President Cyril Ramaphosa promised on Wednesday evening to tackle unnecessary red tape and make government processes simpler. He was speaking at the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 170th Annual Gala Dinner at Suncoast.
Ramaphosa said government was looking for areas where permits and licences could take less time. He said it also wanted to remove administrative stages that were not needed.
“These are not challenges that can be resolved through good intentions alone,” he said. He added that they required capable leadership, sound management and sustained action.
The President said unreliable municipal services, crime, electricity costs and logistics problems were putting off investors and holding back growth. He said businesses and households still faced serious difficulties, mainly because of poor municipal services.
Ramaphosa said reliable municipal services were basic to economic development. He said public institutions had to be accountable and efficient, and had to respond to citizens and businesses.
He said government was responsible for infrastructure, services, institutions and policy certainty. Businesses, he said, had to invest, innovate and create jobs.
Chamber chief executive Palesa Phili told the dinner that local industries were under pressure from cheap imports, counterfeit products and illicit goods entering through Durban’s port. She asked Ramaphosa to step in on the rules that govern industries in distress.
“It really needs to be reviewed so that we can make sure that we safeguard industries that are in distress, that are affected by cheap imports coming in,” Phili said.
“But also, we really need to be very strong and aggressive when it comes to counterfeit and illicit goods because of the destruction that it’s having on our economies,” she said.
Phili also asked for reforms to help small, medium and micro enterprises. She said these businesses faced unreliable electricity and infrastructure, red tape, limited access to finance and labour market rules.
“We need SMME reforms, Mr President, so that our SMMEs can be able to create those much-needed jobs,” she said. Phili said these businesses employed about 80% of the population in markets such as Brazil and China. She put the figure at about 60% in South Africa.
Ramaphosa said investment depended on social stability. He said business could not do well amid violence, intimidation, lawlessness or fear, and he pointed to the July 2021 unrest as a reminder of what instability costs.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli said he had inherited an administration that had to restore confidence after the unrest. He said business had worked with government during later outbreaks of violence to protect livelihoods.
“Durban will never burn on my watch, not again, not while I hold this office,” Ntuli said. “We will protect every factory, every shop, every port and every livelihood in this city.”
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL. Image: IOL. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.