Sibanye-Stillwater CEO, Neal Froneman, says that the ongoing lockdown is doing enormous damage to the economy.
In a media interview, he voiced concern about the failure of leadership and the ‘lack of alignment’ in cabinet.
The damage being done by keeping the economy from operating was exceeding the benefits of stalling the pandemic.
He added the outlook was ‘bleak’ and that even reopening the economy might bring scant relief.
‘I think we’ve gone past that tipping point,’ he remarked, ‘You can’t go through an underperforming economy pre-Covid, then go through a downgrade, then this Covid lockdown, and now there’s this indecision on restarting the economy. It’s very bleak. We need to kick-start our economy. We have divided leadership. We are facing an incredible recession and we’re caught like rabbits in the headlights.’
He said that business’s influence on these matters was limited as there was little ‘political will’ to address the reopening of the economy.
He did, however, express appreciation to minerals resources minister Gwede Mantashe, who had ensured that mines could reopen ahead of the rest of the economy. He noted that Sibanye-Stillwater had done so predominantly on social grounds, as the financial burden of operating at reduced capacity made doing so an unattractive proposition.
‘We took on risks by opening them for people, to give them salaries and allow them to survive. It would have possibly cost us less to keep our mines closed until we were able to fully open,’ said Froneman.