Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) is an independent association whose members include the leaders of some of South Africa’s biggest and most well-known businesses.
Through BLSA, South Africa’s business leaders engage key players in South African society, including government, civil society and labour, to exchange ideas in our national interest and to create effective dialogue.
By so doing, we contribute to building strong communities underpinned by job creation through sustained economic growth.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
BLSA CEO’s Weekly Newsletter – Stop deindustrialisation before it’s too late
Manufacturing contributes 12% of GDP and 1.5 million jobs, but is eroding. The DTIC’s proposed B-BBEE amendments would strip many companies of BBBEE status because suppliers aren’t 100% black-owned, despite years of building these supply chains. The good work done by companies to help build majority black-owned businesses could be undone. Government needs a clear plan to save our industrial base. Establish a manufacturer task force and recognise manufacturing as a whole-of-cabinet responsibility spanning energy, logistics, ports and security. Every month without action means more boardroom decisions in Detroit, Tokyo, Stuttgart and Shanghai choosing Egypt, Vietnam and Mexico over South Africa, with more factories closing, jobs lost and supply chains dismantled. Any aspiration that South Africa has to rebuild its industrial base is disappearing before our eyes. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition should take the lead in changing that, if they indeed regard industrialisation as strategic to the growth of the South African economy. If it fails, a generation of South Africans will pay the price. Manufacturing contributes roughly 12% of GDP and supports more than 1.5-million jobs directly, with multiples of that in supply chains. But we are watching this foundation erode. In the last two years […]
24/04/2026
Announcement of the new BLSA Board
BLSA is pleased to announce the appointment of the new Board of Directors, following the successful completion of the previous board’s three-year tenure. We are enormously grateful for the outstanding… continue reading
22/04/2026
MEDIA STATEMENT – BLSA Reform Tracker Q1 2026: Reform progress continues but freight logistics and governance raise concerns
Johannesburg, 23 April 2026 – The third BLSA Reform Tracker Quarterly Review, covering January to March 2026, shows South Africa’s… continue reading
15/04/2026
MEDIA STATEMENT – BLSA welcomes the appointment of Roelf Meyer as US Ambassador
Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) welcomes Roelf Meyer on his appointment as the United States ambassador. Mr Meyer’s commitment to… continue reading
BLSA POSITION PAPER – On South Africa’s Sovereign Credit Rating
BLSA has commissioned an empirically grounded research paper on South Africa’s sovereign credit rating. The commissioning of the research paper… continue reading
