Calling the Cape Awards event
4 August 2007
Thank you very much Sipho Zungu, Chairperson of Calling the Cape and the
Board, Minister of Economic Development Environment and Planning, Tasneem Essop
and all the agents and the major companies in the sector. I must say that not
only is this the fastest growing industry in the Western Cape, it also appears
to be the most glamorous industry in the Western Cape. So thank you very much
for bringing glamour to the Cape.
Four years ago, this was a sector that employed just about 7 500 people,
today it employs about 22 000 people. We have seen a growth in numbers of 30%
per annum, and I thank you very much for making this industry grow so rapidly.
We expect it to grow by a further 37%. We are here tonight, particularly to
speak to the Agents who work in this industry. Your work has put out such a
wonderful advert for Cape Town, the Western Cape and South Africa and the
entire continent. Through your work, you have managed to put the African
continent on the map for the quality of work that you do. And tonight, all
these awards are not about an industry that is simply patting itself on the
back. We are saying thank you very much for doing the wonderful work that you
do. It may appear to you, that you are managing the telephones, that you are
giving information, that you are solving people's problems, that you are
fulfilling your transactions on the phone but at the end of the day if you look
at how you are the front line of our marketing campaign for Africa, you can
begin to understand that there are people 22 000 people, speaking to people all
over the country, all over the world and giving out positive impressions about
our province, country and continent.
We are not only the most glamorous but we are appearing to be the most
vibrant sector anywhere in the world from the enthusiasm that we display
through the work that you do. Through you, we have opened up fronts in
telecommunications, in financial services, in health care, in marketing, in
information technology. Some companies have come here and they have established
their call centres here; they outsourced some of their work here and they have
off-shored. Very soon we find them beginning to enquire about whether it is not
good for the headquarters to be here, for a factory of theirs to be here and
for more of their operations to be here. So you must not underestimate just how
much you contribute to the vibrancy of the Western Cape and the South African
economy as a whole.
I am not sure if you understand all the time when you do the work, what you
contribute per annum to the Western Cape economy. Every year, your contribution
to our economy in the Western Cape, contributes from the lowest R2,5 billion in
some years which are not so good, up to R3,3 billion a year which are
excellent. That is what you bring to the Western Cape every year. Thank you
very much for your efforts and your work in this regard.
This is about two and a half percent of our growth regional product. When we
did the survey to find out what's going on in this industry. In 2004, only 11
companies representing 1 500 Asians responded, this year, a 141 companies
representing 14 000 staff responded. That is the growth in this industry. But
if nothing else, in addition to all of that, this industry is showing the way
about what a new Western Cape can be and what the new South Africa can be. If
any industry represents all the people of the Western Cape, in proportional
numbers at agent level, then it is this industry.
This is not an industry that is only for black Africans. This is not an
industry that is only for coloureds. This is not an industry that is only for
whites or only for Indians. Here we have, for the first time, a new industry
that represents our ideals and our aspirations as a non-racial nation. In
proportional number, we represent all of those communities, we show you, in
this industry that if we put together all the contributions and all the talents
of all our communities, then we get a dynamic package such as what you
represent here tonight. And so, in keeping with this theme I want to say bling
it on! Because we are seeing what South Africa and the Western Cape can look
like, and maybe you do not know what you do, maybe it has become so natural to
you, but we are in a society that needs to see that it is possible to be
united, we are in a society that needs to understand that when you bring
different people together you are not creating problems.
When you bring different people together, you get the best out of each
culture, each community, each belief and each colour. That I think is the
additional work that you do for us in the Western Cape and for our country as a
whole. And do not underestimate that because all over the world, people are
struggling with what it means to be a multi-cultural society and yet as we sit
here tonight, all of you, united by your work in this industry, and enhanced by
the glamour that you bring to this event tonight. We have something that is
illusive in the world. And you must not underestimate your contribution and you
must always nurture what this industry represents. I think, as government, we
need to continue to show faith in the ability of this industry to do more than
put food on the table. This is not an industry in which people go home simply
with slave wages because I know all of you will probably say here tonight, you
can do with more with money.
I want to say to you that this is an industry that as it grows, and as we
get more and more of the big companies of the world to come here, that money
will be there. But the fact of the matter is, that this is an industry that is
skills intensive. At this moment, we need to overcome through Calling the Cape,
through its cadet scheme and through the industry as a whole. We need to make
sure that we keep up with the skills demand because it appears as if just as we
train someone, just as someone settles in a job, more seats open up. So we have
to get more people in and it appears as if experience is going to be one of the
things that we have to force like in the Western Cape. Despite that, we are
doing well, and therefore, we as a government have decided to make available a
building that we bought on auction, the old building in Klipfontein Road in
Athlone.
Very soon, we will have the first Calling the Cape Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) jobs centre in Klipfontein Road, dedicated to developing
skills for this industry, building the language skills, the communication
skills, the customer care skills, the computer literacy skills, the sales
skills, the life skills, the maths and other things that otherwise unemployed
matriculants will need to enter this industry. This industry is giving young
people a chance, it is giving people something to dream about. You do need
undue competition amongst yourself because the industry is growing. So when we
award you tonight, and when these prizes go out, it is not simply because the
industry does what other industries do, and that is to have a great evening for
the workers. This is a thank you, this is a mark of appreciation, this is an
investment in the people who keep us going. From government, that is why both
myself and Minister Essop are here. This industry falls within the work of
Minister Essop. It is a pity that we have lost Luke Mills to the industry as a
whole. He has made this industry an outstanding industry, and so we must also
say thank you to Luke Mills for the contribution he has made towards the growth
of this industry as a whole. Thank you very, very much, for what you have
accomplished.
Issued by: Western Cape Provincial Government
4 August 2007
