Ramaphosa promises business reforms to tackle red tape and boost investment

President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 170th Annual Gala Dinner at Suncoast.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised to tackle unnecessary red tape and streamline government processes as businesses call for urgent action to remove obstacles to investment and job creation.

Speaking at the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry NPC’s 170th Annual Gala Dinner at the playTSOGO Globe at Suncoast on Wednesday evening, Ramaphosa acknowledged that unreliable municipal services, crime, electricity costs and logistics inefficiencies were discouraging investment and constraining economic growth.

The event was attended by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli, Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Reverend Musa Zondi, eThekwini Municipality Mayor Cyril Xaba, members of Parliament and other dignitaries.

Chamber chief executive Palesa Phili used the occasion to highlight the pressures facing local industries, including cheap imports, counterfeit products and illicit goods entering Durban through the port.

She called on Ramaphosa to intervene in regulations governing industries in distress, arguing that these needed to be reviewed to protect businesses affected by cheap imports.

“It really needs to be reviewed so that we can make sure that we safeguard industries that are in distress, that are affected by cheap imports coming in,” Phili said.

“But also, we really need to be very strong and aggressive when it comes to counterfeit and illicit goods because of the destruction that it’s having on our economies.”

Ramaphosa said government was identifying areas where the time required to obtain permits and licences could be reduced and unnecessary administrative stages removed.

He acknowledged that businesses and households continued to face serious difficulties, particularly because of unreliable municipal services.

“These are not challenges that can be resolved through good intentions alone,” he said, adding that they required capable leadership, sound management and sustained action.

He said reliable municipal services were fundamental to economic development and that public institutions needed to be accountable, efficient and responsive to citizens and businesses.

Ramaphosa said government was responsible for providing infrastructure, services, institutions and policy certainty, while businesses had to invest, innovate and create employment.

Phili also called for reforms to help small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) overcome barriers to growth and job creation.

She said these businesses faced unreliable electricity and infrastructure, red tape, limited access to finance and labour-market regulations.

“We need SMME reforms, Mr President, so that our SMMEs can be able to create those much-needed jobs,” she said.

Phili said SMMEs employed about 80% of the population in emerging markets such as Brazil and China, compared with about 60% in South Africa.

The President said investment and economic prosperity depended on social stability, warning that business could not thrive amid violence, intimidation, lawlessness or fear.

He referred to the July 2021 unrest as a reminder of the cost of instability.

Premier Ntuli said he had inherited an administration facing the challenge of restoring confidence after the unrest.

He said listening to business leaders was important, with their concerns highlighting the need for safety and responsive governance rather than speeches.

Ntuli said the business community had partnered with government during subsequent outbreaks of violence to help keep the city moving and protect livelihoods.

“So let me make this declaration before His Excellency, the President of the Republic, before this chamber, and before the people of KwaZulu-Natal: Durban will never burn on my watch, not again, not while I hold this office. We will protect every factory, every shop, every port and every livelihood in this city because to burn Durban is to burn the bread of millions. Ngeke kwenzeke, it will not happen,” Ntuli said.