Newsmaker
Show you’re playing your part, Gareth Ackerman tells business
● The private sector needs publicly to counter the government narrative that it is doing little or nothing for the country, says Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman.
“My impression is that government people think business is doing nothing, making no investments, just relying on government to do everything, which is absolutely not the case.”
There’s no real understanding of the private sector’s contribution, he says.
Many corporations could be doing more, even if they just stand up and speak out about what they are doing.
“They should be saying: ‘This is what we’re doing, this is how much we’re investing, this is how many jobs we’ve created this year, this is how many people we’re employing,’ ” says Ackerman.
Pick n Pay has been extremely upfront about its contribution.
“We’ve stood up and said we’ve invested R5bn in the past four or five years; this year alone we’re investing R1.7bn into our business, creating another 4,000 jobs. We’ve created 14,000 jobs over the last three years.”
Ackerman has been one of the more outspoken business leaders in the country but says he is “frustrated” by lack of support from his peers.
“A lot of companies do a hell of a lot, but the government needs to be made aware of what they’re doing.”
This would create a more positive climate “which I think would start a ripple multiplier effect happening in the economy”.
Relying on business organisations to interface with and talk to the government as a collective is not working, he says.
“The reason is you still have a disconnect between government and business. There is not a lot of trust between either party.”
Local companies are prepared to invest more and do more, but government policies and lack of support make it difficult.
For example, Pick n Pay and other supermarkets disburse 80% of grants on behalf of the South African Social Security Agency, mostly at their own expense. But, as a result, armed gangs have targeted their stores, forcing them to spend “a fortune” on increased security.
“Our stores are getting robbed and our staff and customers are getting attacked because of inadequate policing. It’s open season for the baddies and we’re not getting an adequate response from government.”
Ackerman says business leaders need to be held accountable for bold statements of intent about investment and job creation which are not followed through.
“If you make public statements in your year-end annual results and at annual general meetings, you should be held to account — to say: ‘You said this, what have you done about it?’ ”
But, at the same time, business leaders acting as individuals, not just as part of a collective, need to hold the government to account for a lack of decisive action to grow the economy and attract investment.
“What we need to see coming out of government is not just endless commissions and summits, but how it is going to get the economy up and running in the short term.”
It could start by clamping down on illicit cigarettes, which are costing the country “billions and billions a year”.
The government acknowledges the need to create a business- and investor-friendly environment but its actions and policies don’t support this, he says.
Trade & industry minister Rob Davies “stands up and talks about a one-stop investment shop” to make it easier for businesses, but doesn’t do anything about it.
“We spend months and months trying to get licences to open small stores in rural areas. It becomes an absolute nightmare because every municipality has its own regulations and way of doing things, and there is no consistent approach coming from government to say: ‘This is how it should be
done’, and then make it happen.”
It’s the same story with the department of home affairs, he says.
“How do you facilitate business and create jobs when skills visas are not being issued more quickly?
“There are a large number of areas that could be streamlined. Government says it will, but nothing happens.”
Public policy needs to be better thought out, explained and co-ordinated.
“You get different departments which just don’t work together. You’re finding unintended consequences of policies which are not being examined properly by government.”
The clearest example of self-destructive policy is expropriation without compensation.
“It has been absolutely devastating to the economy. It’s frozen a lot of investment coming in to the country.”
There is a limit to what the private sector can do in practical terms to make the government do the right things, he says.
“It’s difficult when you’re dealing with a government which doesn’t respond when you try to talk to them. It’s almost like you’re talking against a brick wall.”
Business and the government are “almost talking past each other because they’re not talking to each other properly. They talk in summits but it’s not real engagement.”
Exacerbating the situation is that the “government is in such election mode that they’re not in my view particularly worrying about the fundamental issues, they’re so desperate to get the right vote coming in next year.
“We’ve got to get out of that thinking. We’ve got to get into: ‘What are we going to do about fixing the economy short-term?’ ”
President Cyril Ramaphosa needs to make “some precipitous moves and be seen to be doing some strong things”.
Getting rid of Nhlanhla Nene was “positive” but it needs to be backed up by the next step.
Other ministers guilty of worse misdemeanours need to be cleaned out of cabinet, too, sooner rather than later.
“Ramaphosa needs to be seen to be doing things. What’s coming out at the moment is that the country is waiting with bated breath to see something happen out of government and we’re not seeing it happen.
“A turnaround is not going to happen in two or three months or a year, but you need to be seen to be taking actions that are seen to be in the right direction, and we’re not seeing that at the moment.”
Meanwhile, business leaders need to “step out of the shadows” and make themselves heard.
A lot of companies do a hell of a lot, but the government needs to be made aware
Gareth Ackerman
Pick n Pay chairman