Less money for small business recovery with establishment of duplicate entity to stimulate township economy
25 July 2021
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is concerned that the proposed Gauteng Township Economy Development (GTED) Bill will be duplicating a function of the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP) and will be a waste of such money that could rather be used to assist small businesses recover from loss and damages following the looting and riots in the province last week.
Currently the draft bill makes provision for the establishment of a Development Fund and board that will not have a CEO. The DA believes that this is a waste of taxpayers’ money and that the GEP is more than equipped to help grow the township economy, and save so many livelihoods that are at great risk of being destroyed.
The GEP’s mandate is to ensure that small businesses and entrepreneurs are given the support they need to help grow their business. However for a long time now, this entity has been failing on its core mandate.
It is critical now more than ever that the GEP fulfils its mandate given the recent looting and vandalism that has taken place across Gauteng as well as the economy-killing Covid-19 regulations that have forced many businesses to close their doors.
The township economy plays a pivotal role in the creation of jobs that people in the province are in desperate need of.
While the main aim of the GTED is to help stimulate economic growth in our township, we cannot allow our hard-earned taxpayers’ money to be wasted on frivolous state-owed entities.
Public comments on the bill close on 31 July 2021.
The DA is encouraging all small businesses to comment on the GTED bill, so that all inputs can be taken into consideration before the bill is signed into law.
We will also be submitting our inputs on this bill to ensure that the GEP is considered as an entity to execute this bill’s mandate. We will not allow the current government to waste taxpayers’ money on the establishment of new entity that does not have value for money, while innocent South Africans continue to lose their jobs, with no relief from government.
Issued by Makashule Gana, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Economic Development, 25 July 2021
