Small Business Advisory Council Stakeholder Consultative Workshop
3 July 2007
Master of ceremonies, distinguished guests, members of the Small Business
Advisory Council, Officials of the Department of Trade and Industry, ladies and
gentlemen.
Good morning to you all, a warm welcome to those who are visiting the dti
campus for the first time. This is undoubtedly one the most beautiful
government buildings in South Africa. It is therefore all the more important
that the work we do here should contribute 'to build a better life for all, in
a country that no longer contains within it and represent much that is ugly and
repulsive in human society,' a quote from President Mbeki's 2007 State of the
Nation Address. In the same address the President articulated what he saw as
the challenges faced by the second economy. The President asked that we
intensify programmes to address these challenges. I would assume correctly,
that it is in response to this call made by our President that we are here
today.
Indeed it takes a special calibre of individual who willingly offer of their
time and talents to contribute to what many view as the stepchild of 'real
business.' Small business is not where the 'big deals' are; this is not where
the golf days and corner boardrooms are. Small business is the coalface. So to
the board members I wish to say, thank you for availing yourselves to serve the
people of South Africa.
The challenges are daunting but not insurmountable; we have to rise to the
challenges. The National Small Business Advisory Council was identified in the
Integrated Small Enterprise Development Strategy as far back as 2005, as one of
the pillars we needed to support small business. As an advisory body the
council forms an integral part of government's overall intervention strategy to
eventually eliminate the second economy. The collective wisdom of the council
will be called upon to guide, support and even correct us. As the dti, we do
not expect you, esteemed members to be our izimbongi. Bring us to order where
necessary.
The fact that we have people with a broad knowledge base on this advisory
council is exactly what our government envisaged when initiating the
Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) programme.
In listing the binding constraints on achieving our targeted 6% growth rate,
'the regulatory environment and the burden on small and medium businesses' is
listed. Countering these constraints the area of 'second economy interventions'
is listed. It is here where we need the advisory council to be our sounding
board on how legislation, current and proposed, would impact on small
businesses.
We need your advice on skills development in the small enterprise sector and
link this to the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa)
structure. We need to identify urgent skills needs and quick and effective
solutions. Of course, this is not saying that we are the only fountains of
knowledge. Entrepreneurs engaged in the small business sector know what their
needs are; they know what assistance they need; what they don't often know is
what programmes exist to support them. It is these programmes, especially the
ones run by government institutions that need constant evaluation and where
necessary reengineering to address the needs of the business people in the
small medium and micro enterprise (SMME) sector. This is where we hope this
council will play a key role in assisting in advising on innovative ways to
liaise with the sector to identify their needs.
In 2010 the eyes of the world will be on our country; yes, we received a
tremendous vote of confidence from the international sporting fraternity when
we went up against the best and won the right to host the Soccer World Cup. How
are we going to link small business to the 2010 value chain? At this stage I
hope none of the esteemed members of the council is having thoughts of
quitting, the job description seems quite long! We have every confidence that
you are equal to the task.
Honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen we can no longer work in isolation
only concentrating on our own narrow field of expertise as if our area of
interest has no impact on the rest of our society. Small businesses have the
potential to contribute to our much anticipated 6% growth rate. Small business
has the potential, if given the correct support, to be used in the fight
against poverty and unemployment. We need the support of everyone, business big
and small, government, foreign donors as well as civil society to present a
cohesive and inclusive strategy.
I unveil the logo as the identity of the council in the firm conviction that
the challenges will be met with vigour. I declare the workshop open and wish
you success in your deliberations. May you achieve the desired outcome of
improving the lives of our people.
I thank you.
Issued by: Ministry of Trade and Industry
3 July 2007
