Date: 28/05/2003
Source: Gauteng Provincial Government
Title: Shilowa: Nafcoc Conference


ADDRESS BY GAUTENG PREMIER MBHAZIMA SHILOWA, AT THE NAFCOC CONFERENCE, Sandton Convention Centre, 28 May 2003

Patrice Motsepe, President of Nafcoc
The Gauteng Nafcoc leadership
Ladies and gentlemen

During the past nine years our country has seen many changes which have resulted in a great deal of improvement in the quality of life for many of our people, especially those who had endured pain and suffering inflicted upon them by centuries of colonialism and apartheid.

Our efforts as government, business, workers and communities have brought about hope that we are well on our way to a better South Africa whose citizens shall enjoy a better quality of life.

Our economy continues to hold its own even in the face of the slow down that is happening in major economies of the world. Government continues actively to seek ways to stimulate higher economic growth, increase local and foreign investment in economic activity, enhance sustainable job creation and attack the roots of poverty.

But as we should all be aware, government alone cannot succeed in creating the necessary conditions for sustained higher economic growth and job creation. A commitment is also required from the business community for us to succeed in creating the necessary conditions for sustained growth.

A partnership between government and business should be built based on the need to alleviate poverty, create jobs, develop skills and fight diseases and illiteracy through among other things, new investments in productive and job creating enterprises and social infrastructure.

One of the challenges that we have had to deal with since the advent of freedom and democracy in our country has been the creation of conditions for black people to participate in the economy as entrepreneurs and owners of wealth and the growth of the small and medium business.

We have made some progress in this regard but a lot more work still needs to be done to ensure that more black people participate in the economy as more than just labourers and consumers of goods.

We are however hopeful that the work that is currently being led by national government will yield better results.

In Gauteng we have been doing our bit to create the necessary conditions for more black people to participate more effectively in the economy.

When we opened the Provincial Legislature in February we reported that our efforts to stimulate sustained economic growth were bearing fruits. The progress we are making demonstrates that Gauteng is rapidly becoming a globally competitive smart centre attracting some of the world acclaimed companies.

As we create opportunities for more investment in the productive enterprises in our province, our emphasis has always been on the need for the promotion of black economic empowerment and the development of the small and medium enterprises.

In all our economic infrastructure investment projects, including those that we initiate in partnership with other spheres of government and the private sector, we seek to maximise the involvement of black owned companies and SMEs.

Significant portions of all the Blue IQ projects, especially those that involve huge infrastructure development, have been awarded to black owned companies and SMEs.

Many other spin-off business opportunities are being created as the Blue IQ infrastructure development projects are being completed, and I hope Nafcoc will assist its members to prepare themselves to take full advantage of such opportunities.

In the current financial year the Gauteng Provincial Government has allocated R5 billion for capital expenditure. Our commitment is to see the bulk of the contracts from this budget being awarded to black owned companies and SMEs.

In addition, we have decided that 70% of the companies rendering maintenance services to our departments during this financial year should be black-owned.

But it is important for us to note that while we do our outmost to create opportunities for black people to play more effective role in the economy, we will not award tenders to companies simply because they are black-owned even if they do not have capacity to deliver. In the past we have awarded tenders to black-owned companies and as soon as they signed the contracts they would sell them to white companies.

Government tenders will be awarded on merit to legitimate black companies that can demonstrate capacity to deliver.

One of the things that we also need to pay attention to is the kind of support that should be given to SME companies to ensure their sustainability. There are many SME companies that depend only on government tenders. That is unsustainable, as government does not award tenders to one company. No business can be sustained on government tenders alone.

We are in discussion with the leadership of Nafcoc to see how we can deal with some of the problems that black business encounters in itsr endeavour to enter the mainstream economy and we are confident that together we will succeed in increasing the number of black people who participate in the economy as entrepreneurs and owners of wealth.

Thank you

For more information contact Thabo Masebe on (011) 355 6036 / 082 410 8087
Issued by Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government
28 May 2003