Programme Director

Chairperson, Professor Brian Figaji

The Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lesley Africa

Members of the Board

Invited guests

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Both in our country and in the world the opulence and the comparative state of being materially well off of some, alongside a sea of poverty, is increasingly becoming an issue of major concern. The result has been to firmly link, at least at a theoretical level, economic growth to poverty reduction and the achievement of social justice. Nowhere is this disparity more pronounced than in South Africa where a 10 percent of the population still owns 90 percent of the wealth of the country, and nowhere more pronounced in the country than in the Western Cape. The significance therefore of your organization at this juncture in our development, cannot be overstated. I, in particular, am very glad that I could be called upon to share your 12^th Business Person of the Year Award celebration.

Thirteen years ago, we came as it were, “straight from the bush” to become a new government. We had no experience but we had a great deal of energy, confidence and enthusiasm and tried to make up in that way for our inexperience.  We had a vision and we had promises to keep. In fact, emphatically we had ingrained the recognition that “growth does not trickle down” within the delivery mandate we had from our people. We eschewed the belief that somehow an “invisible hand” that was fully knowledgeable and sympathetic to our history of dispossession and disempowerment would emerge from the buildings blocks of our miracle to help us advance towards an equitable society.

In any case, the antecedent to our own belief was shown practically by Afrikaner entrepreneurs and leaders in the aftermath of the Great Depression in the 1930s. In order to resolve what then was referred to as the ‘poor white problem’ they set themselves on a path of economic empowerment that entailed fundamental changes in the manner in which finance and industrial capital was to organise itself. We learnt from this and thus, from the start, our focus as a new government became the transformation of the economy, to ensure that we could indeed bring about the benefits that we had so long fought for.

Our government now has the advantage of thirteen years of experience of the application of the theory and vision. You too boast twelve years of experience as a group that committed itself to come together to ensure that you occupied the space that was being opened up for you, by the new government.

You have achieved some very commendable growth through the years, since 1995 and have now achieved a recognized and acknowledged status. You have focused on critical areas of the economy, the engines of growth and empowerment that consist of finance, tourism, manufacturing and construction. You realized that the economy was already filled with large and very influential players with whom you could not on equal terms compete for capitalization, markets or even product development. Yet you stood your ground and today you are a beacon of hope for all aspiring black entrepreneurs.

It certainly will be a long road to get to where we actually want to be. The important fact, though, is that we have started. The entry that you have made into the economy, when looked at against the scale of achievements that still need to be made, is a stepping stone we will not be able to do without into the future. We could not have asked you for more as government for we do understand that there are still a number of hurdles to overcome, the capitalization of your Small, Macro and Medium Enterprises being still predominant among them. 

The economy is growing phenomenally and business confidence is continually increasing thereby generating unprecedented flows of investment. The growth of your companies however remains inhibited, emphatically illustrating once more that “growth does not trickle down”.

This then brings to the fore the issue of created opportunities and the manner in which organizations such as yourselves utilize them. For this is the fundamental challenge that we have together. The failure to provide the opportunities you need would mean that we have not been able to use the experience we have to good and effective use.

If I may repeat, I am very proud member of a government whose policies are built on the premise that the yawning gap between the rich and the poor must end. I therefore urge you to take advantage of the opportunities to grow your companies. Requiring so is nothing else other than the recognition that today’s economic growth, everywhere, is accompanied by rapid urbanization. Economic progress, in other words, is moving in tandem with an increase in urban populations as commercial activities, including the services sector thrive in high-density urban settings.

I know your minds are set on what you individually want to achieve, but allow me to take this opening to interest you in something that occupies my every waking moment. This, as you will know, is property. It is a strategic area that is growing and is destined to grow. It is also an area that has for most countries achieved a great deal of growth and has traditionally been harnessed for accumulation. In most countries, this is an important aspect and index of development. In our country we overlook it at our own peril.

It is an area of tremendous growth.  In fact, over the last ten years, South Africa recorded the highest growth in the world in this sector.  For the years 1997 to 2006 it grew by a phenomenal 351%.  When you consider that as at 2001, 50% of our population was under the age of 25 years, then you know that we are still destined for huge and protracted growth, especially in the demand for affordable housing.
 

Because we are so keen to attract grater uptake in this area, we have taken time, as government, to deal with the challenges that had originally made this such an unattractive area of engagement.  I am aware that you have your sights keenly latched onto the 2010 Soccer World Cup.  And so you should.  This is your greatest short-term opportunity, reach out for it.  I am certain many of us will interact with you for the fulfillment of that goal.  But there is life outside of that.  The demand for houses will live well beyond 2010.  When 2010 is a distant dream, there will still be a huge demand for affordable housing.

Given the focus that your organization has on Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises these are real opportunities for both you individual members and communities themselves. And if taken, the result would not only be an increase in the supply of affordable housing but also a real advancement in broad-based economic empowerment.

This is also an area that has a great deal of spin off for small business and I would like you to plug into it.  The houses that government builds, for example, are of standard size of 40 m2.  Custom made appliances, goods and services and furniture would reap enormous benefits.  I was informed by one of our foreign Ambassadors that the now trendy, yuppie furniture brand called IKEA, started off as custom made furniture for low income houses in Sweden.  The market was so huge, it catapulted it onto the world stage.  Nothing stops us emulating that.  I could go on about possibilities in this area. 

We are now responsible for the entire residential property market and are very keen that we transform the Estate Agents industry.  The research done by Finmark Trust for the Department of Housing, shows that there is a value in excess of R700 billion that is in property that is in the hands a black people, that lies out there as dead assets.

We need to activate that market and we would need people like yourselves to set this in motion.  This is a very lucrative business.  I have just sold a house and I know, when all was said and done, the only person who benefited was my estate agent!

I want to interest you in this because it is an area not frequently patronized by black people. It could be cultural thing, I don’t know. And when we enter it, it is at the lowest rung in the market and invariably, as labour or in construction at the lower levels. Yet there is need. There is demand.

The availability of finance from the Banking sector, through the Financial Services Charter, makes this exceedingly good business.

This, in any case, is how we, politicians, see the role of housing and property in our evolving democracy. Against considerations of existing need we see it as a guarantor of our societal stability and peace, a vital component of social cohesion. However, and perhaps more importantly, we also see it as a lynchpin to greater and equitable economic development - shared growth – we call it. It is an important part of creating the kind of society that has been denied us – a society that has a common identity molded around our communities and, around those things that make up our daily lives. 

I therefore firmly believe that if you took on this major and critical area this country would immediately see the ripple effects. Take advantage of this space, you can’t go wrong.  You have willing banks, a willing government and a market with a huge potential for growth.  You can’t go wrong.

When you do that, you will be ploughing back toward the creation of sustainable development, sustainable because its foundation is based on stable societies.

An amazing fact was brought to my attention just the other day. This is that for awaiting trialists alone the state spends R2.2 million on a daily basis. Factor in the sentenced community, where the State spends R19.8 million a day on their upkeep, then you will understand that there is a something terribly wrong with us.  When you add the cost of building their facilities and maintaining them, then you will invariably understand that a society that invests more on keeping criminals in jail than in eradicating poverty, is committing a grave injustice against itself. We are caught in this untenable illogical situation because we are still in the grip of the effects of an illogical history. But we can break the logjam. Together we can create employment and an asset for all our people. We can reduce poverty and instability and thereby create the necessary environment for sustained prosperity.

In housing we have opened up the space for the interface and would like to call on your members to take up the challenge we have made. The theme of your event which is centered on believing that you can must enable you to properly conceptualize these kinds of programmes or initiatives. Already, in fact, since your establishment in 1995 you have been able to forge a very good relationship with government, signifying that where your will is indeed “You Can”. My appeal is that it is now time to take a step further in this key area of need by our people. The Western Cape, in particular, a province with the one of the most acute needs for housing and the economic development of communities cries for such an initiative.

            Finally, I acknowledge the role that your awards on the Business Person of the Year, play in rewarding focus by your members in integrating community development into the activities of their companies. In this regard, I would like to congratulate the nominees of this year’s award and thank them individually and collectively for their conscience. 

            The challenge we have is great. Fortunately, we have yourselves to rely on.  For now, lets celebrate our achievements, let’s celebrate our resilience as a people.  We have in all not done badly at all.  For indeed today’s a better country and tomorrow shows promise of a more fruitful day.

Our hopes are pinned on you. You know where we come from, ultimately, just like Afrikaner capital propelled the Afrikaners from the abject poverty of the Depression, only your prosperity can dislodge our people of the conditions that have shackled them. So, for all our sakes, thrive and grow!

I thank you.