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The Presidency has received media enquiries relating to a statement issued by the Premier of the Western Cape Ms Helen Zille, about her wish to undertake a debate with the President of the Republic on the state of the economy. We have not received the said request.

However, we wish to point out that President Jacob Zuma is currently working with key stakeholders on the state of the economy, under the auspices of the Presidency High Level Dialogue on the Economy. The High Level meeting took place last Friday bringing together the leadership of Business Unity SA, Black Business Council, the labour unions Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), Federation of Unions of South Africa and NACTU as well as the representatives of the community sector.

The parties will reconvene on the 17th for this crucial discussion, the outcome of which will be a joint response that will enable the country to deal with the current global economic downturn and also the recent economic challenges inside the country including strikes and the overall challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. The outcome of the meeting will be communicated publicly.

The President is optimistic that this meeting will find solutions in the same way that a similar meeting assisted the country to cushion the economy and minimise job losses during the 2009 recession.

The Presidency and Government will focus on making a success of the work of the High Level Dialogue. While we encourage all South Africans to freely express their views, the Presidency sees no need to engage in any exercise that diverts attention from getting stakeholders to work together.