No, Chair, that was a mistake. I hope you can give me an extra minute. I need some more time to sweet-talk the Minister into taking a different policy position on some aspects.
I would like to echo the hon James's sentiments about our Minister. He is one of the better Ministers in Cabinet and he does a lot of hard work. So, too, does our chairperson, who is making us work hard and is always entertaining. Mr Mabasa, I think your take on history is quite correct.
While interventionist policies to kick-start economic development in crucial industrial areas are important, the most important policy position should be one of light-touch regulation that focuses on socioeconomic and not racial equity, as well as the creation of an enabling environment for business to thrive.
U departement slaag wel op 'n wyse daarin om sosioekonomiese geregtigheid te verseker by wyse van die Nasionale Verbruikerskommissie. Ons het egter ernstige kommer oor die verhouding tussen uself, die direkteur-generaal en die kommissaris. Die kommissaris blyk 'n doelgerigte kampvegter vir verbruikersregte te wees. Die vraag wat ons wil vra, is of die Minister die kommissaris 'n geleentheid gaan gee om weer aansoek te doen vir haar werk. Gaan sy in so 'n geval objektief beoordeel word? Die antwoorde hierop is van die grootste belang vir die verbruikers wat 'n effektiewe en dinamiese Verbruikerskommissie, wat hul regte aggressief beskerm, wil sien. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[In a way your department indeed succeeds to ensure socioeconomic justice, by means of the National Consumer Commission. However, we are seriously concerned about the relationship between you, the director general and the commissioner. The commissioner appears to be a resolute champion for consumer rights. The question we would like to ask is whether the Minister will give the commissioner the opportunity to apply for her job again. In such an instance, will she be judged objectively? The answers to this is of utmost importance to the consumers, who would like to see an effective and dynamic National Consumer Commission protecting their rights aggressively.]
While the new Companies Act has done a lot to ensure access to easier business and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission has managed to diminish the backlog in company registrations - and that deserves acknowledgement - there is a sense that business is just not getting out of the starting blocks.
It is a fact that most jobs are created within the small business segment. The National Development Plan states that 90% of jobs to be created in order to reduce unemployment to 6% by 2030 will come from the small business sector. This means that the DTI will have to stop focusing only on large so-called developmental projects, but gear the Industrial Development Corporation to look seriously at small business development as well.
What we need to unleash the creative and economic power of small business in this country is to carve out a completely libertarian space within the economic environment. This means that small business must be exempted from regulation like affirmative action and black economic empowerment, taxes, with the introduction of legislation to enforce punctual payment by large businesses and government to protect the cash flow of small business. It should also ensure that banks make lending to small business easier, as opposed to dishing out unsecured credit. This should be part of the banking sector scorecard, but should not be based on race.
Lastly, entrepreneurship must be made a compulsory subject in schools and not be left for MBA programmes only. This recipe is what Clem Sunter refers to as the "alternative national democratic revolution", and it will work if implemented. It has done so in China and India, among others.
Verder moet ons aan die Minister noem dat ons diep teleurgesteld is oor die uitsluiting van wit vroue en wit gestremde mense uit die aangewese groep in die voorgestelde nuwe wet op swart bemagtiging. Terwyl daar gedurig deur die regering gepraat word oor die skep van 'n inklusiewe ekonomie, word die arbeidsmark en besigheidswreld al hoe meer gepolariseer op rassegrondslag. Wit mense word al hoe meer gerelegeer tot ekonomiese ghetto's. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraph follows.)
[Furthermore, we should inform the Minister that we are deeply disappointed about the exclusion of white females and white handicapped people from the designated group in the proposed new black empowerment Act. Whilst the government is forever talking about the creation of an inclusive economy, the labour market and business sector are becoming increasingly polarised along racial lines. White people are increasingly relegated to economic ghettos.]
We have said time and again that there are many white people out there who want to start small businesses that can create employment and help develop disadvantaged persons, but they are systematically sidelined. Therefore, when it comes to small business, show us what true inclusivity means by releasing them from the regulatory strictures based on race, so that they, as true citizens, can also participate in the economy, create jobs, and ensure that you have a future tax base. It will be a win-win situation for everyone. I thank you.