Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the Council -
1) notes that research throughout the world has revealed that the creation of an environment that fosters the development of small and medium enterprises, SMEs, and rewards entrepreneurship is key in developing an economy;
2) notes that in South Africa, with the high rate of unemployment and with more than half of the youth unemployed or unemployable due to a lack of skills, SMEs, being a means of self-employment, are desperately needed as a means to lift people out of the poverty cycle; and
3) calls on all provincial governments and municipalities, as well as the business community and labour, to initiate, develop and implement local economic strategies and plans to create an environment that fosters the establishment and development of SMEs and to create a breeding ground for entrepreneurship, innovative business development and job creation.
Motion agreed to in terms of section 65 of the Constitution.