South African president Cyril Ramaphosa said the government is making progress on a plan to boost economic growth, after he was criticized by one of the nation\u2019s former leaders for failing to deliver the plan.<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa on Feb. 10 pledged to provide a comprehensive social compact – in cooperation with business, labor unions and civil society – within 100 days. Former President Thabo Mbeki last week slammed Ramaphosa for not fulfilling that promise, and warned that growing poverty and lawlessness in the country risks triggering protests that engulfed the Arab world a decade ago.<\/p>\n
While the government has held talks with its social partners since February about agreeing to a compact, the process has been \u201cslow and at times it has been quite difficult,\u201d Ramaphosa said in an address to members of the governing African National Congress in KwaZulu-Natal province on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The party earlier elected new leaders in the province who are considered sympathetic to former President Jacob Zuma, whose followers oppose Ramaphosa\u2019s economic reforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all agree that our overriding objectives are to grow the economy to create jobs,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are differences over what compromises need to be made and who needs to make those compromises. And so while we don\u2019t have an overarching social compact, we are making progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition, the government is already implementing an Economic Reconstruction & Recovery Plan, that is the product of talks with its alliance partners – the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions – and business partners on how to restore economic growth in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.<\/p>\n
\nWe should challenge the claim that we do not have a coherent plan to drive growth and create employment.<\/p>\n
Not only do we have a plan, but we are hard at work to implement it.
\n#ANCKZN<\/a><\/p>\n\u2014 Cyril Ramaphosa \ud83c\uddff\ud83c\udde6 (@CyrilRamaphosa) July 24, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n