Thursday 30 March 1995
Ladies and gentlemen, friends. It is a great pleasure for me to be here today, where I bring you greetings from the Province of Gold, Gauteng.
Gauteng is the driving force of our economy. It is the engine room of this vast ship we call South Africa... This ship that, we the people of South Africa, are navigating for the first time in our country's history.
Soon after clambering aboard this huge vessel, we renamed the engine room... Gauteng a northern Sotho word that we had used for decades to refer to the place where we headed in search of jobs, wealth and happiness... a place of power, success and progress.
For over 100 years we were disappointed: What we found in Gauteng was pain, suffering, poverty, exclusion and humiliation.
On the 27th of April 1994 we, the peope of South Africa, elected a government that, for the first time, is committed to achieving our early aspirations of prosperity, dignity, security and peace.
But what we found is that we had inherited a leaky vessel: An economy that was stagnant, isolated, uncompetitive... it failed to create jobs for half of our people, who had been deprived of education, adequate shelter, basic food or reasonable health care.
We were consciously excluded from economic opportunities, outside of menial, low wage jobs, where jobs were available.
This reality has left this proud land with an economic structure that is top heavy, predominantly white and where almost half the population has to make its way outside the formal economy.
It is to the credit of our people that the less formal sector has flourished, with small enterprises burgeoning, and literally millions of people taking to the street to earn enough to survive.
And survival is the key here. A thriving informal sector is usually an indication of a structurally weak economy, as much as it reflects the resilience and entrepreneurial spirit of our people. Recent research suggests that virtually every individual is in the less formal economy, not out of choice, but out of necessity. That if they had the choice, they would be a part of the mainstream economy, in challenging, secure jobs or running their own viable, dynamic businesses.
This implies that there are two fundamental economic challenges facing those of us now steering the ship: to restore our economy to an equitable growth path and to enable those who have been economically marginalised to take their rightful place in the mainstream of this growing economy.
Our vessel has come through one massive storm miraculously. We have had our first ever democratic election and we have stabilised the socio-political environment to a degree few thought possible.
Ahead of us, many hidden obstacles abound. To chart a clear course through rapids, rocks, storms and hurricanes will require an effective, competent, ennabling government, steering in harmony with the private sector, labour, communities and the international community.
The scourage of crime is slowly... slowly... starting to level off. Government's impending public works programme and the new police leadership will further address this key issue. We, in government, will not rest until we have re-established the rule of law in an environment in which there is no material need to resort to crime.
Exchange controls are on the way out... an incentive policy linked to a coherent industrial strategy is in preparation.
The spreading of wealth - which is starting to occur - will result in a broader, more attractive market for investors. At the same time our trading opportunities increase exponentially.
I will be visiting China and South East Asia in May, with a delegation of business people. We will return with greater trade links and with new investors. Barely a week goes by without the announcement of a new, or returned investor... last night it was Detroit-based car parts giant Federal-Mogul, tomorrow it is 22 British companies with investment plans.
Other non-traditional business activities are growing at a rapid rate. Bed occupancy is up 30% in the past 10 months, heralding the beginning of a tourism boom, especially important because of its job creating potential (3 jobs for every 30 new tourists) and its low entry levels.
There is also no doubt that huge beneficiation opportunities exist in South Africa.
At present South Africa accounts for around 2% of the world's manufactured jewellery, where we mine almost 30% of the raw material! We could create between 20 and 30 000 jobs in this sector alone!
Local capital expenditure indicates that this optimism is not confined to the international business community.
what is critical for South Africa is that this economic activity results in job-creating growth, the benefits of which are felt by all our people.
Quite obviously small, micro and medium enterprises have a critical role to play in this growth and development quest.
The Presidential Summit is outlining clear mechanisms for promoting such enterprises. These include a revamped institutional framework, a new regulatory environment, financial and skills support and enhanced linkages between big and small companies.
But, there is also the critical task of assisting the survivalists. An enabling regulatory environment that meets the needs of both formal operators and hawkers is essential. In Gauteng we are, together with metropolitan councils, deepening the consultative process that has already begun (and of which Achib has been an important part). In this way we hope to ensure that by-laws, when promulgated, are easily accessible and completely acceptable to all parties concerned.
A greater quantity and higher quality of physical infrastructure is also essential to the controlled and vibrant functioning of this sector.
During the course of this legislative sitting we will pass framework legislation to address these issues.
But a longer-term perspective leaves us no choice but to develop mechanisms to enable those in the survivalist sector to develop into viable businesses that will deliver a better quality of life, and possibly even create additional job opportunities.
The key factors here will undoubtedly be skills training and the provision of low cost, small scale financing. It is quite likely that new, very different institutions will be required to meet these needs. I trust that the Summit will develop innovative, workable ideas in this regard, so that in the near future, we are able to see the enterpreneurial spirit that has emerged alongside our new-found freedom, being used not just for survival, but for the building of tomorrow's businesses.
I must stress that private sector and NGO assistance to the survivalist sector is imperative, both with respect to training, but also in relation to micro-lending.
Our dream of a prosperous, just and peaceful society hingers on the sure hands of all economic players on the ship's tiller; all pushing with equal weight and vision. Achib's place on the bridge has been and will continue to be vital - let's ensure that we all play our part... together in charting a successful course through the challenges ahead.
I thank you.