CEOs of CGCSA member companies highlight rising cost of doing business in SA – SABC News

CEOs of companies that are members of the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) have written to President Cyril Ramaphosa ahead of the State of the Nation Address, highlighting the rising cost of doing business in South Africa.

They expressed their concern about high levels of offloading and deteriorating infrastructure, adding that this could lead to consumers paying more for essential services.

Company CEOs write letter to President Ramaphosa ahead of SONA

In the letter, the CEOs of Massmart, Coca Cola and Tiger Brands say they want decisive action from the government to resolve what they see as a crisis.

They have expressed concern about the levels of offloading they have had to deal with over the past 10 years. They also claim that the deterioration of other essential services, such as water, roads and rail, is affecting their ability to trade.

CEOs say using generators for emergency power causes unsustainable financial costs. And that this will almost certainly lead to higher food and drug prices for consumers.

“The biggest problem we have as a country is load shedding and the deterioration of critical infrastructure like ports and rail,” says Consumer Goods Council of South Africa CEO Zinhle Tyikwe.

A number of retailers incur huge operational costs as a result of offloading. Pick n Pay, which released its trading update on Wednesday, described the load shedding as a permanent new reality.

“They also gave an indication of the costs associated with offloading, as with other retailers such as Shoprite,” says Carmen Mpelwein of Sanlam Investments.

The CEOs want their members to be exempted from paying the fuel levy as well as the road accident levy while they suffer regular dereliction.