South African billionaire Christo Wiese says Ramaphosa should test every decision against jobs

Christo Wiese said President Cyril Ramaphosa should run every decision his government takes through one test, which is whether it creates jobs or destroys them.

The South African billionaire spoke at the ninth BizNews Conference in the Drakensberg, the same platform on which he dismissed the Stellenbosch Mafia label and blamed Pick n Pay's decline on its dividend policy.

He has criticised Ramaphosa before without abandoning him. Wiese called the presidency a disappointment in a conversation with Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh on the SMWX podcast in November, then defended the man against the office.

"He is a good person and I am sure he would have wanted to have a better legacy," Wiese said. "I have always defended him because I blame the system where a President can be recalled at any time by seven or eight people."

The numbers behind the jobs argument are stark. South African growth has held below 1 percent for years, unemployment ranks among the highest in the world, and the Treasury has been borrowing to close the budget. Gross loan debt hit 76.9 percent of gross domestic product in 2024-25 and is forecast at 77.4 percent this year, with debt service running above R1.1 billion a day.

Wiese, 84, built his fortune through Pep Stores, Shoprite, Pepkor and Steinhoff International, chairing Shoprite for 29 years as it became Africa's largest retailer. He holds about 11.5 percent of the company, and Forbes ranks him 16th among Africa's wealthiest people at $1.9 billion.

He keeps 95 percent of his assets in South Africa and has told anyone considering emigration to compare the country with life elsewhere first. He told Newsday in July that he refuses to live like a prisoner and intends to stay as long as he is alive, and has encouraged his children and grandchildren to build their lives there.