Inclusive economy crucial to empowerment, says Pres Zuma
President Jacob Zuma says for any economy to succeed, the majority of citizens must have a meaningful role to play beyond being workers.
The President was addressing the Black Business Council (BBC) Baobab Awards Gala Dinner in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Tuesday and said citizens must participate in the economy as owners, executives and senior managers and also as policymakers in the economy.
“To promote economic transformation and inclusive growth, the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) policy was designed and is being implemented. For the country to succeed, both the public and private sectors need to institutionalise the policy and implement it,” said the President.
He said the private sector has a big role to play in sharing and transferring economic ownership, control and the necessary skills and capabilities to black people. The President thanked international investors for the amount of interest they show in South Africa.
“We are impressed by the cooperation of the international investor community. We have found that most investors only want certainty and clarity. They want to know how the policy works and what is expected from them. They are not opposed to reversing the legacy of the apartheid past,” he said.
President Zuma said the government must use its procurement muscle to sustain and grow black businesses to enable the B-BBEE policy to succeed in the public sector.
Annually, he said, through the public sector procurement system, the government spends in the region of R500 billion on goods and services and construction works alone.
“The buying power of the State is a powerful economic transformation tool. It can and must be used to advance black economic empowerment.”
National Small Business Act review
President Zuma said the government is reviewing the National Small Business Act.
“We invite black business to work with the Small Business Department to ensure that the Amendment Bill supports the creation of a thriving environment for small business.”
One of the biggest challenges facing black businesses and the implementation of empowerment policies is access to finance. Government, President Zuma said, established the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) to be used as an instrument to financially support empowerment initiatives.
“Since its inception, the number of approvals by the NEF have totalled R7.6 billion, supporting 770 black businesses. For the 2015/16 financial year, the NEF has approved 120 deals worth R1.3 billion,” said the President.
Government is currently exploring various means to recapitalise the NEF as an apex institution to facilitate BEE finance.
“I am sure that we are all in agreement that all development finance institutions must be used as vehicles of economic transformation. Within the Public Investment Corporation fold, the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has allocated a further R70 billion, while the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) increased its allocation to R25 billion towards developmental investments.
“The IDC has provided R31 billion over the past five years to companies that are black-empowered. The IDC has also allocated R23 billion to the Black Industrialist Programme, which was established recently,” he said.
– SAnews.gov.za
