Chairperson, what people want is jobs. They want them now. People want access to business opportunities. People want an economic system that works for them. The biggest mistake was to combine an already failing department under an incompetent Minister with an even bigger department with the same Minister.
The EFF rejects this report, as it fails to deal decisively with building a sustainable industrial development strategy based on firstly, the import substitution of ... [Inaudible.]... of domestic investment with labour- intensive development that reduces high levels of unemployment; secondly, a South Africa
with a microeconomic efficiency; thirdly, a department that monitors government expenditure on locally produced goods.
We see the lack of will from the department in dealing with key entities such as the South African Bureau of Standards, SABS, and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, NRCS. In the NRCS, critical vacancies have been left vacant for almost five years, an entity that is vital in making sure that the quality of goods in South Africa is up to standard. The Department of Trade and Industry and the Department: Economic Development have also failed to ensure that women are properly represented, be it in their funding structure or their employment demographics. NRCS, for example, boast of a 44% women employment, which goes against a measure, which should be at least a 50% of women in structures.
The fact that we have to keep highlighting the inequalities in this country, especially when black women are the most marginalised and bear the brunt of economic inequality in 2019, is unacceptable.
The department has failed to put in place special economic zones in rural areas, and instead, has chosen easy spaces that will act as if they are stimulating the growth of SMMEs, when the reality is that they are far removed from the people who need them.
IsiXhosa:
Sinabantu eQonce, eGccuwa, eMthatha, eCofimvaba, eQwaQwa, eThaba Nchu ...
English:
... but these SOEs are never there. They are put far away from people. There should be an aggressive stimulation in the economy in rural South Africa, especially for poor provinces such as the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. Therefore, the EFF rejects this budgetary review and recommendation report.
INKOSI R N CEBEKHULU: House Chairperson, as outlined in the report of one of the key approaches of the Department of Trade and Industry is to contribute towards inclusive economic growth and job creation. Inclusive economic growth and job creation are the key components to address
the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment.
Unfortunately, the latest quarterly labour force survey of 29 October 2019 has shown an increase in unemployment in South Africa, breaking new unemployment records. If you have a closer look at our gross domestic product, we see that manufacturing production decreased by 1,8% in August 2019, compared to the same in 2018.
The Minister of Finance, in his medium-term Budget Speech highlighted the fact that we, as the nation, subsidise the wealthy for their transport and forget about those who need it the most. We believe that subsidisation cannot just be dished out if it yields no benefits to the growth of our economy; rather it needs to be strategically spent in order to generate activity that grows our economy. In other words, subsidisation must be seen as an investment into the economy and job creation.
Therefore, the Department of Trade and Industry must ensure that it strategically spends its resources on the creation of an inclusive and enabling environment that
drives industrial development. The department should take special note in this regard to the committee recommendation to, amongst others, increase its allocation for incentive programmes, in order to facilitate industrialisation and increase job creation.
Strategic investment must be ... The IFP supports the report. Thank you. [Time expired.]