MEC Creecy reaches out to township businesses

10 November 2015

 

The Gauteng Government had allocated 30% of its budget to the province’s economic development, Gauteng MEC for Finance Barbara Creecy said during an economic development workshop in Johannesburg on Monday November 9. MEC Creecy said of this, 26% would be channelled towards the development of township economies.

 

The workshop was attended by hundreds of small business owners and entrepreneurs from various townships in and around Johannesburg.

 

One of them was Thoko Tladi of Rockville, Soweto, who said her catering company could not take off because of the lack of funding and contracts. “This is our government, we voted for it, and we expect it to help us. Unfortunately that is not the case,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that when we become frustrated we vent our anger on foreign nationals.” She said the many entities and agencies government officials talked about at these workshops were not helpful.

“When you phone them they don’t pick up their phones. When you go to their offices, there is always something they need that you don’t have,” Tladi said.

 

Many of those who attended the workshop shared a more or less similar experience. Sixty two-year-old Jacob Simelane of Senaoane, Soweto. Simelane used the pension payout he received after he was laid off by a steel company in 2005 to settle all his debts and to start a business. He said he had been to many such workshops but still had nothing to show for it. “Since 2006 I’ve knocked on many government doors to no avail,” he said. I’ve attended many workshops, listened to speakers from different departments and took notes and people’s contact details,” Simelane said. With this information, he tried to start a shoe repairs business. “I was told to register a company and fix my tax affairs. I did all that but after eight years I still have to get help or a contract from the government,” he said. “Every year I have to register my company on the government database, renew my company registration and pay taxes – all that costs me money, an exercise which, at the end of the day, yields no positive result,” said Simelane.

 

After listening to all the concerns, MEC Creecy offered hope to those who had almost given up. She said the provincial government had, through Premier David Makhura’s leadership, taken a conscious decision to help revive and develop township economies. “Premier Makhura said in his mission statement when he took over as Premier last year that his government would spare no energy to help reduce unemployment among the youth and the adult population that could still contribute to the economy.
“The Premier is also sparing no strength to reduce the levels of poverty in the townships and is also working hard to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich,” said Creecy.

She said Premier Makhura had assigned Economic Development MEC Lebogang Maile to undertake roadshows to hear first-hand what communities wanted.

“That is how serious the Gauteng Provincial Government is about developing township economies. Right now we are having discussions with the banks to assist. About R10-billion is saved in commercial banks by township people annually. But the very same people cannot go to those banks to access finance, yet their money is there. They are told all sorts of stories and given all sorts of excuses. We’re talking to the banks to put an end to that,” MEC Creecy said.

 

She said Premier Makhura was also planning to call a summit of stokvels and burial societies to find ways to develop township economies. MEC Creecy advised township businesspeople to form cooperatives so they could have a strong buying power.

 

“When you’re united you’re able to negotiate prices from wholesalers because you would be buying in bulk. That is what foreign nationals do. They are united. They assist each other. They contribute to a pool. They don’t compete against each other. They operate as a collective."

“The problem with us South Africans is that we want to operate as individuals and in isolation, and then we want to compete with each other.
“That's destructive and will never help develop township economies,” she said.