Your editorial is right on the mark (Confidence needed urgently, October 13). Already we see that the business community has gone on an investment strike in the sense that they would rather invest profits (if any) in foreign jurisdictions rather than their own businesses. We are hearing from the small business community of SA that they are afraid to employ more staff because they cannot ever dismiss them. Furthermore, they are aware that around the corner they are going to expect unrealistic wage increases they will not be able to afford. We are also facing the possibility of a national minimum wage, which the Treasury tells us will cost SA a further 700,000 jobs. It is clear from most research that the number of jobs that will be lost is an underestimation. All this adds up to confidence destruction. We are certainly now in a race to the bottom. Michael Bagraim, MP DA spokesman for labour
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