Mbeki accuses business of dragging feet on economy

South African President Thabo Mbeki has criticised large corporations for not doing enough to foster economic growth and black empowerment within the economy, ‘The Financial Times’ said on Wednesday.

Mbeki was quoted as saying that he intended to “intervene personally” to ensure large companies that dominated the South African economy played a greater role in achieving economic growth. “I want to engage these large corporations on an individual basis and ask them about their investment plans,” he said in interview with ‘The Financial Times’. He said that while the government had attempted to put in place a strong macroeconomic framework, the local private sector had lagged behind. “The government has done all it could to create the right climate and to attract investments, but the response from the private sector has not been as good as it could be.”

Mbeki laid some of the blame for the perceived failure of black empowerment at the door of large business. “One of the reasons black economic empowerment stalled is that many companies simply did not take it on board as part of their challenges,” he said.