In his State of the Nation Address last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted the importance of focusing on the National Development Plan, and taking ACTION to ensure its success as a critical element of growing the South African economy.

“With 10 years to go before we reach the year 2030, we have not made nearly enough progress in meeting the NDP targets. Unless we take extraordinary measures, we will not realise Vision 2030. Now is the time to focus on implementation,” said Ramaphosa.

We know this. We have known it for a long time. However, all that seems to happen is talk. Knowing this will not make the necessary changes happen, and to date, nobody has said anything about HOW meeting the NDP targets will be achieved.

In light of this, the South African Excellence Movement was established in 2017. Comprised of a group of like-minded companies, the purpose was to combine our respective skills in order to bring the necessary action to the table. Member companies include Rifle-Shot Performance Holdings; Madala & Associates; CSIR; JCCI; the South Africa Quality Institute; CGF Research; Microsoft; IBM and NReach.

Their collective efforts are driving the manufacturing industry to speed up economic growth by supporting the empowerment of key industry players, ensuring the SOC’s and Blue Chip Private Corporates achieve their mandates in terms of supplier development and localization plans are carried out correctly, as well as supporting these businesses with the right technology to underpin international best practices.

To this end, an interactive, solutions-focused event will be held at the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Milpark, Johannesburg on 20th August, 2019, where key stakeholders will workshop the best ways to put the plans into action. As manufacturers, it is our responsibility to step up and ensure we accelerate economic growth, not just for our own survival, but for the good of the entire country.

The Pan-African Report lists Manufacturing, Mining and Agri-Processing as the only sectors with a ten times downstream multiplier effect. Therefore, nurturing this declining sector is not only critical for preventing further job-losses, but also as a social responsibility. We have got to stop complaining and start leading by example.

Guest speakers will include Jacki Luthuli, President of JCCI; Renai Moothilal, Chairman of NAACAM; Eric Bruggemann, CEO of SACEEC; Sean Jones, CEO of Artisan Training Institute and Pat Ndoda, CEO of Busmark and Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala, Vice Chancellor of UJ, Ian Huntly, CEO of Rifle-Shot Performance Holdings and Dilley Naidoo, CEO of Madala & Associates amongst other industry leaders.

Working together with industry is the only way the dreamers and the leaders can effectively reach their goals. Leaders are only powerful if their followers are courageous enough to interact with them meaningfully.

Rifle Shot