10 June 2004
Deputy Speaker, Honourable Minister and Deputy Minister and Honourable Members
Deputy Speaker allow me to congratulate the Minister on his appointment and wish him well and success in this challenging post.
Also congratulations to the Deputy Minister on her re-election. The ANC will work together with you for the people's contract and ensuing better life for all South Africans.
A little over a year ago, the DTI prepared what it called "South Africa's Economic Transformation : A Strategy for Broad-Based Economic Empowerment."
In this very comprehensive document key areas that underpin any successful economy were dealt with and elaborate upon. These included an "economy that builds on the full potential of all persons and communities across the length and breadth of this creation of wealth to a radical minority."
The paper then examined the economic conditions existing prior to South Africa's liberation and found that the apartheid regime had not only restricted the majority of South Africans from meaningful participation in the economy but also entrenched inequalities which continue to characterise the economy and act as a deterrent to growth, economic development, employment creation and poverty reduction that vast racial and gender inequality in the distribution of and access to wealth, income, skills and employment persist. It then correctly concludes that the results of the above have been an economy that continues to perform below its full potential.
The DTI has not only confined its analysis to the above factors of history but makes some observations of the likely consequences thereof by stating that "societies characterised by entrenched gender inequality or racially or ethnically defined wealth disparities are not likely to be socially and politically stable, particularly as economic growth can easily exacerbate there inequalities.
Examples of such unstable, conflict ridden society abound in our continent and beyond, creating much suffering in their wake and contributing to sustained underdevelopment.
It is against the above well-articulated DTI position paper that I would like to touch on the following deliverables and achievements:
In a discussion document - Synthesis Report on Implementation of Government Programme", "Toward a Ten Year Review", the Government set out its main goals as:-
Job creation, elmination of poverty, the reduction of inequality and overall grown of the wealth of the country.
The review points our very impressive and encouraging results. It however does not exaggerate or over-estimate government accomplishments, it does not gloss-over areas that need to be tackled with urgency and vigorously such as job creation and poverty eradication. It further underlines the President's theme for the second decade of our liberation which emphasises deeper and more sustained delivery.
DTI has seven programmes and amongst them on industrial and enterprise development programme. It has 35,7% of the budget of the entire department. Its primary objective is to create an enabling environment for small enterprise. It should also facilitate greater equalisation of income, wealth and earning opportunities and address legacy of apartheid-based disempowerment of black business. We have agencies in the department. These are Khula. As a wholesale to give financial support and act as a collateral in financial institutions, for SMME's. It has provided 628 crdit guarantees to the value of R180 million. R99,3m in loans was also disbursed by Khula. It has also agreed that it has not done much to assist SMME's for sustainability. We also have Ntsika which provides non-financial support services to SMME's. Ntzika has assisted 15 000 small enterprises by training and mentoring.
Namac (National Co-ordinating Office of Manufacturing Advisory Office), its role is to supply high-quality advisory and information services to new and existing SMME's to ensure improvement in their quality, competitveness and productivity. It has assisted and supported more than 2000 manufacturing enterprises creating 1744 new jobs and retaining 14 726 existing jobs. There will be a merging of Ntsika and Namac into a single agency later this year with an annual budget of R120 m. I support this fully.
It is hoped that Khula Enterprises and Finance Corporation and Ngsike Enterprise Promotion agency will increase their impact on the ????????
In the light of all that is being done, government systems, in these many areas of our economy, particularly as it touches a poverty eradication, job creation, black empowerment. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) one cannot doubt that the DTI and other relevant departments have made and will continue to make impressive deliverables and score significant achievements so that a peoples contract that contributes to a good life for all can be upheld.
Some businesses have been successful enough to enter into the mainstream business. But what is going to be done about those that have failed. Some of the reasons why these fail include:
There is a dire need to mobilize at the grassroot level because that is where the poverty is. The financing moguls should not only work with those projects that are already in the know-how and are viable. These are the people that usually secure funds to grow their SMME's easily. They should make the public aware they are there by amongst others:
Skills training programmes should be run along the ABETS at community level.
Emphasis should be a sustainability so that once a project is off the ground it should be kept viable until it is able to maintain its beneficiaries for long periods.
Ke ha feleletsa ka gore, a mmuso oo re be bokgori ba go I ketsetsa. Re je mofufutso na phatla tsa rona. Re se ke ra thloka e re direle nna re ntse feela.
Mokgwa wa rona ma Africa re go arolelana. ya nang le gona o fa ya tlhokang. A re kgaoganeng tlhogwana ya tsie jaaka bana ba motho. Bo botlana bo fitlheletswe ke mmuso, bo tla kgaoganang go fitlhela bottle ba ungwa sesngwe.
ANC supports the budget vote, 32.
I thank you.