As the economy in South Africa buckles, consumers continue to hobble on with rising debt and try to find ways to deal with the soaring cost of living in the country.
The Chief Executive of the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) Zinhle Tyikwe has called for collaboration between the government, organised business and other stakeholders to overcome the country’s economic challenges.
Speaking at the CGCSA’s annual summit in Sandton, Tyikwe said the low economic growth in South Africa has been worsened by load shedding at a time when the country was beginning to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, which severely disrupted social and economic life. The theme of this year’s summit is “Reshaping the Future Together: Prepare, Build, Grow and Sustain”.
“The CGCSA believes in collaboration with stakeholders to address the economic challenges we face in the country. It is through such social compacting that we can come up with sustainable solutions for the benefit of our economy and communities,” she said.
Tyikwe said she was hopeful that over time, the challenges will be overcome although a lot work still needs to be done, particularly from both a regulatory and policy perspective, including stabilising power supply.
“In this regard, the CGCSA continues to collaborate and engage with relevant Government departments, including the Presidency, to find sustainable solutions to our economic challenges. We therefore look forward to the presentation of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement by the Minister of Finance later this month, when we hope he will announce more measures to support growth, investment and job creation,” she said.
In the spirit of collaboration, the CGCSA has registered the CGCSA Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) and whose mandate and strategy has been approved by the CGCSA Board.
The PBO will collaborate with stakeholders, including CGCSA members, Government departments and local authorities to support the implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a particular focus on sustainability, which includes but is not limited to food safety and security, the development of the SMME sector and supporting the development of sustainable cities and livelihoods.
The PBO will identify and scope the areas of greatest need or priority, and through public-private sector partnerships, it will capacitate municipal authorities facing service delivery challenges, including poor or weak infrastructure, such as water and sewage reticulation, road networks and electricity.
“We believe that the PBO is an integral and imperative vehicle through which the CGCSA, via its members, will contribute to the socio-economic development of the country through the implementation of the SDGs in the areas that we have identified,” Tyikwe said. The CGCSA would be approaching its members to support the PBO through financial support and other interventions to achieve its mandate.
BUSINESS REPORT