LETTER: A letter to SA Inc

Dear titan of South African business,

So you’ve met with President Cyril Ramaphosa and his entourage. Good job on the PR. “Workstreams” to come to South Africa’s rescue? Pardon my cynicism. You’re putting lipstick on a pig by trying to work with this government.

Ramaphosa’s cabinet doesn’t actually believe in private and free enterprise. Was Gwede Mantashe wearing his red socks at your meeting? Did Ebrahim Patel bring his copy of Das Kapital? Did Pravin Gordhan call everyone “comrade”? What did Naledi Pandor say?

And you want to fix crime, but “the man with the hat”, Bheki Cele, wasn’t even at the meeting, and neither was national police commissioner Fannie Masemola.

For 29 years, the government has systematically destroyed parts of the state. And now there is a sense of urgency?

It’s easy criticising, of course, and the right thing may well be to be constructive and attempt to fix things. So you met with Ramaphosa; it is done. And I am glad you agreed on some sort of timeline. We’ll see you in a year, when the talkshops have nothing to show. But you did take the moral high road for a second.

In the meantime, here are some ideas for “constructive confrontation”:

• As a titan of industry, you should stand up and call a spade a spade. Few of you speak out openly and honestly about the diabolical state our country is in;
• Ask Ramaphosa to fire his economics cluster: Patel, Mantashe, Gordhan. Maybe not Patricia de Lille. While housecleaning, fire the man with the hat, and Angie Motshekga too; 
• Publicly endorse a free-market opposition party; 
• Relocate your headquarters, offices and employees to the Western Cape — the only province that still works;
• For the sake of your shareholders, invest abroad; and
• Further reading: I’m sure you have googled “Stockholm syndrome”. Next search: “IG Farben and the role of German business under Adolf Hitler”.

The time of reckoning is coming — and the US imperialists won’t rescue us with a Marshall Plan, with Ramaphosa off to tea with Vladimir Putin. The time for talking with this government is long gone; it’s time to show real leadership and action.

Robert Breyer
Llandudno, Cape Town

The FM welcomes concise letters from readers. They can be sent to fmmail@fm.co.za