In one of his first interviews in his new role, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s newly appointed chief executive, Alan Mukoki, said there was plenty of room for improvement in the business community’s relationship with government.
“The state of relations between the government and business is good and there are a lot of forums where they meet. SACCI has a high level of involvement with government, but things could improve because we need to get closer to articulate the issues that SACCI and business people are facing,” Mukoki told the African News Agency (ANA).
Mukoki, who has previously served as executive general manager of Nedbank Group and chief executive of the Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa, said there “has never been a time when the government didn’t want to talk to SACCI or take into account the seriousness of any issues that businesses have raised” but “we have to appreciate that the government has a wider constituency than the business constituency”.
He added: “They need to find an equilibrium and a balance of satisfying all the other stakeholders that they have.”
Mukoki added there should also be a change in the relationship between the state and labour. He said it was sad when people who had suspicions about each other were not able to sit down together to talk.
“It’s important to maintain a high level of engagement at all levels,” he said, “a lot of stuff is caused by fear and lack of trust.”
He said he would continue to promote a high level of engagement between labour and the SACCI. “We can’t just meet when wage negotiations start, we have to meet before.”
ANA