FANI TITI AND CUMESH MOODLIAR: Let’s embrace stability so we can prosper

We stand today at a pivotal juncture in the history of our democracy — one that is fraught with risk but also charged with opportunity. As business leaders, we feel compelled to articulate a rational response to the present situation and call on South Africans to converge around the principles of stability and prosperity.

We may disagree on matters of politics — indeed, the freedom to disagree is essential to our democracy — but there are certain precepts that anyone who genuinely cares about our nation and its people should readily accept: respect for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary; and the need for sound economic and fiscal policies.

These values are fundamental both to social stability and inclusive economic growth. Faster growth will lead to higher employment and provide more finances for a social safety net. But growth requires investor confidence, which depends on stability.

It is our hope that last week’s election leads to a government that prizes stability and implements clear policies that support economic growth and job creation. By seizing this historic moment, we can put SA on a vastly improved trajectory, realising considerable gains in the coming decade and beyond.

Our arrival at this point is a testament to the strong democratic values that have come to define our national culture since we emerged from the systemic iniquity of apartheid.

Nowhere are the achievements of the past 30 years better exemplified than in the freedom exercised last week by everyone who made their mark at the ballot box. But if this hard-won freedom is to mean anything, it is essential that the choice of the people is respected.

South Africans have determined that the party of liberation must now share power, at least for the next five years. We applaud the ANC’s willingness to honour this decision. Not only has the party openly accepted the loss of its majority, but it has urged other parties to accept it, and expressed a willingness to work with them in the national interest. This is democracy in action.

The remarkable significance of this moment will be appreciated within and outside our borders. Those who predicted that our democracy was too fragile to survive a challenge to the party of liberation will now be forced to reassess the country’s prospects. This change in outlook should lead to a positive rerating of SA as an investment destination, a trading partner, and a place to do business.

But this is entirely dependent on the decisions and actions we take as a nation in the coming weeks. Recent experience has shown us what happens when cynical actors exploit the most vulnerable in our society to advance their own ambitions.

After the devastating unrest of July 2021, it was the poorest who suffered most. Apart from the immediate loss of lives and livelihoods, investment confidence plummeted, increasing the cost of national borrowing and eroding the state’s capacity to help those in need.

We saw supply chains devastated, driving up the cost of food and fuel. And we saw a sharp decline in our currency and financial markets, devaluing the savings and pensions of millions of South Africans.

It is now incumbent on us to find common ground, uniting to build on the gains of the past 30 years rather than undermining them. We must defend and strengthen the independent institutions of our young democracy, including those underpinning financial stability and the rule of law.

We must celebrate and support the successes of civil society in addressing inequality and holding our leaders to account. And we must continue to forge closer co-operation between business and government, accelerating recent progress in addressing structural constraints to inclusive economic growth.

We therefore urge all South Africans — across business, politics and civil society — to respect the will of the people, embrace the outcome of this momentous election and support the transition to a promising new chapter in our democracy.

• Titi is CEO of the Investec Group and Moodliar is CEO of Investec SA.