'Walk the talk: cut red tape to get SA on track'
Red tape and a wildly fluctuating rand are Whitey Basson's biggest concerns
The CEO of South Africa's most successful retailer, Shoprite, says red tape is impeding trade and smothering the small business sector at a cost of hundreds of thousands of jobs. The government says it is committed to cutting red tape, but he sees no evidence. "It's not getting any easier," he says. "This is why South Africa is not progressing." And although "we never talk politics" he admits that the political environment causes sudden and wild movements in the exchange rate, which makes doing business in South Africa difficult. "If the rand suddenly drops the way it has it creates havoc for us." A couple of hours after his interview with Business Times the rand plunged 4% after the news that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was being charged. Basson has just delivered another set of financial results showing why he is considered the best retail boss in the country and one of the best in the world. Full-year profit rose 17%, beating analyst estimates, while headline earnings per sha...
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