Somyo outlines radical policy shift
BLACK industrialists will be ardently promoted by the provincial government this year under the banner of the province’s radical economic transformation policy.
In his policy speech yesterday, economic development, environmental affairs and tourism MEC Sakhumzi Somyo, also the MEC of finance, highlighted these:
● He demanded more black industrialists and black businesspeople become involved in the R33-billion provincial renewable energy sector;
● He called for more black industrialists in the shipbuilding and repair industry, and announced R20-million in Eastern Cape Development Corporation funding for a plough tug builder in Nelson Mandela Bay;
● Half of the provincial government’s spend on procuring goods and services to go to black local businesses especially for learner-teacher support material, school nutrition and patient food, school and office furniture, infrastructure input materials, and fertiliser and mohair farming;
● Because commercial banks were declining to finance previously disadvantaged groups, his department was offering R121-million in SMME loans this year;
● Projects were being launched to boost township and rural economies. They included the revitalisation of Komani and Vulindlela Heights industrial parks, the Makana municipality water and sanitation intervention, the revitalisation of Mdantsane Mall, and the rehabilitation of a Butterworth factory, which produced filters for Eskom; and
● Coega’s proposed “megaproject” – a 1 000 megawatt-producing gas-fired power station, which would create thousands of jobs, to be endorsed by Dedeat only if “a meaningful radical economic transformation agenda” was adopted which included “equity participation by historically disadvantaged citizens, advancement of black people in management structures, job creation, more local content; fostering the involvement of communities, skills development and enterprise development.”
Somyo said: “The province is actively participating in the black industrialist programme with two businesses already receiving funding from the DTI (Department of Trade and Industries), National Empowerment Fund and the Land Bank with a combined value of R277-million.
“Industries in agro-processing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and plastics. “A recent StatsSA report has highlighted the enormity of the task that lies ahead of us, where the odds are still stark against the black population insofar as income gaps and access to business opportunities are concerned.
He said he was delivering his policy speech a week before the 57th commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre “where 69 black people were brutally gunned down by the apartheid police forces for refusing to carry the ‘ dompas’ which severely restricted freedom of movement.
“These fellow South Africans were merely demanding the right to movement and through a concerted struggle we have managed to at least guarantee the free movement of our people across our land. We must however hasten to indicate that . . . many of our people do not have the economic means of movement.
“It is our view therefore that true radical economic transformation will mean the meaningful realisation of these rights through broadening economic access and participation by our people in the life of our nation.”
● The provincial economy grew by 0.6% last year, lagging the national economy, which grew by 0.7%, he said.