The African National Congress (ANC) government came under heavy fire from both retired party veteran Mathews Phosa and Business Unity South Africa (Busa) CEO Cas Coovadia at the Nedbank Top Empowerment Conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Phosa said current leaders don't have the same vision that former president Nelson Mandela had and are stealing from taxpayers.

Phosa said not only are African leaders stealing from the people, but they are also handing over the continent's wealth and assets like mines to foreign companies. He said colonisation has been replaced by "theft at a State level" as politicians cook up deals that will benefit them when selling these assets to Chinese and other foreign companies.

"We steal like hell from taxpayers," said Phosa, referring to most African countries. "Our country is throttled by corruption. South Africa is throttled by corruption. There are always unaccountable billions of rands at the municipal level. We are not accountable. We've got a bunch of thieves ruling us," he added.

Phosa said crumbling road infrastructure, electricity woes, decaying schools, sewerage on the road, and potholes show that leaders have no plan for the country.

"If you drive your car straight [in South Africa], it's because you are drunk… You've got to navigate the potholes," he said.

Phosa said that of all the South African presidents, Mandela was his hero, but he also believed there was no corruption under former president Thabo Mbeki's rule. But after Mbeki, "issues" began, and the horse completely bolted on corruption – although it's not at every level of government.

The president is indecisive

Phosa blamed President Cyril Ramaphosa for being "indecisive", pointing out that a year after he received the Zondo Commission report on State capture, no real action followed.

"Our president is very indecisive. There's consensus [on that] in the country. You cannot govern by commissions, committees… (He) must make decisions. And it starts with him to destroy the rot. Don't have questionable things around you," said Phosa.

Coovadia, said Ramaphosa's administration has gone some way to try and rebuild the State institutions. But this lack of action against the State capture perpetrators has overshadowed all that.

"If the action was taken the day after the president got the Zondo report, there might have been progress. If you get the report and do virtually nothing, all you're doing is allowing those who have been guilty of malfeasance time to consolidate and carry on," said Coovadia.

"The bottom line is that we have a weak government that is ideologically inclined and doesn't understand the current situation we are in and the global context in which we work," said Coovadia. 

The business community is now fed up; some have "taken a strike" on working with the government to solve SA's many crises. They are frustrated by the lack of progress and the different interests pulling in different directions, Coovadia said. Many are questioning whether the government's alliance with trade unions is still relevant and what its contribution is to making SA work. He believes that more South Africans should be asking this question.

More and more business leaders have given up on achieving the social compact that government has been touting as a solution to solve the country's problems.

At the same time, Coovadia said SA needs to address unethical practices in the business sector, too. Right now, he believes that society has lost its moral compass across the country. But the government must understand and play the role it's supposed to be playing.