KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube has reiterated her commitment, as the custodian of procurement and supply management system, to use her department’s procurement for the benefit of emerging entrepreneurs in the province.

Addressing the virtual Public Sector Forum, she said emerging entrepreneurs, marginalized businesses and those in the informal economy must benefit from the R133-billion Provincial Budget allocated to various government departments.

“We have identified our procurement spend as a vehicle to transform our economy in view of the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has destroyed our economy resulting in a worse economic downturn,” she said.

According to the latest statistics, public procurement represents on average 15% of gross domestic product, globally.

Ncube-Dube said this was a clear and strong indication that public administration was the lifeblood and backbone of a country’s economy.

“Therefore, as Provincial Treasury, our main role during this period is to ensure adequate deployment of resources to all government departments and entities. We are playing an active role in the roll out of the Economic Reconstruction and Transformation Plan. We view job creation as a primary means through which economic growth and quick recovery can occur,” she stated.

She was hopeful that ordinary members of society would have their lives changed for the better through the Economic Reconstruction and Transformation Plan.

Procurement spend in social infrastructure, she said, constituted one powerful strategy for job creation, food security and building the economy to defeat poverty.

Her department has identified key strategic assets to be the catalysts of manufacturing and industrial development.

These assets include the Durban and Richards Bays ports, the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (IDZ), the Dube Trade Port, a new clothing and textile special economic zone and an Automotive Supplier Park which has already attracted billions in investments from industry players such as Toyota.

Small and medium-sized enterprises and cooperatives are already involved in the construction of some manufacturing plants in the country’s IDZs, including Wilmar Palm Oil which is investing R1.3-billion and Nyanza Light Metal which is investing R4.3-billion.

The construction has begun.

There are 9 investments, worth R3.2-billion, that have been approved and present opportunities for emerging small players and will create an estimated 2 342 direct jobs.

R48.412-billion has been allocated to the Department of Health to assist towards the construction of massive capital projects and the refurbishing of several public health institutions.

“We are dealing with the inability of government departments to fully spend on their capital works which at times causes the money to be returned to National Treasury,” she noted.