Despite the Township Economic Development Act (TEDA) being signed into law on 19 April 2022, small businesses in Gauteng continue to struggle to market their services, products and to do business with the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) due to the existing red tape.
This has also hurt the economic growth and job creation in Gauteng. TEDA was meant to assist local businesses, particularly in the township, with compliance, to make it easier to do business with the government; however, not much has changed since then, and now the MEC for Economic Development, Lebogang Maile, is attempting to fix the blunder that was made three years ago.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng demands that proper and prompt amendments to this bill be made in consultation with the affected stakeholders.
MEC Maile has admitted that there are gaps in the current legislation for the township economy and the actual intention of the action in the current form, hence the need to amend the current TEDA. He was responding to the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng’s written questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).
In 2022, the bill was passed unanimously with assurances given that all issues highlighted by political parties and stakeholders during the public participation phase and committee meetings were taken into consideration and amended.
Now three years down the line, MEC Maile has suddenly realised that this bill is not serving its intended purposes, and the township economy, particularly businesses located at the industrial hubs across the province, struggles to sell their goods and services to the government. This is clearly hampering job creation in the province, which currently has an unemployment rate of 33.8%. Instead of taking their time and following due process, the initial bill was pushed through the legislature and hailed as a victory for the ruling party, but not a victory for small businesses operating in the townships.
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This is unacceptable and only pulled the wool over the eyes of the small businesses that were meant to benefit from this so-called bold step taken by former Premier David Makhura. Every year, the government commits to spending a certain percentage of its budget on the township economy; however, the department’s quarterly reports indicate that this goal is never met.
Small businesses are a lifeline for many unemployed residents in this province. But if the current trend continues, small businesses will be forced to close their doors, leaving even more people unemployed.
If Premier Panyaza Lesufi were truly serious about improving the township economy, he would immediately cut the red tape and ensure that they do indeed spend 30% of their budget on the township economy. The DA Gauteng will be tabling questions in the GPL to demand that the MEC speedily implement the amendments to the bill once passed.
A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would immediately streamline the process for small businesses wanting to do business with the government. Furthermore, we will replicate the model implemented by the DA-led Western Cape, where one day a month is set aside for businesses to interact with officials from the Economic Development department.
Through these interactions, officials get to know the challenges faced by small businesses and determine how best to support them to flourish in their different sectors.