“If you do not actively participate in crafting legislative framework for government policies that affect your business, those in that space, will end up making those laws for you.”
This was the message drummed into business owners from the OR Tambo region by small business development minister Stella Ndabeni during a business dinner in Mthatha on Thursday evening.
“Most business people [here] do not get involved in local economic forums led by their municipalities,” she said.
“Now what that simply means is that they are not involved in crafting policies that affect their business.”
She said there were lawyers that business people could use to challenge policies, instead of only requesting their time to claim from the Road Accident Fund.
She argued that even the struggle for liberation against apartheid was led by lawyers such as Nelson Mandela.
“You have to study the system to defeat it. Hence, most freedom fighters were lawyers. Challenge your own government. White-owned businesses use the law; they challenge everything that is transformative in courts.”
She also wanted to see more business owners uniting. She said through only unity can the business sector thrive.
“Our mandate is to work with those who know what they are doing. We are politicians, and we do not run businesses. If you are not involved [in policies], those that are around, will end up influencing policies on your behalf.”
Earlier Eastern Cape Chamber of Business president Vuyisile Ntlabati, who runs a business in Mthatha, told Ndabeni they wanted more protection as the business community through the enforcement of municipal bylaws.
He said in Mthatha in particular, some taverns were not abiding by their stipulated closing times. Instead, many operated 24 hours a day. This was contributing to rampant crime in town.
“It’s no longer a rare sight to see young girls drunk and holding alcohol bottles early in the morning. We are worried about what is happening.”
He also called on government to revive factories in Vulindlela Heights that had been closed down years ago. He said unemployment among young people was alarmingly high. Many are now roaming the streets with no jobs but many of them were highly educated and full of ideas that could be used to build the area’s economy.
“In Vulindlela, for instance, we see that there are factories but what is worrying for us is that there seems to be no proper implementation plan,” Ntlabati said.
Vulindlela which has hundreds of factories, some belonging to government, was identified as a site for a multimillion-rand industrial park to help “fight unemployment and create jobs.”
But many of the factories have been vacant for years.
Earlier this year, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation revealed that about 206 state properties in Mthatha had been hijacked by criminal syndicates. They included residential flats, commercial, industrial and leisure properties.
Business owners in the OR Tambo district including Mthatha have previously warned that the area was driving away huge potential investments.
On Thursday, Ndabeni said her department had financing totalling up to R15m for direct lending to businesses. She said the OR Tambo district was supposed to be a leading light in agriculture. And yet, “there is a lot of consumption but no production. It is important for the business community to come together and read the legislation. Empower people to produce but do not focus on just one industry.”
She said the business community could also partner with institutions of higher learning in Mthatha including Walter Sisulu University and the KSD TVET College to ensure they were able to produce people with the relevant skills that could be used to grow the economy of the district.
Daily Dispatch
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