The study undertaken by Standard Bank into the informal economy is not only interesting but also important for us to understand what is going on in the small business community (“Standard Bank study reveals eight out of 10 township businesses unregistered”, October 15).
It is the small business community on which we are relying to create jobs. Yet this community faces hundreds of rules, regulations and laws that are almost impossible to follow, understand and comply with.
It is about time we had a proper investigation into deregulation. About five years ago President Cyril Ramaphosa called for every government department to report back to the cabinet on which rules, regulations and laws were standing in the way of job creation in the small business community.
To my understanding none of the ministers or their directors-general came back to the presidency with the information. There should be another call to the government of national unity (GNU) to do the necessary and for the cabinet to follow up on this.
In another article in the same edition Standard Bank reported on the entrepreneurial mindset of immigrants (“Foreign-owned SMEs outpace locals through innovation and customer focus, says Standard Bank”).
Again, this speaks volumes about the government’s handbrake on the small business community’s ability to not just survive, but to thrive.
Michael Bagraim, MP
Via email
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