinet reshuffle being imminent, BLSA hopes leaders are appointed who are fully committed to resolving the problems that are holding up progress.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Despite the lack of any major breakthrough announced by Necom, promises of the end of loadshedding are coming thick and fast with elections looming next year.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Climate-resilient infrastructure needs to become embedded into SA’s infrastructure development.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

While we tend to focus on our own problems, the WEF provides a clear lesson on the global context in which we find ourselves.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

There are many legacy issues that remain unresolved while new problems keep arising, demanding priority status.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Business will keep pushing hard for policies we believe are in the best interests of the economy and all South Africans.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We must make clear to the world that the project of rebuilding institutions is working.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The economy is too fragile for the country to withstand any further misgovernance.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The best way to accelerate the reform process and help to overcome obstacles is to open the way for further private sector participation.

BLSA is extremely concerned that international support for SA’s just energy transition might
now be at risk if a change in CEO signals a change in approach.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Whatever gripes you might have with South Africa, the drama is certainly compelling.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

In her last letter of 2022, BLSA’s CEO reflects on what BLSA has done this year to help deliver inclusive economic growth.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Heading into the ANC elective conference next week, the most important message is for the leadership to do their duty and put the country’s interests first.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

As business, we support the appropriate legal avenues being fully exhausted as recommended by the Section 89 Panel.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The collapse of the rand and the value of South Africa’s traded debt last Thursday showed how concerned investors were.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Government should set itself a goal: no new state entities can be formed until it has fixed all the ones that it has broken.

BLSA will continue to stand resolutely in support of the rule of law and we call on all stakeholders in South Africa to do so too.

E2 looks forward to more beneficial partnerships in 2023 that will help make South Africa good for business, and business good for South Africa.

In the first six months of 2022 an average of 1,143 kidnappings a month were reported to the police; this is double the monthly average of the 2021 period.

According to the crime stats, from 1 July 2022 to 20 September 2022, there were 6 149 hijackings.

The recent crime stats show that housebreak-ins are the most common crime experienced by South African residents.

The GBV situation in the country has reached boiling point and all South Africans together with NGOs, the police and government need to work together to fight against this scourge.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

There hasn’t been much focus on regaining our investment grade rating but its importance cannot be overemphasised.

The large geographical footprint of the private partners enables countrywide collection of real-time incident data.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We are in the grip of an epidemic with large industries from mining to construction being targeted by extortion rackets.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We’ve now run out of options to fix the short-term problem of load shedding.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The strength of our financial sector is something to be nurtured and we must keep adding to its resilience where we can.

What ideas is labour bringing to the table to improve the national fiscal outlook?

By Busisiwe Mavuso

All the structural reforms aimed at improving our economic growth prospects will be undermined if the rule of law does not prevail.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The world is looking to SA to provide a blueprint to combat entrenched corruption.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Last week BLSA hosted the team from the International Monetary Fund responsible for the Financial Sector Assessment Programme it has undertaken on South Africa over the last few years.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

It’s imperative for SA to get the “just” part of the just energy transition right.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Organised crime is entrenched in South Africa but the “construction mafia” has risen to prominence recently

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Transition is not just about decommissioning coal power plants and switching to electric vehicles; it also must be about massively ramping up overall energy production.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

It’s almost impossible to reach higher EAF levels by increasing maintenance and trying to extend the life of coal plants because Eskom plant has deteriorated so extensively as a result of previous maintenance neglect.

By Busiswe Mavuso

The fight against corruption, it appears, is now gaining strong momentum and BLSA fully commends Batohi and her team for the progress made under extremely challenging conditions.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Last week the finalised National Framework Towards the Professionalisation of the Public Service was released, having been approved by cabinet the week before.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

SA needs accountability, which is precisely what the future anti-corruptions structures need to generate.

BLSA welcomes the 2022 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) tabled today by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana that affirms the country’s adherence to a policy of fiscal consolidation that will lead to better growth in the future.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

With its debt service costs reduced dramatically, Eskom would be able to operate more freely, particularly in implementing its strategy to help resolve the energy crisis.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

It’s important to remember that whatever is broken can be fixed and global investors need to be assured that we’re working on creating a desirable investment environment.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Transnet needs to be transformed into a financially self-sustaining entity or it will keep burdening the fiscus with more and more debt.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The FATF published a report a year ago highlighting SA’s deficiencies and effectively gave us until this October to get our house in order.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

If we are to avoid grey listing, or ensure we are grey listed for the shortest time possible if we cannot avoid it, we need to do a lot of work quickly.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The dismal state of our energy and transport systems are core reasons why our economy is so crippled.

Short term solutions can create unintended consequences in difficult industrial relationship situations, especially if inflation remains elevated for some time, and in a difficult economic and fiscal environment.

BLSA has today released an independent report on the prospect of South Africa being grey listed by the Financial Action Task Force. The report, by researchers Intellidex, puts the probability of grey listing at 85% come the FATF plenary in February next year. The researchers estimate that the economic impact of grey listing could be limited or severe depending on how South Africa reacts to grey listing.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We need to get things right in terms of setting up structures and processes to fight corruption.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The strike action makes Transnet’s financial position far worse. It could trigger further ratings downgrades.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

BLSA has repeatedly highlighted that the institutional architecture for infrastructure within the state is simply not fit for purpose.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Strengthening the processes to ensure ethical leadership on the boards of SOEs and private companies is just one of many measures needed that will prevent corrupt elements from attaining positions of influence.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Grey listing is largely a consequence of the collapse of commercial crime investigation and prosecution during the state capture era.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Until we stabilise our national debt, we’ll keep paying more and more just to service it.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

BLSA is fully committed to helping transform South Africa into a country where corruption is considered shameful and people are held  accountable.

By Busiswe Mavuso

Given the urgency with which we need to address the power crisis, the obvious question is what we can do to get more of the round 5 projects to close.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The funding to reduce SA’s use of coal hinges on SA producing an investment plan that would need to be agreed to by the partners.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Our economy needs a quick solution based on the least-regret option.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Even when their actions successfully lead to prosecutions, convictions and recovery of stolen assets, whistle blowers can struggle to find work and rebuild their lives.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

SA’s renewable energy market remains an attractive proposition to global investors but we’re certainly no longer considered a low-risk destination.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The Fraser report provides a useful checklist that highlights where SA is coming up short. 

By Busisiwe Mavuso

BLSA is committed to various initiatives to support government to solve the energy crisis.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

It is critical for SA to make all aspects of the investment process as smooth as possible.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Only higher levels of economic growth will sustainably provide the resources we need to address the needs of the poor without threatening our fiscal sovereignty.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The president clearly showed how his government and business are aligned on many of the key challenges that we need to jointly overcome.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The state capture-linked arrests still haven’t moved up to any senior government levels yet but the NPA hinted that these will come.

We are heartened by the AG’s ongoing, independent outputs that speak truth to power with neither fear nor favour.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Small businesses have the greatest potential to address SA’s problems of poverty and inequality.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

It would be easier to support NECOM and government if our bureaucratic and regulatory functions were working the way they are meant to.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

BLSA believes the ISA should be the centre for excellence in respect of developing bankable PPPs.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The increased allocation for infrastructure development aims to address an urgent overall need of improving the efficiency of the economy.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The state capture years put immense pressure on National Treasury and led to a period of spiralling debt and extremely poor expenditure that delivered low value for money.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Improving our debt profile will accelerate our return to investment grade ratings, which in turn will make our debt cheaper.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Eradicating red tape is an easy win; it comes at no cost to the state while its benefits are widespread and will be immediately felt.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

When government and business collaborate to address SA’s problems, the results are meaningful.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

There is no magic elixir for the economy.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The NPA is ramping up its efforts to respond to the Zondo Commission and will need specialised skills to support complex corruption cases, such as forensic accountants and data analysts. While the NPA has benefited from increases in funding to support its efforts, it will take time to recruit and train for the specialist skills it needs.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Government has brought us to this point and now there are no easy solutions.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Until we stabilise the national debt we’ll keep paying more just to service it.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Even if we get everything right, we are still at least two years away from entering a new era of stable electricity supply.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

An important aspect for government to get right is the promise of quick, efficient bureaucratic procedures.

We hope the measures announced in the president’s plan will be implemented with both urgency and purpose as well as transparency.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Tightening capital controls or preventing tax emigration are simply not viable alternatives.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We do ourselves no favours by embracing reforms that destabilise government finances and the economy.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Inflation is rising globally and a significant cost-of-living crisis is emerging  for many nations.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

SA was identified as one of 31 countries with high risks around the “erosion of social cohesion” in the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Risks report.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The one element that can accelerate the recovery of small businesses is the red tape unit in the Presidency.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

South Africa has been in the FATF’s sights since 2009 following an initial review.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Business believes this limited easing of requirements will provide the necessary energy foundations upon which all sustainable local manufacturing depends.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We need to have a plan ready by the time of COP27 in Egypt in November that provides a clear path for the country to shift its carbon intensity.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

All indications are that in October SA will be placed on the grey list by the Financial Action Task Force.

To date, 39 cases have been reported on the BACSA information-sharing site.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

According to Eskom, SA needs to create 50GW-60GW of new generation capacity by 2035.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We must diversify the sources of electricity in South Africa.

BLSA has partnered with Matla a Bana – an NGO that fights GBV and creates child-friendly reporting facilities at police stations, courts and hospitals.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The allocation of resources will be a litmus test of how seriously government is taking the Zondo report.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Publication of the full Zondo report is only the first step.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

It is a key strategic objective for BLSA to support the prosecuting authorities to succeed.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Underspending on infrastructure affects not only water supply but infrastructure for all SA’s network industries

Corruption comes at a high price to business and the economy.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Many municipalities commit a direct act of corruption when residents pay their electricity and water accounts but the officials do not pay that money over to Eskom and the water boards.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

There is nothing normal about the fact that 65% of youth aged 15-24 were unemployed in the first quarter.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Over 250 people had been prosecuted and convicted of crimes related to tampering with essential infrastructure

By Busiswe Mavuso

Comair’s demise after more than six decades of operation reflects the harshness of the competitive nature of the free market.

By Busisiwe Mavuso
The challenge is to ensure all collaborators have sufficient capacity to engage and plan for joint action

By Busisiwe Mavuso
Apart from the increased costs of international transactions, the country’s reputation would take a battering.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Quality education enabled individuals to fulfil their potential while a reliable energy supply was a prerequisite for economic growth.

By Busiswe Mavuso

BLSA looks forward to more work with the police and communities to improve SA’s fight against crime.

By Busisiwe Mavuso
Tracking the money down is important but difficult.

TAMDEV is conceptualised as giving institutional form to a collaboration between government and business.

22 On Sloane aims to assist approximately 100 entrepreneurs through the Capacity Building Programme.

Enterpriseroom is dedicated to achieving socioeconomic transformation by starting, sustaining, growing and developing small and medium-sized businesses.

A total of 364 students have completed their training and 260 have been placed in various jobs.

By Busiswe Mavuso
Thanks to rising commodity prices and the improved debt outlook SA has been popular among global investors.

By Busisiwe Mavuso
The global commodity price shock has been a dose of good luck.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

We are facing a national crisis and every act designed to destabilise supply is an act of treason.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Our government is facing a tough situation, but it’s one that would be far more manageable had our economy been in a stronger position today.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

BLSA is not a single entity that can be called “business”. There is no such thing.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The sooner all these reforms are implemented and the economy is functioning efficiently, the sooner we will have an environment that is conducive for businesses of all sizes to grow.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The lack of investment in the mining sector reflects investor concerns over persistent regulatory uncertainty.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The private sector is going to be largely responsible for generating and selling electricity.

By Busi Mavuso

The more that government brings in the private sector to help tackle such problems, the quicker they will be resolved.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

SA cannot afford to suffer further delays to getting new energy on grid.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

Real progress is happening and it is taking us towards a far better environment for business and the public.

By Busisiwe Mavuso
How we act in the short term is important in terms of determining the type of society we are to become.

By Busisiwe Mavuso
In his latest report, Zondo also makes it clear that it should be a crime for government officials not to do their due diligence.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

The responsibility of employers is clear: they have to protect the health and safety of their employees.

By Busisiwe Mavuso
Today we have a situation where ships are spending days or weeks lying at anchor before they can be processed at our ports. This affects businesses across the port logistics supply chains who experience significant delays as well as financial losses.  

By Busi Mavuso

Putting the health of our citizens at risk and jeopardising the security of the country’s clean water supply is a serious crime.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

There were clear missteps that we have learned from. That learning must be fully absorbed into how we use the new regulations to deal with the pandemic.

By Busisiwe Mavuso

With more climate crises on the horizon, it’s time for our country to increase its investment in climate adaptation measures.

By Busi Mavuso

The overall objective is to equip every school leaver with the ability to integrate into society with skills that make them directly employable

Traditionally BLSA would not comment on foreign policy issues. But our government’s stance on the Ukraine conflict is now having serious consequences for our economy and our ability to recover from the other crises our country faces. The US and European markets are particularly important for our manufactured goods, the kind that sees far more…