Business in the Cape has been under pressure for far too long, says Janine Myburgh, president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce & Industr y.“We appreciate that Covid-19 has been the last straw for some sectors where mobility is crucial, such as the travel industry, but poor governance of the economy in general is the real problem. Business was hard hit for many years before 2020 and 2021.”And the issues, says Myburgh, aren’t likely to go away any time soon. “The drain of the state-owned entities (SOEs), crime and corruption, the weak rand and moral decay that have resulted in outcomes such as unemployment and economic malaise are disheartening. Add to that load shedding, climate change, the lockdown and the ever-present problem of TB in the region, and it’s no wonder that a positive prognosis is difficult to predict for the economy generally. And then there’s the ever-growing public wage bill correlating with an increase in ratepayer dissatisfaction. However, for those who have embraced the 4th Industrial Revolution, we certainly have a new frontier open to possibilities.”Myburgh says delivering a healthy business environment where business can operate daily is critical for the Cape and South Africa’s survival. “We need to actually see a stable platform that allows business to respond to the demands of its everyday challenges.”
