This morning is a special occasion; a day that will go down in history as the day Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment took a giant leap forward.
Today we affirm the hopes and aspirations of millions of black people who continue to yearn for socio-economic freedom which will emanate from bold programmes such as this one we are here this morning to announce.
The new South Africa was duty-bound to become an antithesis of apartheid-colonial society and the end the socio-economic exclusion and marginalisation of the black majority.
However, and before I go any further, I wish to take this opportunity to pay a special tribute to the many women and men who continue to wage a relentless war against violence and abuse directed at and perpetuated against women and children in every society, ours in particular.
All of us as a nation, one and all, have a common and individual responsibility to protect women given the unique role they play in society and to protect children who are dependent on adult protection for survival and growth.
I take this opportunity to acknowledge the 16 days of activism against the abuse of and violence against women and children campaign – which ends on the 10th of December.
I challenge all of us to ensure that every day is turned into a safe, secure and joyful day for the women and children of our country, as well as all the vulnerable.
Our nation’s founding father, President Nelson Mandela, had taught us that nowhere does a nation expose its soul than in the manner it cares for its children, the elderly, women, the poor and all the vulnerable.
As the festive season is already upon us, we must all commit to making this a safe, secure and joyful season for all women and children, as well as for the elderly, the poor and other vulnerable people in our country.
After all, South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, men and women, young and old, rich as well as poor.
We all have space in the South African sun! Ladies and Gentlemen: We are here today to mark yet another milestone in our drive to redress the social and economic injustices inflicted against black South Africans by the previous apartheid regime.
We are here to demonstrate our unyielding resolve; to lift the hope of the economically marginalised and assure them of a better future!
Earlier in 2011, President Zuma said: “We must make the decisive shift to meaningful economic transformation and set in motion a very deliberate programme that will ensure that the benefits of our political liberation are shared amongst all our people. Our people have struggled selflessly for freedom from oppression. We cannot fail them when it comes to the struggle for the elimination of poverty.
This will include the deepening of empowerment of black South Africans in general. We have to live the promise of the Freedom Charter, which states amongst others, that all our people will share in the wealth of the country. Political emancipation without economic transformation is meaningless. That is why we have to commit ourselves to economic freedom in our lifetime, and the African National Congress (ANC) must continue to be in the forefront of that transformation.”
Today’s event demonstrates in unequivocal terms that South Africa has changed a great deal since 1994 at the advent of our freedom; that we have a become a better country and we have reason to hope.
Over the years, black people remained in the periphery of the economy and largely absorbed by the informal sector due to red tape associated with industry rules or barriers to entry or lack of access to capital.
As the democratic government, it was important that we change the basic social and economic institutions in order to change the outcomes they generate.
Given this context, the question was whether government focuses on getting the cross-cutting fundamentals right or whether it targets particular interventions that will openly benefit some racial groups over the others who had experienced social exclusion.
The political choice the government took was to favour some group over others.
The economic imperative of Broad-Based Economic Empowerment was based on political objectives which sought to shift racial and class dynamics in the economic sphere.
Through this policy discourse we had to end the fact that black people and Africans, in particular, generated sufficient wealth through selling their labour power.
Our economic transformation agenda has always been based on principles of shared growth and social inclusion.
It does not only seek to broaden the productive base of the economy but to also make it more inclusive and pro-poor, expand job creation, raise productivity, improve competitiveness and promote the greening of the growth and consumption patterns.
Since the announcement of the counter-cyclical strategies by the State-Owned Companies (SOC), government has made a clarion call to all of them – SOC – to ensure that their procurement spend should have a transformative impact and change the economic landscape, including when Transnet announced its Market Demand Strategy aimed at revitalising South Africa’s transport and logistics infrastructure.
As the Shareholder Representative, my department instructed Transnet to ensure that black, women and youth-led businesses should not be trapped in cleaning services, provision of security of services or selling “magwinya” outside the building or construction sites.
The procurement spend should create sustainable employment opportunities, investment in human capital development and fundamentally deracialise the economy by creating a new class of black industrialists who operate in both light and heavy manufacturing sectors of the economy and thus contribute to changing, in a significant way, the ownership patterns of the economy.
The creation and existence of black industrialists would also challenge the existing prejudices about black people’s participation in the economy and would change existing racist mindsets still preponderant among the owners of productive capital.
Today we are proud to announce that Transnet has awarded its contract, valued at R15.5 billion, for the supply of fuel for the next five years to nine black and women-owned companies following a competitive process.
This is the biggest single contract for services or goods for the State Owned Companies (SOC).
Following a rigorous open and public bidding process overseen by a committee of the Board, Transnet appointed nine companies to cover Transnet’s fuel requirements.
These are:
- Afric Oil
- Borutho Gas Supply
- Gulfstream Energy
- KZN Oils
- Mzumbe Oil
- NRW Trading and Logistics
- Tlhokaina 21
- Women of Africa Fuels and Oils and;
- Yem Yem Petroleum.
Of the nine companies that I have listed, eight are 100% black owned, whilst five of them are more than 80% woman owned.
Encouragingly, we have introduced three new entrants into the industry. These companies will supply Transnet with:
a) Homebase fuel in tanks and pumps installed in Transnet sites across the country;
b) Diesel traction for all Transnet’s 737 diesel locomotives; and
c) Marine diesel for port equipment like dredgers and tug-boats.
I salute the women who are part of this contract and I would like youth organisations to be part of these types of contracts which guarantees them sustainability of their businesses.
My appeal to the companies is that they must commit themselves to mentor young people as this sector requires technical expertise before any business can thrive.
This announcement follows the appointment of a consortium led by home-grown professional services firm, Sekela Xabiso to run Transnet’s internal audit function for the next five years – arguably the biggest contract of its nature in the world.
The appointment of the Sekela Xabiso consortium follows that of Sizwe Ntsaluba Gobodo as the company’s external auditors.
Earlier, we announced that Eskom had awarded its R5.2 billion petroleum contract to a woman- owned company, Econ-Oil, to supply three clusters of Eskom Power Stations with fuel oil, starting by supplying Hendrina Power Station with effect from 1 September 2013.
We have also launched Transnet’s Enterprise Development Hub, the first integrated hub of its kind involving different tiers of government, government services and development finance institutions, and Transnet shall roll this out in all the provinces.
Through this transaction, we have introduced four new entrants in the petroleum sector which highly concentrated and has not reached 18% in their transformation targets in terms of the Petroleum industry Charter.
The award contributes significantly to Transnet’s supplier and enterprise development goals, especially in relation to skills development, job creation technology transfer and rural integrations.
In line with this commitment, Transnet is further providing support to the new entrants through mentorship programmes.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are engaging with small businesses because we realise the importance of this vital segment to the economic growth of South Africa, and that over twelve million South Africans rely directly on small business for their livelihood, and that small businesses employ almost 60% of the employable population in South Africa today.
The small business sector has been responsible for the growth and sustenance of some of the major economies in the world and is the surest way to create jobs, develop skills and share the wealth across our population.
We need to build a culture of entrepreneurship because without entrepreneurs to create and run businesses – employing themselves and others in our country – we will not succeed as a nation.
It is important therefore that we do all we can inculcate that spirit of entrepreneurship and provide our support to this brave group of individuals who are embarking on this journey together with Transnet.
Lastly let me remind all of us here that - over the next seven years, Transnet is spending 307 billion rand on its infrastructure – building ports infrastructure and expanding it, purchasing locomotives, wagons and other rail assets and infrastructure.
At the same times the company will be spending almost a similar amount on its operational expenditure over the same period.
Let me take this opportunity to emphasise that not even a cent of these billions of rand will be spent without taking into consideration our government’s developmental goals which job creation, skills development, enterprise development and industrialisation.
We will remain steadfast in our pursuit of the Competitive Supplier Development, localisation and black economic empowerment programmes.
Thank you.
