Johannesburg, 7 January 2025, SEIFSA has noted the State of the Nation Address (SONA) by the President, which was filled with big and ambitious plans, however, the country too often has been left trading on hope and promise and less on action.
At the heart of the SONA was a recognition of the dire need for economic growth that is necessary to turn the fortunes of the country around. Of particular importance is the role infrastructure development can play in unlocking this economic growth. Infrastructure spend is the life boat necessary for the recovery and growth of the metals and engineering sector. It was noteworthy that the SONA referred to the parallel approach of repairing existing infrastructure, while keeping equal attention on new infrastructure. This is a point that SEIFSA has repeatedly been calling for in working towards re-industrialising our economy. Equally important is the acknowledgement of the role that the private sector can contribute in the execution of this infrastructure development.
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SEIFSA’s concern is that these are not new, but rather plans that have been repeated in previous SONAs without the necessary follow through.
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One of the most pressing challenges facing the metals and engineering sector is a lack of demand, which is a function of a lack of delivery on infrastructure spend. SEIFSA continues to call for urgency in this regard in order to stave off further loss of companies and capacity in the sector.
The important focus of the SONA on the need to overhaul local government framework is an absolute must, long over due and requires urgent attention. The deterioration of service delivery and the financial condition of municipalities presents one of the most significant risks to the country, businesses and residents in these respective municipalities. The last-mile nature of local government services risks undoing all the work being done to resolve the network industries at national level. The President directed that a white-paper that proposes a local government framework that is “modern and fit for purpose” will be released soon. SEIFSA again calls for urgency in this regard.
Lastly, the SONA deferred a lot of details to the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) as the road-map for this administration’s activities. It is critical that if this is going to be the execution plan that the country is called to rally around, then it be socialised as such and treated as the single framework to which the country operates from.
All too often parallel plans are developed by different ministries and ad-hoc structures, which confuse and complicate the operating environment for the business community.
While grand and ambitious plans are noble and welcome, the success of this administration will hinge on action and execution.
