Parliamentary joint subcommittee on probing violence against foreign nationals gets underway

On Friday, the Parliamentary joint subcommittee on probing violence against foreign nationals sat for the second time. I have been appointed to the committee along with my DA colleagues Sej Motau from the National Assembly and Bridget Masango from the National Council of Provinces (she has replaced Jaco Londt who had to withdraw due to other commitments).

Media coverage has been meagre so far but will doubtless increase as the committee's deliberations ensue. ENCA covered the announcement of the Committee - see the link below:

ENCA on the announcement of the Committee

KZN job-creation projects lie abandoned

8 June 2015
Release: immediate

Note to editors: The following remarks follow an oversight visit today by the DA’s Shadow Minister of Small Business Development, Toby Chance MP, to several industrial and business parks in the City of eThekwini. 

Two major job creation projects meant to support small businesses in eThekwini are lying abandoned and derelict, a DA oversight visit to the metro has found today.

Both the Jabulani Business Park in Verulam and a Mushroom-growing plant near King Shaka International have fallen out of use for years, despite 383 000 eThekwini residents being unable to find work. 

Lucas Mogashoa's funeral in Soweto - the DA pulls out all the stops for a true son

This morning I attended Lucas Mogashoa's funeral in Soweto. It was a very moving occasion - actually two, for first there was the service then the burial.

Lucas was employed as the Constituency Officer in the DA's Mvelaphanda constituency, formerly known as Soweto North. It adjoins my own constituency, Soweto West. He died of a stroke last week, aged only 40, leaving three daughters and two sons.

He was born and spent his early years in Naledi. In the funeral leaflet, a brief Story of My life recounts how "I attended preparatory school in Naledi Day Care, because I was too smart. I started school at the age of 4 in 1980 at Lethabo Combined School, when I was 7 years old my teacher took me to a radio station as I was always a good speaker."

Minister Lindiwe Zulu is listening to the DA, at last!

In an interview with Fin24 journalist Matthew le Cordeur on Friday, Minister of Small Business Development Lindiwe Zulu as good as admitted she is taking the advice my colleague Henro Kruger and I gave her in our budget debate speeches last Wednesday.

Not only will she focus on cutting red tape, but she will seek the merger of Sefa and Seda which I first mooted at a Portfolio Committee meeting earlier this month. I issued a press statement on May 7th to this effect.

Here is the first article and interview clip on red tape reduction and Sefa/Seda:

Fin24 Red Tape interview

Here is the second article and interview clip:

Fin24 Playing politics with the opposition

Minister Zulu correctly said that the Portfolio Committee is adopting a constructive approach to policy development. Many of my suggestions are finding expression in her statements, including references to 'gazelles', or fast-growing businesses which have the potential to create large numbers of jobs. I first brought this up in our strategy workshop last September and listed it as one of the things her department should focus on.

Without the DA's advice and input on the committee I think it's fair to say the Department and Minister Zulu would have been much slower in getting to grips with the priorities for small business.

You Tube video of the Small Business Development budget debate

Parliament has loaded the video of the Extended Public Committee debate on Small Business Development in Parliament on May 20th - you can view it here

I come on about 38 minutes into the debate.

Budget debate speech in Parliament

Today at 5 pm, the Extended Public Committee on Small Business Development sat in the National Assembly to hear the debate on the Department's budget. I was the third speaker, after Minister Zulu and Committee Chair Ruth Bhengu.

Here is my speech below:

Speech by

Toby Chance MP

DA Shadow Minister of Small Business Development

Extended Public Committee

20^th May 2015

Minister Zulu needs to wake up and defend her job-creating ministry

Chairperson,

Last year I spoke of the fairy tale formation of the Department of Small Business Development and likened the Honourable Zulu to Cinderella.

If she took the DA’s advice Minister Zulu could rid herself of the ugly step-sisters Rob Davies and Ebrahim Patel and become the first business-friendly minister in President Zuma’s cabinet.

Resolution on enterprise and opportunity moved at the DA Federal Congress

Apart from listening to the debate on the family (see my previous blog post), earlier on Saturday I seconded a motion (proposed by Dean Macpherson) promoting enterprise, freedom and opportunity. Here it is below. I'm pleased to say the motion was carried.

The Democratic Alliance recognises that unemployment and poverty remain significant challenges to a large proportion of our people. Currently, 36% of South Africans are unemployed and 20% are living in extreme poverty. Since Jacob Zuma became President in 2009, 1.4 million additional South Africans have become unemployed. Our economy has also experienced depressed economic growth over this period, with the current growth forecast for 2015 only being 2%.

The DA believes that:

•     As the party of freedom, opportunity and enterprise, it is our responsibility to foster an entrepreneurial culture;
•     Significant job creation in our economy can be driven by the formation and growth of new businesses;
•     South Africa’s economy can thrive in an environment unburdened by restrictive regulations and red tape;
•     Businesses should be incentivised through innovative tax and other stimulatory measures so as to create new jobs to bring unemployment, and thus inequality, down from today’s unacceptable levels;
 Resolves that a DA government will:

•     Grow our way to economic prosperity through increased incentives for manufactures, entrepreneurs, building a capable state that can achieve 8% growth;
•     Reduce the regulatory burden on businesses, with an aim to encourage the formation of new businesses, and spur the growth and success of existing enterprises;
•     Cut corruption from R30 billion per year and use these savings to reduce tax;
•     Establish a national guarantee/ capital venture fund to draw the private sector and state together in support of new businesses.

 Proposer: Dean Macpherson,   Seconder: Toby Chance