Democratic Alliance press statement
by
Toby Chance MP
DA Shadow Minister of Small Business
Development
Scrapping the Licensing of Businesses Bill must top Minister
Zulu’s New Year ‘to do list’
12 January 2015
Release: immediate
The DA challenges Small Business
Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu, to meet with Minister of Trade and
Industry, Rob Davies, to successfully ensure that the job-killing Licensing of
Businesses Bill is scrapped and does not proceed to Parliament.
In her address at the launch of the
Cape Town hub of Anglo American and De Beers' Zimele Enterprise Development
last week, Minister Zulu stated that her department was fully committed to
reducing regulatory constraints facing small, micro and medium sized
enterprises, particularly at local government level.
While this verbal commitment is
welcomed, it is abundantly clear that other ministries within the economics
cluster do not share her sentiment. Many bills and policies in
other economics cluster ministries in effect only hamper the growth
and development of small businesses.
One such bill is the Licensing of
Businesses Bill, which is set to come before the Portfolio Committee on Trade
and Industry early this year. This bill will require all businesses to register
with their local municipality and receive a “license” to operate. Not only will
this become an administrative nightmare for many defunct local authorities to
carry out, but it serves to add more layers of bureaucratic red tape
to entrepreneurs, which will increase business costs and kill thousands of
jobs.
The bill also allows municipalities
to impose restrictions and conditions on businesses as they may deem necessary,
with inspectors given sweeping powers to search premises and seize goods for
whatever reason they see fit. This is a recipe for rampant bribery, corruption
and abuse. It will come down particularly hard on the informal sector, which
already suffers from constant harassment by over-zealous police and municipal
officials.
With SMMEs expected to create 90% of
the jobs required to meet the National Development Plan’s objective of 11
million jobs by 2030, the success of small businesses should be of paramount
importance to government. Government should relentlessly pursue cost-reduction
measures for business, not add further layers of red tape and regulation which
add to costs and the killing of jobs.
The DA-run Western Cape government
has implemented a dedicated Red Tape reduction unit, which assists small
businesses with their administrative and bureaucratic challenges by identifying
processes that can be streamlined, and assists entrepreneurs to navigate the
regulatory landscape. This unit has been highly successful, and the DA would
implement it at national government level.
If Minister Zulu truly is the
champion of job creation and sustainable small business development, she must
ensure that this burdensome bill does not make its way to Parliament. Anything
less would prove her words to be nothing more than indulgent rhetoric.
Media Enquiries:
Toby Chance MP
DA Shadow Minister of Small Business
Development
083 251 5613
Graham Charters
Media Officer
072 635 0440
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