Chairperson, I would like to acknowledge the Minister of Trade and Industry and other Ministers present in the House; the Deputy Ministers that are here; members of the National Assembly; MECs; heads of departments; officials of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Council of Trade and Industry Institutions; members of the South African Women Entrepreneurs Network, Sawen, led by its president and the CEO; leaders of organised business and labour; distinguished guests; and ladies and gentlemen.
I would like to specifically recognise from the podium the 2012 Techno Girls that won a competition for best entrepreneurship and technology. Those involved are the youth from Ponelopele Oracle Secondary School in Kaalfontein, Tembisa, Gauteng; Boitumelo Olifant, a techno girl from Tetlanyo Secondary School in the Northern Cape; Nomarika Motaung, my mentee; and Kgotso Mokoele, an incubatee from Seed Container Park, Secopa, manufacturing hub. [Applause.]
We believe that, instead of only talking about red tape, between the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the DTI we must put in place a mechanism to deal with this matter. We give support to the SMMEs, and that is why I acknowledge them from the podium - we are not just theorists, but we actually give support.
In the gallery we would like to recognise Kgotso Mokoele, who is an incubatee in Soweto and doing very well. She is a very young, fresh businesswoman who is doing very well. [Applause.] I would also like to recognise Manqoba Katane in the gallery, a young man who is very passionate about small business, is currently working with the incubation centre, Secopa, as a social media guru, and is doing fantastic work. [Applause.] In the gallery is also Sister Jenny. It is because of the support that we give to them that they are in the gallery. These are the people we have supported.
People keep on saying that the Minister is concentrating on only one side. They are very wrong. The Minister of Trade and Industry is the Minister of both Trade and Industry. He is dealing with both, and the President has not made a mistake, because the Minister is doing very well. [Applause.]
In the gallery we also have Mama Lolo, a beneficiary of the Tourism Support Programme and former lecturer, who runs a B&B in Diepkloof, Soweto, and who is also supported by the government. The current administration's central focus has been on the creation of decent jobs, economic transformation and inclusive economic growth. These are some of the key strategic priorities identified in the 2009-14 Medium- Term Strategic Framework, MTSF, which were later turned into government outcomes.
The Department of Trade and Industry, under the leadership of Dr R H Davies as Minister, articulated these priorities in the 2010-13 MTSF. Therefore it is imperative that we reflect on the achievements that have been recorded in these areas. [Interjections.] If you do not have anything to say, just keep quiet and do not disturb the people on the podium.
With regard to women and gender empowerment, the National Development Plan identified poverty, underdevelopment and inequality as the major challenges facing our country. We agree that women and the youth are not fully integrated into our economy as yet. The department understands that economic emancipation should be broadened to include women and the youth, who were excluded from the mainstream economic activities of the country in the past during the apartheid era. We will continue to talk about that, because these are the ills that the ANC government is still trying to deal with after these 20 years of democracy.
It is against this backdrop that the DTI has introduced initiatives that are tailor-made for women, such as the Isivande Women's Fund, for the information of the hon Swart; Bavumile to assist them with technology use; and Technology for Women in Business, TWIB. The Isivande Women's Fund aims to provide women entrepreneurs with affordable financial support. Of course, we take some of the women from the informal sector. The director- general, Mr Lionel October, is working very hard to make sure that we can deal with this matter. We take them out of the informal sector, formalise their businesses, and support them. We need to grow this fund, because we have more than 31 projects that we are supporting. The TWIB deals with technology, growth, development and businesses.
While we recognise the need to afford women opportunities to participate in the economy, we also need to encourage our young girls to pursue technology, mathematics, commerce and science-related careers. It is for this reason that, under this Minister, we are promoting the Techno Girl programme. This is a vehicle that the department is using to achieve this objective. Today you plant a seed, and tomorrow you get a better harvest because of what you have done. The DTI partnered with the provincial departments of education and of economic development, the Small Enterprise Development Agency and Cell C in delivering this programme. It is a programme that works very well.
In addition, the department will table the national strategic framework on women's economic empowerment and present it to Cabinet and the portfolio committee in order to make sure that this strategy assists our women and ensures that we deal with this issue.
I now come to small businesses and co-operatives. It has been proven that we are doing very well under this Minister. Internationally we hosted a very successful small business summit in September last year, together with other African countries, such as Ghana and Zimbabwe. We were able to host this, and the CEO of Seda was elected president to focus on Africa. She is one of our own. We are very proud and congratulate her, encouraging her to keep up the good work because we are doing the right thing. [Applause.]
The department considers entrepreneurship development as strategic to broadening economic participation, since we understand that the economic development and success of many countries are anchored on increasing the participation of SMMEs in the mainstream economy. We believe that SMMEs form a principal driving force of economic growth and development. In this regard we undertook to accelerate the delivery of the upscaling of the support, particularly for black-owned rural and township SMMEs, as well as co-operative programmes through the Seda network, and what the NEF is doing.
We also congratulate the CEO for doing very well by penetrating into areas that had not been penetrated before. We say she should keep it up. We will then be able to reach our desired goal. Although the IDC is dealing with these matters, we are also trying to make sure that we can deal with all the other challenges that are faced by small business.
The Minister has come with amendments to broad-based black economic empowerment because there were unintended consequences that we had to deal with. To me he has done very well, because some of the issues were hidden, but he was able to deal with them and make sure that we had a committee to discuss them and give us inputs. We will be going ahead with these amendments. Of course, transformation is easier said than done, and I am very disappointed that people who should be supporting this are saying: "No, this is not working". It can only work if all of us work together.
The Codes of Good Practice, with a view to creating an enabling environment, are doing exactly that. We have partnered with Unisa and Wits University to offer a BBBEE Management Development Programme. The programme is aimed at professionalising the BBBEE industry and making sure that we can reach our goal.
In conclusion, I reported our winning last year. This year, led by Minister Rob Davies, Trade and Industry won, for the second time in a row, the gold award for the Best Foreign Stand at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair. Out of more than 21 countries participating, we were able to win that for the second time! [Applause.] What did we win with? Best products and best stand, and that was done with those very officials whom you accuse of not being able to speak Mandarin! This is South Africa and we have 11 official languages. I don't think Mandarin is one of the languages we have to promote! [Applause.] We promote our 11 languages and we have done well, together with those officials of the DTI, who make sure that we can participate in those exhibitions.
Neither can we just win for having the best products; we must win for taking the informal sector, formalising their businesses, and training them so that, together with big business, they are able to go to these missions and represent us.
Minister, there is a good appetite for our products in Africa - the footprint is there. I have just come back from Tunisia and Algeria after taking delegations from small and big business there. [Applause.] They are there and they say we must come back again, because they believe in what you are doing and how you are leading the department. We will be there to support you, to make sure that we make a difference in creating conditions conducive for businesses to do business. [Interjections.]
Please, where it is right, you can be an imbongi [praise singer] for us - we are doing very well under the leadership of this Minister. Don't just come to the podium for political point-scoring and tell us about something that you did not thoroughly research and that you cannot even back up.
The ANC will make sure that it leads this country. The ANC will lead this government, and I am sure that next year all of us will be there at the polls. People know exactly what we do, and we don't just talk! That is why some of those people are in the gallery - because we act! Thank you. [Applause.]