Speaker, the ANC government is strangling South African entrepreneurs in red tape and bureaucracy, killing job creation in the process. The global entrepreneurship monitor found that only 9,1% of eligible South Africans were engaged in entrepreneurial activity. This is less than half the proportion in comparable middle-income countries like Argentina, Thailand or Chile. Perhaps this is because we make it so hard to start a business. The World Bank ranks us 44th in the world for the ease of starting a business and estimates it takes 19 days and five procedures to start one here - that is if the Companies Commission ever picks up the phone.
In comparison, in New Zealand, on average, an entrepreneur can do it in one day and one procedure. This cuts off or diminishes the ability of small business owners to create jobs - because National Treasury estimates that businesses with fewer than 50 workers account for seven out of every 10 new jobs created. Meanwhile, our unemployment crisis grinds on. The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey finds that 6,7 million South Africans are unable to find work or have given up trying.
The DA is working for change; working for jobs. We have big dreams for small business. Meanwhile, the ANC is still so distracted by who may or may not be elected in Mangaung that they are doing nothing to help the entrepreneurs to start, grow ... [Time expired.]