KwaZulu-Natal government and business today 1st June 2018 held a closed working meeting together with business representatives from across the province to discuss the recent spate of disruptions to economic activity in the province.
The meeting was chaired by Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Willies Mchunu who was accompanied by Mayor of eThekwini, Zandile Gumede, MECs Mxolisi Kaunda for Community Safety and Nomusa Dube Ncube for COGTA.
The meeting was the initiative of organised business following recent violence that befell the province, including torching of trucks at the N3 Mooi River toll gate; Violence and damage to property at The Moses Mabhida Stadium; recent political killings in the Province and the Verulam Mosque attack.
When opening the meeting, Premier Mchunu emphasised the need for working together to defeat the disruptions and killings.
The forging of a working relationship between government and business is essentially aimed at maintaining our status as a Province that is a gateway to Africa and the world as enshrined in our 2035 vision. We understand the concerns of our people which may emanate from a position of hunger and intergenerational poverty that is accompanied by deep hopelessness. But we wish to emphasise that we will not condone the breaking of our laws.
The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry President; Musa Makhunga said as business they had no option but to call on the government to see how as organised business could play a role in solving the challenges.
Several Chambers across the Province have united over this issue and we are working closely together, understanding that Chambers must be merchants of peace in order to facilitate an environment in which economic growth happens and poverty, unemployment and inequality are alliviated.
After the meeting government and business were hopeful with the President of the South African chamber of commerce and industry; Zeph Ndlovu hailing the meeting as having been a constructive dialogue.
Chief among the achievements of this meeting is the ground breaking decision to establish a joint task team that will be resourced by both business and government.
The task team was confirmed by Premier Mchunu.
This task team will work programmatically on the concerns raised by organised business so that together, responses can be fashioned to have a sustainable impact on all negative factors that threaten KZN’s economic growth trajectory.
