On a daily basis, I am assailed by members and businessmen bewailing the hurdles and delays that plague potential new developments. The reality is that in the face of a desperate need for new investments in infrastructure to spur economic development, the powers that be from local to national government seem oblivious to the problems.
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Contrast this with the trends in other countries, particularly individual states in America that compete tooth and nail with each other for new developments: their focus is on reducing ‘shovel in the ground time’ for new investors – the time period between the initial approach, and work actually being started on site.
Red tape
Many states have been able to reduce this period to 60 days – even for complex projects. They have achieved this by applying a single-minded approach to reduce red tape and other approvals by forming dedicated multi-disciplinary teams.
In addition, political role-players, usually the state governor, are intimately involved from day one, to ensure that the momentum is maintained.
The South African context could not be more different. It is as though our processes are designed to deliberately frustrate all but the most determined developers. At a local level, plan approval times at municipalities have been an ongoing issue that has seen scant improvement over the last 10 years.
Nightmare
The issue of clearance certificates to facilitate transfers of properties is a nightmare for most conveyancing attorneys and the parties concerned. At a provincial and national level, the processes involved in environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are fraught with delays and often Dickensian red-tape requirements.
Those developers dependent on rezoning of properties require nerves of steel and the patience of Job.
From being shuttled from one government department to another, and being subject to endless delays, the results of applications are more often than not negative, conveyed in terse one or two line rejection letters, that provide little or no justification for the refusals.
Those brave enough to appeal are then put through the wringer much as they had been for the original application.
If the president is really serious about creating an investor-friendly environment, serious attention needs to be given to improving co-ordination and capacity in all departments involved to improve service delivery. Task teams need to be set up to critically examine the processes, at all levels of government, that are clearly a major impediment to development in the country.
After matriculating, Vijay Naidoo studied Economics in the UK. Upon his return, he joined the family construction business as MD for 10 years.
He subsequently joined his sister in their furniture manufacturing business as director for quality assurance and operations. He was responsible for all quality aspects of their products, and led the project to the business achieving an ISO 9000 quality accreditation. As an export focused business, this was important for our international competitiveness.
Mr Naidoo has an abiding interest in quality management and productivity improvement, particularly in manufacturing.
More recently, he has focused a lot of his time on giving back to the community by way of mentorship of small businesses and sitting on the executive of the South Coast Chamber of Commerce. He also sits on the Board of the Ugu South Coast Development Agency.
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