Speech by the Minister of Small Business Development, Ms Lindiwe Zulu, at the Principal and Vice Chancellor’s Women Empowerment Gala Dinner, UNISA
Programme Director,
Principal and Vice Chancellor: Prof Mandla Makhanya,
Principals from UNISA,
Academics,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen
I am honoured and privileged to be standing in front of you tonight to deliver this address at the Unisa Principal and Vice Chancellor’s Women’s Empowerment Gala Dinner, under the theme “Revisiting the Gender Agenda within South Africa’s development agenda: Women, National Development Plan and the 2nd Phase of Transition”.
Addressing the first democratic Parliament of a liberated South Africa in 1994, the late President Nelson Mandela, among other things, had this to say:
“... And so we must, constrained by and yet regardless of the accumulated effect of our historical burdens, seize the time to define for ourselves what we want to make of our shared destiny… the purpose that will drive this government shall be the expansion of the frontiers of human fulfilment, the continuous extension of the frontiers of freedom.”
These historic words are a vivid reminder of the solemn pledge we made during the liberation struggle that we would never consider our mission accomplished and freedom achieved until all our people – blacks, workers, women, children, youth and people with disabilities - have been extricated from the crippling jaws of economic exclusion and are empowered to taste the fruits of our liberation.
Almost twenty years later, the vexing question that we must pose to ourselves is: Can we boldly declare that as a nation we had indeed seized the historic moment presented by the 1994 breakthrough to build for ourselves the kind of society that is capable of making a clean break with our ugly past? Have we sufficiently expanded the frontiers of human fulfilment?
It must trouble our collective conscience as a nation that, twenty years since our freedom, the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality still bear a largely black, rural and woman face. It must worry all of us, including the private sector, and move us into a collective radical action to transform our economy so that it responds to the needs of the masses of our people. Anything less is an invitation to political and social instability.
The Second Phase of our Transition demands that we redouble our resolve to accelerate our onslaught against economic exclusion, landlessness, poverty and homelessness. The Department of Small Business Development carries part of the responsibility to correct this historical injustice. We are determined to confront this challenge with every ammunition and enthusiasm at our disposal.
As we mark Women’s Month and the 58th Anniversary of the historic and heroic march to the Union Buildings by the women of our country, we proceed from the premise that a national democratic society cannot co- exist with the continued oppression and subjugation of women. We must ensure that the vision for which they risked their lives does not become an elusive dream. The 1994 breakthrough presented South Africans with a possibility to restore the dignity of all its people, especially women. Irrefutable evidence shows that significant progress has been registered in the area of women empowerment and gender equality since 1994.
A plethora of measures introduced since 1994 to promote women empowerment and uphold gender equality, have drastically improved the position and conditions of women in our country. The living conditions of the majority of ordinary women have undergone significant qualitative change. But the unpalatable truth remains: Women continue to bear a disproportionate burden of poverty, inequality and unemployment, violence and abuse. Women continue to be marginalized and discriminated against in terms of economic opportunities, the labour market as well as access to land, credit, and finance.
As government, we remain concerned at the continued exclusion and under-representation of women at executive level in the private sector. Those who are committed to building a non-racial, non-sexist and democratic South Africa must be outraged at the continued exclusion of women and the slow pace at which transformation is taking place in corporate South Africa. It has become clear to the democratic government that the empowerment of women and the deracialisation of our economy cannot be left to market forces.
We remain convinced that the economic empowerment of women will help us win the war against poverty, inequality, unemployment and abuse. Financial dependency on husbands, fathers, partners and family members increases women’s vulnerability to domestic violence, rape, incest, abuse, and murder. We see small businesses and co-operatives as powerful instruments for the economic emancipation of black people, especially women.
Government, working together with stakeholders, has implemented programmes that contribute towards the gender equality agenda of the country. My sister department, the Department of Trade & Department (the dti) has in the 2013/14 financial year, trained hundred and sixty six (166) women with potential to be appointed on boards of private and public entities. This was a pilot project between the dti, South African Women Entrepreneurial Network (SAWEN) and the Institute of Directors South Africa. In the same breath; the dti also supported women on boards training in partnership with the International Federation of Business & Professional Women (BPW) South Africa. Both programmes aim to contribute to increase the quality and pool of women who serve on boards.
Fellow Compatriots and distinguished guests, the country’s high rate of unemployment and extreme inequality call for bold and far-sighted interventions. The National Development Plan is the vehicle which will address poverty, unemployment and inequality. It sets an ambitious aim to treble the size of the economy by 2030, a daunting challenge that will require our collective contribution. Meeting the NDP’s growth target of 5.4 % for the next 165 years would not only guarantee South Africa’s material prosperity, but would be an elevating and inspiring narrative for the country – ‘an optimistic new story’, as the NDP phrases it.
As the NDP makes clear, getting South Africa onto a high-growth trajectory demands that we fundamentally change our game plan and place small businesses and co-operatives at the centre of our war against poverty, inequality and unemployment. Developing a strong and growing SME community is a cornerstone of the NDP’s vision.
SMEs are expected to be central to South Africa’s job creation efforts, in line with international trends. According to the National Development Plan, about 90% of jobs will be created through small and expanding companies by 2030. However, the sad reality is that South Africa has one of the lowest rates of entrepreneurship activity in the world.
Apartheid has decimated the culture of entrepreneurship amongst our people, meaning that young Africans are unlikely to have grown up in households with business people who would have shaped their understanding of market opportunities, their access to networks and know- how. It is critical that we understand this context so that our programmatic responses to encourage youth enterprise development are sensitive to the challenges we face as a country.
We have a collective responsibility to inculcate a culture of entrepreneurship in our country. We will lead a massive entrepreneurship drive in order to create a nation of entrepreneurs. We are working with the Department of Basic Education to help institutionalize entrepreneurship education from primary school level. Our ultimate goal is to inculcate a culture of entrepreneurship in our country. The Department of Higher Education has commissioned a study to assess how government institutions can improve the effectiveness of entrepreneurship training in South Africa.
In the months that lie ahead, we will look carefully at legislation and policies that, in the view of the small business sector, are creating barriers in the development and growth of SMMEs. We will do this in consultation with all stakeholders. We will focus on creating an enabling environment for small businesses to grow and thrive. The main focus of our interventions will be women, youth and people with disabilities.
We are convinced that economic growth and job creation will come from policies that allow small businesses and co-operatives to thrive and grow. SMMEs have the potential to be the main driver of economic growth, poverty reduction and job creation. We see the SMME sector and co- operatives as an economic empowerment vehicle for historically disadvantaged people.
We remain concerned that small businesses have an exceedingly high failure rate, and the majority of the casualties are women-owned businesses. Researchers tell us that the failure rate for new businesses is around 70% to 80% in the first year, and only about half of those who survive remain in business for the next five years. To reverse this trend requires decisive interventions from our department with support from stakeholders.
Part of the challenge as noted by the academic and research fraternity is the lack of empirical information about South Africa’s SMEs. This empirical information will be critical if we are to effectively discharge our mandate to assist the establishment, growth and sustainability of SMEs and cooperatives.
Ladies and gentlemen, understanding SMEs, cooperatives and the policy decisions aimed at growing this sector requires credible evidence and robust monitoring and evaluation. We want policy responses that are informed by evidence rather than interventions that are based on assumptions. We need your expert advice particularly in the area of regulation, policies, programmes and support mechanisms to advance entrepreneurship. We need you to help us monitor the impact of our policies and programmes particularly on black people, women, people with disabilities and youth.
I invite academics and researchers to work with my new department as we seek to find lasting solutions to the many challenges that confront us. You must help us answer some of the complex questions facing us. You must place your expertise at the nation’s disposal and assist us to develop appropriate interventions that respond effectively and adequately to the needs of the small business and co-operative sectors. You must help us answer the question: Why is it that we have been able to make significant strides in the area of legislative and policy formulation to empower the historically oppressed, yet, as a nation, we have been unable to translate some of these policies and legislative frameworks into effective implementation.
I am confident that working together, we will succeed. Indeed, one of the most striking things about South Africans that continues to confound critic and admirer alike, continues to be our incredible capacity to rise everyday to defeat despair and steadfastly refuse to be passive participants in the process of rebuilding our country.
We have learnt during the first twenty years that rather than assuming a defeatist posture in the face of daunting challenges, we must proceed with determination and remain focused, for obstacles in the way of progress are never insurmountable.
The challenges that await us remain daunting, but certainly not insurmountable. Let us all remain focused on the task at hand and never abandon our vigilance. The road that lies ahead is going to be long, hard and turbulent. The legacy we seek to eradicate is stubborn and will not surrender with sheepish timidity. To relax our collective efforts will be a fatal mistake and a betrayal of our historic mission. To postpone this assignment is to abort the noble task of expanding the frontiers of human fulfilment and extending the frontiers of freedom that former President Mandela spoke about in 1994.
Perhaps at this point, the words of Charlotte Maxeke can be instructive. She could be speaking to us when she said the following many years ago: “This work is not for yourselves – kill that spirit of self, and do not live above your people, but live with them. If you can rise, bring someone with you”.
I thank you.
