Chairperson, there was not a single mention - not one mention - by any ANC or government speaker today of the National Development Plan. [Interjections.] Not once! It is unbelievable how quickly a so-called national plan can be tossed in the bin by the ANC.
Chairperson, the Minister of Trade and Industry has one of the biggest and most important mandates of any Minister in this government. The department is responsible - more so than any other one - for setting South Africa's economy on a path of job-creating growth. It is against this mandate that the Minister must be measured.
From the outside, one would be forgiven for thinking that the Department of Trade and Industry and its Minister were doing everything right - unqualified audits, on time payments, no significant underspending, and a generally available and responsive Minister and director-general. These are all laudable achievements.
However, when we consider the department's progress in the achievement of its core mandate of job-creating growth, the picture is very different. Instead of unlocking new investment, growing trade, positioning South Africa as the biggest exporter to the continent, and driving growth, the Minister seems to be preoccupied with extending the control he personally exerts over our economy. He has amassed vast power to make new rules and issue reams of new secondary legislation.
In his own words, speaking at the release of the latest Industrial Policy Action Plan, the role of the state in the economy is to "steer but not to row". In other words, this is a model of state capitalism in which the state must determine the direction and priorities on behalf of the private sector, which must then just follow instructions. Except that this government cannot steer! Chairperson, it cannot even read the map! [Interjections.] However, we have a map for how to fix our economy and unlock growth - it is called the National Development Plan! You should read it. If the Minister were making a real effort to implement the sections of the NDP which relate to this department, we might be more complementary, but he is not doing so. In fact, he seems bent on following a policy course directly and deliberately opposed to the NDP.
Let us just consider one small example, that of small, medium and micro businesses. The FinScope Survey details how 90% of new jobs in South Africa are created in SMMEs. That is, jobs are created by entrepreneurs, hon Fubbs, who have a good idea and who take huge risks to turn that idea into something they can sell. Jobs are not created by bureaucrats or by new government commissions or committees.
Given that context, it should alarm us that South Africa is ranked 53rd out of 185 economies with regard to the ease of starting a business. That is 10 positions lower than we were ranked last year! The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-13 of the World Economic Forum ranks us 37th out of 38 countries on the burden of government regulation. Most worryingly, Chairperson, entrepreneurial activity in South Africa is half of what it is in our competitor countries. That is why the National Development Plan repeatedly and correctly emphasises the need for the government to create an environment in which it is easier and cheaper to start and run a small business. The NDP calls for a quick and easy process for starting a new business and transferring property. It envisions a state which cuts unnecessary red tape, streamlines administrative processes, and supports businesses in their investing, growing and hiring more staff. It sees a relationship, not of one party steering and the other rowing, hon Minister, but of the two rowing together in partnership.
In this context, the gazetting of the Licensing of Businesses Bill belies the Minister's stated commitment to implementing the NDP, because the Bill runs counter to everything the NDP calls for. The NDP specifically says that we should be doing everything to simplify the regulatory burden, not add to it. As a first step, it calls for the establishment of a panel to conduct a comprehensive regulatory review for small business to see where we can strip away red tape and simplify processes. Why has the Minister not established such a panel? This is something simple and tangible that he could do now to implement the NDP. He need not wait, and it would really help small businesses, but he has not done it. Why not, I would like to know? The Bill he has gazetted does not solve any problems. He has never told us why he wants the Bill. He says it is to fight businesses' trading in counterfeit or stolen goods. But none of these things are solved by this Bill, and other legislation already allows the government to police those things. They just don't do it! In any case, I would like to put this question to the Minister: Does he really believe that a business trading in stolen goods is going to stop doing so because they don't have a licence? Is he really serious about that? [Interjections.] It is excessive, unnecessary regulation that slows down new business formation and hampers entrepreneurs in getting on and creating jobs.
Here is an idea for the Minister. [Interjections.] Not yet - still two minutes. Bring us a small business regulatory reform Bill that unties the regulatory knots that currently hamstring our economy. That is a Bill the DA would support.
Also, make sure other departments pay their suppliers on time. This should be a standing item of yours on the Cabinet agenda, Minister. If it is not, then I'm sorry, you are not doing your job. You should be hounding any Minister whose department does not pay its suppliers within 30 days.
Here is something else you could do. Launch a "red tape to red carpet campaign" that allows entrepreneurs to identify the regulations that hold them back, and then commit your government to getting rid of them. Start a government red tape challenge involving all DTI employees and encourage them to innovate, thinking of new ways of getting rid of red tape. [Interjections.]
Minister, these are all things the DA is already doing where we govern. [Interjections.] That is why where the DA governs, small businesses are flourishing, investment is flooding in, the economy is growing faster than before, and jobs are being created. [Interjections.] These are productive, self-sustaining, prosperity-generating jobs.
This department ... [Time expired.] Thank you very much. [Applause.]