Speech in the National Assembly: Growth the pre-requisite for jobs

Yesterday the National Assembly debated the DA's motion on access to jobs and I was selected as a speaker alongside my colleagues Geordin Hill-Lewis (who sponsored the motion) and Gwen Ngwenya.

While the topic was access to jobs, we agreed that my speech should focus on what was required to create the jobs in the first place, i.e. measures to stimulate economic growth.

You can view the debate on YouTube here, my speech starts at 4:13:20.

You can read Geordin's speech here and Gwen's here.

The ANC were on the defensive from the beginning and had nothing to offer the country by way of solutions: they are out of ideas, incompetent, corrupt and stuck in an economic paradigm that will never create broad, inclusive prosperity in SA.

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Just a few days ago I was in conversation with a Wits masters student about the future of South Africa. She said she was seriously considering emigrating to the UK, following many of her friends who had left South Africa in the past few years. Her reason? The jobs situation here is so bad, and prospects in the UK are better, even with Brexit looming.

What really concerned me is that she and the friends she referred to are young, black professionals – the sort of people our country needs to be a successful nation.

ANC government’s late payments killing small business development and jobs

Date: 20 November 2018

Release: Immediate

Note to Editors: This statement follows a press briefing by the Democratic Alliance (DA) Spokesperson on Access to Jobs, Geordin Hill-Lewis MP, the DA Shadow Minister of Small Business Development, Toby Chance MP, and small business owner Bobby Mabe, on the scourge of late payments by the ANC government which threaten critical jobs. Small businesses are the life-blood of the South African economy, contributing nearly 60 % of the labour force and 34% of GDP. However, the reality is that, some 80% of South African small businesses fail within the first three years of activity. Many of these businesses fail because of unnecessary burdens placed on them such as late payments.

Media advisory: DA and small businesses to brief media on how the ANC government’s late payments kill jobs

Date: 19 November 2018 Release: Immediate Tomorrow, 20 November 2018, the Democratic Alliance (DA) Spokesperson on Access to Jobs, Geordin Hill-Lewis MP, the DA Shadow Minister of Small Business Development, Toby Chance MP, and various small businesses will address the media on the scourge of late payments by the ANC government which threaten critical jobs. The failing ANC continues to pay lip service to small businesses but fails at every turn to assist them. The government is notorious for the late and non-payment of small businesses, with an estimated R27 billion in outstanding invoices. Late payments have a direct impact on job security for people employed. With 10 million unemployed South Africans, the functioning and existence of small businesses are vital. Details of the briefing are as follows: Date: 20 November 2018 Time: 10:00 Venue: Nkululeko House, 21 Ernest Oppenheimer Street, Bruma, Johannesburg

Statement in the National Assembly about last week's Investment Conference

This afternoon I read this statement in the House:

ANC fans are hailing last week's Investment Conference in Sandton as a major step in President Ramaphosa's goal of attracting $100 billion of investment in 5 years.

A total of R290 billion of investment was pledged, topped by Anglo American's R71,5 billion.

While we don't want to rain on South Africa's parade, we can see the spin for what it is.

Is the R290 billion new investment on top of what we were likely to have secured in the normal course of events? Would the investments have been forthcoming anyway? Was the conference a huge propaganda exercise to elevate the President's status as he sat on his gleaming white throne receiving gifts?

Anglo's statement refers to the preservation of 79,000 jobs, not the creation of new ones. The other investors provided very little detail on how their money would be spent.

The investment of R1,4 billon into tech start-ups bucked the trend, but this is only a tiny fraction of the total pledges.

It's all very well making the trophy buffalo announcements, Mr President, but where's the beef? 

Where's the concomitant reduction in the cost of doing business, deregulation of labour markets,  incentives for exports and entrepreneurs and fixing the skills deficit? 

Without them, all these investments will wither and die in South Africa's unfertile economic soil.

Small Enterprise Finance Agency still leaving township industrial parks in the lurch

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY

“2657. Mr R W T Chance (DA) to ask the Minister of Small Business Development:

(1)        Whether the R163 827 014,90 spent to date by the Gauteng provincial government on industrial parks in the province is reflected in the accounts of the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa); if not, why not; if so, (a) how is this expenditure reflected and (b) what repayment will Sefa make to the provincial government;

(2)        have the improvements resulting from the specified expenditure resulted in an increased rental collection rate from tenants at the industrial parks; if so, what are the relevant details;

Media statement: ANC's rejection of Small Enterprises Ombud Service Bill threatens jobs

Date: 25 October 2018

Release: Immediate

The ANC's decision to declare the DA's Private Member's Bill for the establishment of an ombud service for small enterprises "undesirable", proves that effectively and efficiently resolving disputes that cripple small businesses in South Africa is not a priority for the governing party. The Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development yesterday rejected the Small Enterprises Ombud Service Bill based on unfounded promises by the Department of Small Business Development that they would be attending to it themselves.

Humanity at work

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development recently returned from a five day study tour to the Basque region of Spain as well as Madrid. Our purpose was to visit the Mondragon Corporation, Spain’s leading exponent of cooperatives as an organising principle of business, learn from its successes and failures and understand the role government plays in the cooperatives sector.

The development of coops has long been on the South African government’s agenda, but its track record is lamentable. A 2009 DTI study revealed that 88% of coops formed to date had failed. Since responsibility for coops was transferred to the Department of Small Business Development in 2014 their performance has not improved while hundreds of millions of rands have been pumped into the sector to try to kick start it. It remains moribund and lacking direction.