Godongwana asks business to unlock growth cash

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has urged South Africa’s private sector to release the vast pools of capital currently sitting on balance sheets and help drive economic growth, arguing the country cannot rely on the public sector alone.

- Liesl Peyper

Speaking at a breakfast hosted by RMB in Cape Town last week - a day after delivering the medium-term budget policy statement - Godongwana spoke about the private sector’s hesitance about investing in the local economy.

He was referring to an article on BusinessLIVE last month, finding that companies in SA are holding a record R1.8 trillion in cash - up from R1.1 trillion in 2019.

“The private sector says ‘We're not investing because you're not behaving.’