CNBC Africa, the continent's leading business and financial news
television channel, launched its new quarterly debate series, Meeting of
the Minds, at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) last week,
opening a new chapter in the life of the high-level, globally renowned
series.
Hosted by CNBC Africa's senior anchor, Bronwyn Nielsen, the event was
attended by leaders from across the political and ideological spectrum,
including captains of industry and key business players.
Headlining the event were Zwelinzima Vavi, secretary general of the
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Jabu Mabuza President of
Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), Rob Davies the South African Minister
of Trade & Industry & a Central Committee Member of the South African
Communist Party (SACP), Herman Mashaba, the Chairman of the Free Market
Foundation of South Africa and Nicky Weimar, a Senior Economist at Nedbank
Group.
"With the growing sense of a crisis in the country, driven by strikes
amid calls for the nationalisation of the mines and other key assets from
some quarters, we thought it opportune to provide a forum for key policy
makers to put their ideological positions to the broader community," said
Godfrey Mutizwa, Chief Editor, CNBC Africa.
"The Meeting of the Minds brand is going to set the bar for broadcast
journalism productions in Africa and we will be tackling other key issues
in the months and years ahead. At this time of crisis, the country needs
platforms to air our divergent opinions and the ABN Group, through CNBC
Africa, will certainly play its part", he said.
Through the hour-long debate Ms Nielsen explored the position of the
panellists, pressing them for answers on pressing issues including job
creation, reducing poverty and the income gap and the thorny subject of
labour reform.
Cosatu's Vavi said, "We want to engage with the current crisis that South
Africa is going through. South Africa has a lot of good policies that are
not being implemented correctly. We are failing the country as our
leadership at the highest levels are not directly involved with driving
these policies."
Mabuza said that the country needs good leadership and the determination
of all South Africans to overcome its challenges while Mashaba stressed
the importance of education. Nedbank's Weimar highlighted the need to
create certainty in the business environment so investors can make
long-term decisions.
Standard & Poor's last week downgraded South Africa's foreign credit
rating by a notch, saying mining strikes and social tensions could reduce
fiscal flexibility and hurt growth. The cut followed an earlier downgrade
by Moody's, which also cited the same reasons.
Don't miss South Africa's greatest minds hitting heads as they discuss the
country's economic policies. The debate will be broadcast on 18 October at
9pm CAT, with repeats on Saturday at 16:30pm and 11:00pm and on Sunday at
10:00am.