Call Centre Launch, Canal Walk
12 June 2007
We could be standing here focusing only on the figures that show that you
have doubled your profits and that your investment is paying off. But I think
you underestimate what an impact your rational commercial and business decision
has made on a developing country such as South Africa. You have begun to answer
a very important question and dilemma that is currently occupying the minds of
those who govern this country which is what the quickest way is, to lift people
out of poverty. There are those who lobby very significantly for an extension
of the welfare base of our state. We have taken a decision that there must be a
safety net, but that the most sustainable way of lifting people out of poverty
is to create the kind of economy that can absorb them and give them a
meaningful future. I think in essence you underestimate the vote of confidence
that your decision to invest in Cape Town has made in our country. On the back
of budget's investment in the Western Cape and in South Africa we have been
able to use this confidence all over the world, particularly in the United
Kingdom (UK), but all over the world to say that 'if budget has done why can't
you'?
Now with the kind of figures that you are telling us about it makes it even
easier for us to capitalise positively on this. So thank you very much for the
vote of confidence that you gave us at a time when we needed a sense of self
belief. We needed to be able to trade on your reputation world wide, in order
to build a reputation for ourselves. It is precisely because of that obligation
to you that we have established groups like Calling the Cape, to do more than
lure you here but to hold your hand through what could potentially emerge as
enormous amounts of red tape such as how to secure property, how to secure your
incentives, how to get your rebates and others related issues.
We thought if we are going to stake our reputation on the call centre
industry and the BPO sector like you staked your reputation by coming to Cape
Town, then there are certain things that we need to get right. That has been a
challenge to us because it was very clear that while there was an enormous
sense of solidarity in South Africa, and the presence of Nelson Mandela three
years ago confirmed that sense of solidarity, at the end of the day, solidarity
and sympathy have a short lifespan.
We knew that when those reserves of solidarity ended that we needed to put
in place something that you could understand was going to be a business case
for not only remaining here but expanding here. That shows another step in your
own confidence in Cape Town and South Africa to deliver for you. For us the
call centre industry has emerged as the industry that is most capable of
absorbing young people into the economy. Three years ago when you launched
Budget this was a sector that absorbed only about 7 500. Three years later
today, you are adding to the 22 000 people in Cape Town alone, who work in this
industry. We owe you not simply because of the job creation but also for
creating a confidence in ourselves. More importantly you have taught us not to
fear globalisation because that is the immediate instinct of as most developing
countries do. You have shown us the opportunities in globalisation. We have
begun to see what we can offer the world, in terms of skills, in terms of
people who ca fit in, technologies and infrastructures that can accommodate
what happens thousand of kilometres from here.
The third important thing about this sector in the Western Cape and in South
Africa is that we are not competing with the mass employers in countries such
as India and the Philippines. We have asked ourselves learning from the
budget's investment here, what is our unique contribution to the BPO sector? We
have found a slightly higher level of solving problems in BPO processes that
would yield results to you. We have in turn developed a reputation for
resolving 90% of problems on the first call. We have been able to use the fact
that Cape Town has been head quarters to the financial giants of South Africa,
using this knowledge of how to for example renew your insurance or extending
your insurance from the base in the Western Cape.
We have also used certain natural advantages such as the favourable time
zone, high-calibre English-speaking workforce with neutral accents, with
excellent communication and soft skills and the ability to interact easily with
UK customers and we have added that to other strengths. We have also learned to
for example take matriculants instead of graduates in order to ensure that they
see this opportunity as a career of choice. We have over the last two years
alone had investments of almost a billion rand in the Western Cape only in
terms of BPO call centres. Due to your investment, 79% of the investments have
come from the UK. On the back of that Barclays, JP Morgan, Lufthansa,
Merchants/Asda, Dialogue and STA Travel have followed your lead, and your
decision has been a critical decision in the fortunes of this province.
I want to make an appeal to all those who are intending to make this their
career to continue to give of their best because it is through your work that
this province will continue to grow. It is because of industries such as this
and tourism that the Western Cape is outstripping the national growth average.
We are at 5,7% in the last quarter. That begins to show that we have entered
the knowledge base economy. You have also taught us the value of
multiculturalism. It is precisely out of our cosmopolitanism in the Western
Cape that we are able to embrace a global industry such as this. It is
beginning to help us resolve some of the inner problems we have emerged out of
apartheid. It tells our people that difference is good. It shows that we you
bring people together whether it is the Dutch, the Germans, the Congolese or
the English speaking base, when fused together, you have a winning
industry.
Lastly it is evident to see that the African economic giant is emerging. The
World Economic Forum for Africa which will convene in Cape Town will also
showcase many other success stories about growth rates in Africa, the level of
democracy and the rate at which peace is established in Africa. Our future is
not one that will be invested in by sympathy but by the fact that there is
money to be made in Africa. What you confirm is the fact that South Africa is
the platform from which to enter the African economy because of a reliable
legal system, banking system and a stable political system. Cape Town becomes
the soft landing for moving into the South African and African economy.
In addition your Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) score card shows that you
are pioneering another achievement for international companies, and that is not
to fear BEE but to define it. So thank you very much for the continued
confidence that you show in us through this expansion.
Thank you
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Western Cape Provincial Government
12 June 2007
