Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies says the impact and success of the Buy Local Campaign, which was launched in 2001, remains dependent on the extent to which the private sector and consumers throw their weight behind the initiative, which aims to add impetus to the country’s economic growth.

Speaking this week at the third Buy Local Summit and Expo, in Johannesburg, Davies said it was incumbent upon the business sector and consumers to commit themselves to supporting localisation efforts by promoting and buying locally produced goods.

“If all of us decide to buy locally manufactured products, we can create a positive future for our country in terms of employment opportunities,” said the Minister.

“Government is committed to ensuring that public entities take steps to ensure that there is a progressive and incremental move towards fulfilling the aspirational target of 75% local content in procurement, which was agreed upon by all stakeholders in the formulation of the Localisation Procurement Accord.”

Davies added that local procurement was one of the tools government was putting in place to promote and strengthen industrialisation.

Others included amendments to the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act and designation of locally manufactured goods for procurement by government.

“We cannot expect to grow, develop and increase employment as a country if we simply continue to be located in a world economy as producers and exporters of primary products and importers of finished goods. 

“Part of efforts to bring [about] transformation in our economy, such that it could create sustainable, decent work and address poverty and equality, which are our major challenges, required that we bring a structural change. That is the reason why industrialisation has become the imperative of our government,” Davies commented.

Speaking at the same event, Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said power utility Eskom had set itself a target of spending over R24-billion a year [of its procurement budget] on black youth-owned businesses by 2017. 

He added that it was “critical” to use State-owned companies to “open up” opportunities for emerging black miners. 

“Eskom has negotiated an export capacity allocation at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), which will be used to provide emerging miners with access to global markets.

“We have also established a task team, involving Transnet and the Chamber of Mines, to determine how the expansion of the RBCT can be leveraged to enable access to more capacity for emerging miners,” Gigaba held.