Industry Interference – Stop closed door meetings between government and big business

Industry interference is the practice of big businesses, industry bodies and their proxies using resources and strategies to influence bureaucrats and politicians to make decisions that put profit ahead of people. This includes strategies to dilute, delay and delegitimise any regulations, laws or taxes so big businesses can maximise and protect their profits.

In a democracy, it should be the people who govern – not profits. However, Koketso Moeti, amandla.mobi Executive Director, told a 13 October 2022 media briefing that some big businesses are using their power to protect their profits at the expense of people in South Africa.

“We’ve seen big businesses use their power to influence the decision making processes of government. We’ve watched them use tactics like bullying and wining and dining to attempt to stop and delay taxes, better wages and cheaper medication,” Moeti said at an amandla.mobi press briefing on Thursday, October 13.

The press briefing called: “Put People Before Profit: Stop Closed-Door Meetings Between Government And Big Business” highlighted amandla.mobi’s latest campaign against industry interference in South Africa.

It must be noted that industry interference is rarely something that is discussed or reported on. Unlike corruption, where wrongdoing is often more clear-cut, industry interference is more subtle. However, there is emerging evidence of industry influence and involvement in policy-making in South Africa.

“In 2014, the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications attempted to put in place regulations to standardise the processed meat industry. These were blocked by industry players who rejected the proposed levies […] Fast forward to 2017 and 2018, there were over 1000 confirmed cases of listeriosis,” Moeti said.

That listeriosis outbreak resulted in over 200 deaths – the worst listeriosis outbreak in the world.

The National Health Department is looking to introduce regulations to allow for food high in salt, sugar and fat to have front-of-pack warning labels. As reported by Laura López González for the Daily Maverick, industry lobbying has already begun behind closed doors despite the fact the draft policy has not been publicly released. Industry interference like this is not new, studies show that big businesses and their associations work to undermine policymaking processes by delegitimising the potential effectiveness of the public policy, disputing evidence or underscoring its economic importance.

Mikateko Mafuyeka, a Public Health Lawyer said the go-to argument industry has is in on job losses.

“Every time you try to present them with evidence, they see job losses,” Mafuyeka said.

Yet, the evidence points out the detrimental effect food high in salt, sugar or fat has on our health.

In South Africa, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and several cancers are among the top 10 causes of death. Unhealthy food has become widespread in South Africa and the companies that produce them use aggressive marketing strategies to increase the acceptability and availability of unhealthy foods, particularly in low-income communities.

Multinational food and beverage businesses use various strategies to make their food products very common in our diets. This includes flooding the markets of countries with ultra-processed products like sugary drinks and concentrating advertising for unhealthy foods in many low-income areas.

Mafuyeka said healthy eating goes beyond choice.

“The reality is the majority of people in this country eat what they can afford. It’s not about you choosing to wake up in the morning. It’s about “this is what is in my pocket right now at this point in time,” she said.

Our health is at stake, Moeti said, calling on big businesses to have a higher level of transparency.

“These closed door meetings where none of us are in the room, those of us whose interests government is supposed to represent. We want an end to that. We want an end to the preferential treatment,” Moeti said.

amandla.mobi urges big businesses to prove that they are not bullies and stop holding the country hostage with threats of job losses and divesting.

More information about the campaign can be found here.