Chairperson and hon members, if the Auditor-General's report is the yardstick with which we measure the performance of a department, then the Department of Trade and Industry is doing very well.
The preferential trade agreements with other developing countries are a step in the right direction; more so, if we seek to have such agreements with African countries in particular.
Some expert opinions are of the view that the Trade Policy and Strategic Framework does not properly define the exact nature of the South-South co- operation proposed by the policy framework and, as such, South Africa is viewed as not having a strategy for dealing with its trade partners.
Minister, perhaps the time is ripe for the industrial parks in the erstwhile independent and self-governing states to be reopened to ensure access to jobs in the proximity of the people concerned. Rosslyn is a shining example in this regard, and Babelegi in Hammanskraal is another example.
There is a need to evaluate and confront investment and competition policy barriers that South African companies face when attempting to set foot on the rest of the continent. Complex SADC rules must be reviewed so that they cease to be trade barriers and rather enhance meaningful trade integration in the region. With South Africa's ambition of leaving an investment footprint in Africa, it is in our interest to pursue and facilitate a more fertile ground of engagement in the SADC first. The UCDP knows that South Africa, as the biggest economy on the African continent, plays an integral role in the advancement of the continent.
The department has vehemently defended the government's industrial policy as working well. The question, however, is this: How come we continue to have such high unemployment numbers if our industrial policy is doing so well? For years now there has been talk of how South Africa's manufacturing sector needs to grow the number of jobs, but that has not happened, because decision makers are to some extent working in silos. No amount of state intervention towards creating more manufacturing jobs will work, if the manufacturing companies find, for instance, that our labour laws are unbearable. Finally, if South Africa continues to import almost everything from China and elsewhere, then we are not likely to create jobs. However, if imports are reduced, then a more reasonable space to trade is created domestically, and the hope is there that we may be able to create jobs. Thank you.