SUMMITS
CAROL PATON: Ramaphosa’s grand social compact does not look possible
With the jobs summit approaching it is time to get real about expectations
Like many of us, some more ambitious than others, Cyril Ramaphosa has a dream. In the one or two seminal speeches he has made since he became president he has said that the cornerstone of his presidency will be a social compact in which the two big interest groups in our society, business and labour, engage in give and take to create peace and prosperity for all. At his state of the nation speech in February, he said: "Together we are going to make history in our country. We have done it before and we will do it again — bonded by our common love for our country, resolute in our determination to overcome the challenges that lie ahead." In that speech he announced a jobs summit and an investment summit. In his budget speech in parliament in May, Ramaphosa said: "We are working with labour, business and communities to forge a new social compact around job creation, which will form the basis for a broader compact around growth, development and transformation. The jobs summit is an impor...
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