Alec Hogg had a frank discussion with South African Minister of Economic Development, Ebrahim Patel about the need for true public/private partnership and the necessity for action-based implementation above lip-service. Does South Africa really have a good story to tell? And if so, what exactly is it? Â – LF
ALEC HOGG:  We’ve just ‘door-stopped’ you. That’s what it’s called, Minister Ebrahim Patel.
MIN. EBRAHIM PATEL: Â Yes, indeed.
ALEC HOGG: You’ve been friendly – meeting people. The business community have told me they’ve enjoyed their engagements with you. Is there a ‘toenadering’ perhaps? Are we going to get together and work together in this public/private partnership that I know you’ve been wanting for a long time?
MIN. EBRAHIM PATEL: Over the last five years, I think we’ve been talking to business, but some of those discussions are difficult ones and we need to have the difficult discussions, as South Africans. I see a mood amongst business though, and certainly from Government’s side that we have to move beyond discussion and debate, into implementation. Some of our challenges our real challenges, for example on energy, getting our logistics right, growing the manufacturing sector, and utilising the opportunities of the new economies. For example, the green economy, the blue economy, (which is the ocean’s economy) and I think there’s a sense that we can do this as a country.
ALEC HOGG: Do you remember? We met here in Davos in 1993, when you were a trade unionist and I was with the SABC.
MIN. EBRAHIM PATEL: That’s right.
ALEC HOGG: I remember the enthusiasm and the idealism that we all had. Do you think we’ve kind of, lost it somewhere along the line? Looking back, how long has it been – 20/22 years?
MIN. EBRAHIM PATEL: We’ve had to confront the difference between vision and implementation. They say that you can dream in poetry and you govern in prose, that it’s the tough job of getting energy supply going, of making sure that investors with good ideas, who are going to employ people, have a good opportunity to do so. Making sure that workers have their rights protected, that consumers are able to buy with confidence, that our banking system services is a rather complex thing. I think we must expect that, in a functioning democracy and in a noisy democracy, one of the great things about our country is that it’s a very open and very free society, which, in those circumstances the challenges, will always be amplified. People discount the good news, so there are plenty of good news stories.
ALEC HOGG: What’s ‘the’ good news story? At that dinner the other night, I was given a microphone. I thought about it afterwards and I got completely different ideas about what I’d said. What is the most positive thing about South Africa? What would you have said?
MIN. EBRAHIM PATEL: As a democracy, we’ve held together in circumstances of huge challenges, poverty, inequality, and unemployment. Alec, we inherited 350 years of history. The weight of that history sits on this young democracy. On its fragile shoulders, rests the responsibility and the challenge to change the trajectory of a country. We’ve done well. Look at China today. China became an independent country, if you like, in 1949 with the new government. Twenty years after 1949 (1969), they were in the middle of a cultural revolution. They had not yet found their growth model. China was held up as a basket case. We’re in a much better position after 20 years of our democracy. We need to take the long view of history and recognise there’s a lot more we need to do as a country. I think that for a 20-year old that’s about to become 21, we’ve done well but the challenges are big.
ALEC HOGG: Well, let’s get that growth model. Let’s get the economy going and maybe next time we come here, we can wave the flags with a bit more pride.
MIN. EBRAHIM PATEL: Absolutely. I’m already waving the flag with my scarf, which I’m not wearing today but the South African delegation here, with their scarves, have been notable. Someone came up to me and said ‘you know what? Your national delegation is the most brand-effective’. Now we need to move beyond that, into good implementation.
ALEC HOGG:Â Thank you for your time, Minister Patel.
MIN. EBRAHIM PATEL: It was great seeing you again. Good luck with your remaining time in Davos. I’m off this afternoon.
ALEC HOGG:Â Thank you very much.
