Why is SA entrepreneurship in the doldrums?
Does it perhaps mean that many of our people expect to get employment – or a handout – from the government in one way or another?
Picture for illustration. Sithenjiwe Masuku, entrepreneur and managing director of T-Legacy Components SA, shows off her products, which include gumboots, conti-suits, gloves, safety boots and reflective vests for mine workers, construction and industrial workers. Picture supplied: dti
A report by the World Bank and International Finance Corporation, done in cooperation with the SA National Treasury, about the state of our entrepreneurship makes for thought-provoking reading.
It says that SA’s rate of entrepreneurship is extremely low when compared to other African countries. It is also hardly growing. According to the report, there were 2.3 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in this country in 2017 – a figure which had risen hardly at all from the two million recorded in 2008.
So, the small and medium business sector is not making the contribution expected it could to the economy. We should, in reality, have an entrepreneurship rate three times what it is.
The African example is interesting. Does it indicate that South Africans are not as ambitious or industrious as our brothers and sisters on the continent? Does it perhaps mean that many of our people expect to get employment – or a handout – from the government in one way or another?
There is certainly an over-employment in the state and parastatal sector – which is draining the national coffers at an alarming rate.
The government needs to go out of its way to encourage new business. It will help us survive in future.
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