Business Day OPED-ED: Policies thwart SMEs

Adam Bennot’s article focusing on government actions in opposition to foreign direct investment, also pointed to many policies thwarting the development of small and medium enterprises (Structure is business-friendly, but new laws are not, March14). Though cited by every government document since 1995 as important to inclusive growth and job creation, SMEs continue to suffer due to policy makers. The fates of SMEs and private and public fixed investment are intertwined. Without investment, to whom will SMEs sell their goods and services?

Protectionist laws and continued (and often conflicting) regulatory uncertainty means limited investment. The sooner our leaders realise this mutually dependent ecosystem of economic growth will provide the means for transformation, inclusivity and poverty alleviation, the better. Until such time, while it is politically convenient to blame “white monopoly capital”, we ask them rather to take a cold, hard look in the mirror and ask, “Could this be our fault?”

Bernard Swanepoel
President, AHI Small Business Chamber

By: Business Day – https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/politics/2017-09-14-anc-can-still-fix-kzn-leadership-crisis-says-zweli-mkhize/