President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday said corruption in government and in business must be harshly dealt with.
President Ramaphosa was responding to a report that listed South Africa among the countries with the highest corruption levels.
South Africa ranked 73rd out of 180 countries that participated in a Transparency International (TI) survey - which ranks participating countries according to their perceived levels of corruption in the public sector.
Addressing delegates attending the Business Economic Indaba in Midrand, near Johannesburg, President Ramaphosa said this is the last time South Africa is rated among the corrupt countries.
“We should hold our hands together and protect our country from corruption. If we want to move this country forward, we need to work together,” the President said.
President Ramaphosa called on business to work with government to move the country forward.
“We need to build the image of our country by putting the right people with relevant skills in the right positions. We must also make sure that even the people appointed are able to do the job,” President Ramaphosa said.
Touching on the Commissions of Inquiries, President Ramaphosa appealed to South Africans to respect and give the Commissions space to do their work.
President Ramaphosa explained that the Commissions are there to encourage accountability and to make sure that what happened never happens again.
“This is an opportunity to cleanse ourselves,” he said.
President of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) Sipho M Pityana said as business they are willing to work with government to move the country forward.
“We want to do business with government and to ensure that we get our economy, our democracy and our wonderful country back on track,” he said.
Pityana called on the business community to work with government.
“We should therefore use this Indaba to identify pressing challenges and set the tone and narrative of how we can play our part. Over the past year, we have made huge progress in restoring the spirit of purposeful partnership among the key role players in the economy,” Pityana said.
Pityana said business needs to define its role and contribution to the economy and must come up with the blueprint for how it will assist in driving the process of ensuring inclusive economic growth.
The Indaba, which was hosted by Business Unity South Africa, was called to assess the state of the economy.
The Indaba was held under the theme: Strategic dialogue for a transformed and inclusive economy.
Among other things, the Indaba discussed plans for inclusive growth for the public-private growth initiative in industries such as automotive, tourism, agriculture, construction, renewable energy, ICT, health, and manufacturing. – SAnews.gov.za
