Things are looking up for SA, but we should keep these 6 things in mind to make GNU optimism count

• News24's third annual On The Record summit outlined key opportunities for SA's social, economic and political growth.
• SA's Minister of Basic Education, Treasury director-general and the CEO of WeThinkCode were among those who shared their ideas for the future.
• The government of national unity has come with renewed optimism in SA, however, it needs to be accompanied by a range of critical interventions, panellists discussed.
• Below is a recap of the top takeaways from the day of robust discussions at The Forum in Bryanston, Johannesburg.

As the new administration marked its first 100 days in office, industry leaders joined News24's On The Record summit on Friday to consider how the government of national unity (GNU) can help unleash the country's potential.

News24's editorial team opened the annual summit with a fireside chat, sharing their unflinching analysis of the state of affairs in SA, after the landmark May general elections. This was followed by four engrossing panel discussions on the main priority areas for SA's growth.

The summit, presented in partnership with Nedbank, was hosted at The Forum in Bryanston, Johannesburg.

Here's a recap of the key ideas, proposals, and perspectives put forward during the summit:

1. The GNU alone will not fix things in SA

While GNU has helped ease the political uncertainty that gripped the country pre-election, it is not a cure-all solution to the country's deep, systemic challenges. A range of other global and local factors must continue to contributed to a more positive mood in the country, including the nation's sustained electricity supply.

"This time last year, the mood was dark, quite literally. Load shedding had become the norm," City Press editor-in-chief Mondli Makhanya said.

2. GNU partners must find middle ground on contentious laws

In order for the GNU coalition to have longevity, political partners will have to compromise to reach consensus on divisive policy issues, such as the remaining clauses of the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill and the implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI).

Much like President Cyril Ramaphosa's considered response to the BELA Bill criticism, News24's Carol Paton predicts that NHI will also be "modified". "I think that will be the pattern of events in the GNU," Paton said.

3. Opposition must be given their space to keep the GNU on its toes

South Africans must not delegitimise parties that have not joined the GNU fold as they also have an important role to play in keeping the seventh administration accountable. ATM leader Vuyo Zungula challenged the narrative that parties outside the GNU are anti-democratic.

He added:

When the government is doing right, we will applaud them, but when it is not doing right, it is our duty to hold them accountable.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube, from the DA, and ANC policy head Febe Potgieter agreed with sentiment that parties like the ATM are entitled to remain outside of coalition deals. "It's part of the vibrancy of our democracy," Potgieter said. "An effective of opposition is critical for government to work. We welcome a robust engagement," Gwarube added.

4. Greater collaboration is needed to root out crime networks

In order to deal with South Africa's deadly crime networks, there needs to be a coordinated and collaborative response from the country's law enforcement agencies and the private sector. Dr Graham Wright, the CEO of Business Against Crime South Africa (Bacsa), said the business sector could offer skills, technology and resources to help the government rebuild its capacity, but there must be "guardrails" so that they are not doing the state's work. "The structures are there, we just need to speed up the processes," he said.

Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) executive Pieter Alberts said that inter-agency approach is needed to solve complex financial crimes and added that information-sharing is a major part of winning the war against crime.

5. SA needs long-lasting economic wins and policy is part of that

While the economy seems to be turning a corner, this is not the time to let our guard down. Kuben Naidoo, the former deputy governor of SA Reserve Bank, said the challenge would be making the economic sustainable. Naidoo said load shedding could add 0.7% to GDP to this year's growth and added that the two-pot system, infrastructure reforms and other positive indicators could add to improved economic fortunes.

Dr Duncan Pieterse, the director-general of National Treasury, said although the GNU, stronger currency and turning interest rate cycle are all "positive for the fiscal framework", positive sentiment can be fickle.

"What you really want is to leverage the sentiment and have it translate to consumers who are confident to spend and businesses that are confident to invest, and that comes down to policy," he told the crowd. More energy and infrastructure projects need to get off the ground.

6. The country won't succeed if youth are left behind

SA youth have the power to change SA's future, however, support for young people often falls short. The government must critically reassess the effectiveness of some of youth programmes to ensure that they are empowering young people to not only become workers, but to become entrepreneurs as well. Nyari Samushonga, CEO of WeThinkCode, believes capitalising on the booming technology sector is where the opportunities lie. She argued that SA needs more rapid upskilling of youth without digital skills to create more employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. Fellow panellists and digital innovators echoed these sentiments.

"South Africa doesn't have a youth unemployment problem, it has a youth unemployability problem", Samushonga said.