It is now well documented how President Jacob Zuma’s March 31 Cabinet reshuffle, which saw South Africa’s highly-regarded Pravin Gordhan removed as Finance Minister, seriously undermined trust between government and its social partners, including business. The controversial move also placed the much-vaunted CEO Initiative – created precisely to help stave off the downgrades that followed swiftly in the reshuffle’s wake – in serious jeopardy. However, while business has indicated that the relationship with government is on a far less stable footing, it has nevertheless decided to sustain support for the growth-boosting programmes conceived ahead of the reshuffle, including the creation of a R1-billion-plus fund to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
↧