Hon Chairperson, let me thank the hon members for their contributions. I think that we are actually getting to the point where we are beginning to see what the issues and the alternatives are.
The hon James is getting himself into a terrible knot on industrial policy. It was reported to me that when the latest iteration of Ipap was tabled in the portfolio committee, he described it as world-class. Later they went out and issued a statement saying that it was too diverse, too widespread, and that we needed a "lighter touch" industrial policy!
In the portfolio committee I said that when I went out to open the Tellumat factory, the Premier of the Western Cape was there, and she said, "Halala!" [Inaudible.] [Laughter.] The managers of that factory told us that it owed its existence to the 12i tax incentive, the designation of set-top boxes, and the fact that we had also introduced a tariff-rebate scheme for the television sector. [Interjections.] So I said to the hon James, "Which of those, in the name of 'lighter touch', do you want us to remove? Which of those must we remove? Then go and tell that to the workers in Atlantis and see what it means for their jobs." [Interjections.] We got no answer to that. No answer!
Today the hon James quoted J M Keynes to me, saying that we should have less nursemaiding in the automotive sector. The question still arises: Which part of the Automotive Production and Development Programme must be withdrawn? What will this mean for the competitiveness of the South African programme compared to other destinations? [Interjections.] And what will this mean for jobs and manufacturing capacity in this country? I think the hon James is not going to give us a concrete answer to that either, because I think he knows it's going to be darned embarrassing. [Interjections.] Rather, he tells us that we should have more trade and less industrial policy.
Now I want to trade quotes from Keynes with him. Keynes said, back in the 1930s:
Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist.
So, who is the defunct economist? [Laughter.] There were a bunch of economists who went around in the early 1990s and told developing countries that they could assume that global markets were infinitely growing and that export-orientated growth offered opportunities unlimited across the world. Well, I have news for him. There has been a global economic crisis. It's not like that anymore, if it ever was! [Applause.]
We have to have a strategic approach to trade promotion, and we have that. [Interjections.] We have that. We have identified Africa and African integration as our first priority. [Interjections.] We have identified value-added exports in Brics, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Asean, and the Gulf - fast-growing emerging economies - and we are also seeking out opportunities in Japan and the OECD countries.
It's quite true that we could probably improve our work. [Interjections.] However, when I take into account that Trade and Investment South Africa, Tisa, was recently elected as the international vice-president of the international World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, we can't be doing so badly. [Applause.]
The other issue is that the DA pretends that the issues of small business development are all about removing red tape. Well, we are trying to remove red tape. [Interjections.] I gave some examples, including the Companies Act ... [Interjections.] ... and the new BEE codes.
However, it's not all about that. [Interjections.] There is also a need for active mentoring and support for small businesses as they develop the capacity to become real players. [Interjections.] And do you know what? The current Western Cape government closed down all the Red Door facilities providing those services in this province. [Interjections.] But we have gone out and the Small Enterprise Development Agency has established a Seda outlet ... [Interjections.] ... in every single one of them, because we know that if we are going to deliver small business growth, even in this province, we need to have those facilities in place. [Interjections.]