JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The private sector is so far working with government on six of the ten energy crisis work streams, for which business raised R100-million to procure skills and expertise for donation on an arm's length basis to the Presidency, within which the National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom) is housed.

Business for South Africa (B4SA) chairperson Martin Kingston expressed the view that it is technically possible to put an end to loadshedding by the end of 2024, which is the objective of the joint energy effort. The two other challenges being tackled are transportation and logistics, and crime and corruption.

B4SA is an alliance of South African business leaders working with the South African government and other social partners to help deliver sustainable solutions for South Africa.

“We're not going to assume the role and responsibility of the State. It would be wholly inappropriate, but we can certainly partner with them, bring our skills, expertise, and indeed commitment to bear,” said Kingston, who spoke to Engineering News & Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview on Thursday. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

In the case of South Africa’s transportation and logistics challenges, areas of focus are being jointly defined, along with the appropriate resourcing of those work streams: “I think it'll take a little bit longer, but yes, we're certainly beginning to see progress emerge and traction being gained,” said Kingston, who emphasised the need to ensure sharp focus on a limited number of interventions that can move the needle as quickly as possible, “and that's what I believe we're going to start seeing in the next few weeks”.

A joint strategic oversight committee, which mirrors what was successfully implemented during the Covid pandemic and which is now also expected to deal successfully with the three energy, transport and logistics, and crime and corruption challenges, is committed to meeting fortnightly, ahead of reporting to the President every six weeks.

“Each and every one of the workstreams in the underlying areas of focus are up and running or being mobilised, so there are indeed early signs of real progress and green shoots, but it'll take several months to see real progress start to emerge.

“We're very mindful of the need to be at arm's length so that we don't, in any shape, size or form, undermine the integrity and the independence of the State in providing the support that's required," Kingston emphasised.

Engineering News & Mining Weekly: How willing is government to partner effectively with organised business in dealing with South Africa’s infrastructure and law and order challenges?

Kingston: The South African authorities recognise that we need effectively all hands to the pump to deal with very fundamental challenges, which act as a brake on real inclusive growth and that growth leads to employment and deals with many of the challenges that we've got in the country at the moment. We had a very successful experience of partnering with the government during the Covid pandemic in 2020, and the vaccination rollout in 2021, and we've used that as the basis for partnership with them in the three areas that we're focusing on. Of course, there are different pockets of government that are more supportive than others, but from the President down, there is a wide acknowledgement that we need to put all of our collective shoulders to the wheel and see how we can bring the best resources to bear from all social partners, I have to say, not just from business and indeed from the public sector, to try and address these very fundamental constraints in the system.

Have these public-private initiatives been set up in a way that positive results are seen as being highly likely?

I’d love to think that highly likely is an immediate outcome but I think we need to manage our expectations in this particular respect. The most important thing from our perspective was to (a) make sure that we have an integrated approach from business. Government has repeatedly said they can't be dealing with multiple players all the time, so we're crowding in all of the private sector levels of interests, expertise, and potentially available support. That's the first point I would like to make. The second is to put in place appropriate project management structures, both within business and within government. We're doing that. In fact, we've mobilised resource for the government through the Resource Mobilisation Fund, arm's length, but making sure the requisite capacity is made available, and thirdly, putting in place governance structures. In the case of Covid, we had a joint strategic oversight committee. We've effectively mirrored that here to bring in all of the relevant decision-makers on both sides, again to ensure that we have a coordinated approach, appropriate oversight, and that we can monitor progress, and if, indeed, we're not making as much progress as we need to, to identify what the constraints are and deal with them and escalate them, both within government as well as within business.

How are these initiatives being funded?

In the case of Necom, the National Energy Crisis Committee, you'll recall that the President announced the Energy Action Plan in August of last year and Necom as a mechanism to make sure there was a coordinated approach within government to manage that process. There are ten different work streams, and government approached business and said could we provide specific expertise and resources. We put in place the Resource Mobilisation Fund. We raised R100-million so that we could procure appropriate skills and expertise, either from individuals or from institutions, and donate them, on an arm's length basis, to the Presidency, within which Necom is housed. In the context of the broader process that we've been talking about across energy, transportation, and crime and corruption, we are paying for our own resources within business. Government obviously needs to mobilise the capacity that it requires, maybe along the lines of the Resource Mobilisation Fund. We're very mindful of the need to be at arm's length so that we don't, in any shape, size or form, undermine the integrity and the independence of the State in providing the support that's required.

In what way is Business for South Africa managing accountability for the resources that are mobilised from the private sector?

It’s an absolutely essential question this. First of all, we are committed, as was the case during the pandemic, to account publicly, transparently and regularly to all stakeholders, not just to our funders or to business, but to society at large. That's the only way we believe that we can build trust and confidence. We'd like to think the same applies to government but as far as our joint initiatives are concerned, the ones that I've talked about are really the three areas of focus: energy, transportation and logistics, and crime and corruption. We've agreed with government we need to have a common approach to communicating the progress being made, again in a transparent way and on a regular basis, so that everybody knows exactly what we're doing.

Have any early signs emerged that point to the eventual success of the collaborative initiatives?

As I said at the outset of this interview, we need to manage expectations. These problems have been long in the making and we're not going to resolve them overnight. There's no silver bullet. The first tangible sign of success, in my opinion, is the agreement to collaborate, to partner, to put in place joint oversight structures and governance, as I mentioned, to make sure that there is the right capacity in place, both within the public sector and the private sector. But in the case of the Necom, there are ten work streams. We're already working with and partnering with the government in six of those work streams. The objective there is to end loadshedding. We believe it's technically possible by the end of 2024. It'll take time to see real traction, but the fact that we're working alongside them in those work streams, I think, is a very positive sign. In the case of transport and logistics, we are jointly defining what the areas of focus should be, resourcing those work streams appropriately. I think it'll take a little bit longer. But yes, we're certainly beginning to see progress emerge and traction being gained.

What other aspects are crucial to communicate at this stage?

I think that we need to be honest about the size and scale of the problem. I think that that builds credibility. At the moment, confidence levels within the country are extremely low, so we need to address that head-on. We need, as I said, to manage expectations, and we need to get some early runs on the board to the extent that that is practically possible. We need to make sure that we are very focused in a limited number of interventions. We don't cast our net too wide. When I say we, I don't mean the private sector, that too. I mean, the country as a whole, that we're able to actually focus on key interventions that can move the needle as quickly as possible, and that's what I believe we're going to start seeing in the next few weeks. We've committed with the President to brief him every six weeks. The joint strategic oversight committee will be meeting on a fortnightly basis before that, and each and every one of the workstreams in the underlying areas of focus are up and running or being mobilised, so there are indeed early signs of real progress and green shoots, but it'll take several months to see real progress start to emerge.

Finally, what should be the biggest takeaway from this interview?

The biggest takeaway for me is really that in order to have an effective partnership with government we need to have trust, we need to deploy our best possible resources, and we need to be consistent in our approach whilst at all times being mindful of the role and responsibilities of each party. We're not going to assume the role and responsibility of the State. It would be wholly inappropriate, but we can certainly partner with them, bring our skills, expertise, and indeed commitment to bear. That, for me, is the biggest takeaway currently, and, as I said, we had very significant success during the Covid pandemic. There's no reason why, in these current circumstances, we can't replicate that experience.