Remarks by Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Dr Siyabonga Cwele, at the ICT Imbizo in Hammarsdale, Durban
Programme Director, Nothando Mamgo Zungu
Councillor Nhlanhla Mngwengwe
Leaders of SOCs
Small and Medium entrepreneurs
Ladies and gentlemen
It is it with pleasure that we address you today in this important workshop directed at empowering small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME’s) in this beautiful city of Durban, eThekwini. As we have lent from Asia, SMME’s can be the main driver of growth, job creation and of course socioeconomic development of our nation. We also learnt that this requires deliberate action by government.
This begins with accurate data collection about the state of government SMME interventions to grow SMMEs and monitoring and evaluating impact and progress being achieved. In 2014, the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, started collecting data and in March 2015 held a successful Information and Communication Technology (ICT) SMME Workshop in Johannesburg.
We have identified the following challenges facing our SMME’s:
- Limited skills and knowhow, including design capacity, compliance with bids, warehousing, installations and manufacturing
- Sutainability challenges such as registrations & compliance, Funding, high costs of equipment & spectrum,electricity, access to long term contracts, and limited customers.
- General lack of support from government including local sphere, Development Finance Institution (PIC, IDC, SEFA) and industry, including SOCs.
- Administrative process challenges such as burdensome regulatory compliance, long procurement processes, corruption and registration issues.
- Lack of mentoring and risk financing. The ICT is not like a factory where there are physical assets. It often start as idea with possible solutions. Much as these may be viable they are often not tangible and venture capitalist often shy away. That is why incubator programme like one at WITS in partnership with Canadian university is so important and we want it rolled out to other provinces. ICT companies can be risky but are potentially very profitable businesses. I put a challenge to you the community of Mpumalanga Township: "Come with your idea. Start small and grow big. Be global and create wealth."
The objectives of our SMME support programme are to:
- Drive transformation in the ICT sector
- Drive innovation, research and development, and
- Grow the economy. With the global recession we may not expect any magic from big companies but we need the creativity and hard work of the small business sector, particularly in the ICT. The type of support is not only financial but includes:
- Reducing regulatory burden and guaranteed market access such as 30% set aside policy by government. The Treasury Departments at all spheres of government must produce practice notes for such to be implemented.
- Improve access to infrastructure, technology and equipment. That is why in our new policy we are advocating for open access networks, open source technology development and preference for locally manufactured affordable equipment.
- Capacity building and information dissemination, and of course
- Affordable funding from both the public and private sectors
The project to be supported include:
- Content production
- Electronics manufacturing
- Small scale warehousing and distribution
- Infrastructure deployment such as contraction sites, assembling of technology gadget, installation cables, infrastructure maintainance, satellite and DTT terminals.
- Broadcasting, telecoms, postal and IT new entrants
Our government is spending about R15 billion this year on ICT procurement. The big spend will be in areas such as:
- Updating IT hardware
- Data centres
- Systems integration (health, education and administrative departments).
In conclusion,
I would like us to work together to identify real and practical opportunities for SMMEs in general and for African small businesses in particular. We invite our companies as government and private companies to stop paying leap service and mentor and give real opportunities to small companies. We call upon small companies in the ICT sector to start small but think big and grow to be internationally competitive through innovation, research and development. Let us work together to create more jobs, reduce poverty and inequality.
In addition let me touch on the report on the nine point plan. During the Imbizo Focus Week, we report on the Nine Point Plan announced by President Zuma in the State of the Nation Address nine months ago.
Since then, progress includes the following:
- More than 110 days without load shading. Medupi unit 6 has been synchronised into the national grid.
- 21000 more hose holds connected to electricity
- 27000 families with access to clean water
- 4000 families accessing sanitation
- 3800 buckets replaced with proper sanitation
- 12000 smallholder farmers assisted
- 78 000 land claims settled
- 4000 schools equipped with computer lab and internet
Let us join hand to make our economy work and benefit all of us. Let us support small businesses.
I thank you.
