Stop attacking business - Makhura
Premier’s budget speech has strong focus on growing township economy
The Gauteng government has mastered a plan in which it works together with big business to resolve the country’s economic problems.
The plan includes practical ways of creating youth jobs and creating business opportunities for the township economy.
This was said by Gauteng premier David Makhura yesterday in his budget vote at the provincial legislature.
He admitted that the economy was deteriorating but “directing insults at business will lead us to nowhere”.
His stance is different from national government that is fighting big business.
He also said his government was pushing hard to meet its promised targets on service delivery, while the health department continued to worry him.
“Work to rebuild confidence in our public healthcare system is continuing following the Life Esidimeni tragedy in which more than 100 mental health patients lost their lives under circumstances that could have been prevented.
“I have already called for a complete overhaul of our public health system and we are monitoring carefully the work being done to fix public healthcare in our province,” he said.
He told Sowetan that the Tshepo 1 Million and Action Labs projects for job creation and business opportunities were yielding good results.
With Action Labs, the province met with groups from various sectors – manufacturing, agro-processing, automobile and mining – to check how they could help in employing people, as well as buying goods from township manufactures.
“They also talked to us about the help they need from government for their businesses to prosper.
“We in turn talked to them about training young people as well as giving them employment,” he said .
“We also talked to them about how they can grow their companies so that they can employ more people.”
Makhura also said R6-billion of his government’s procurement was spent on buying goods and services from township business people.
“We are very passionate about the township economy that was previously neglected.
“When we meet big business we also link township business people with them because they can buy some goods from them,” he said.
With Tshepo 1 Million, Makhura said big business had come forward and young people were being trained and getting employed.
“What is good is that we train and retrain them when we know that there are job opportunities for them.
“With these projects, we are fixing the gap that exists in the education system,” he said.
When the project was launched, it was called Tshepo 500 000. More than 350 000 young people were trained and are now employed.
Makhura has now set a one million target.
‘‘ When we meet big business we also link township business people with them