There is a definite case to be made for the way organised business interacts with government to change.
Particularly in terms of local government, the kid gloves approach needs to be re-examined.
Over the recent few years, we have stood by while business large and small has perished, the case of Astral Foods in Standerton and Clover in Lichtenberg are well documented.
Quoted in the Business Times of April 30 this year, President of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI), Mtho Zulu was forthright in saying ‘Business formations in every town need to be unapologetic in demanding credible and consistent services because it is those businesses who pay rates and taxes’.
He ought to have qualified this statement by highlighting that in most towns businesses contribute disproportionately to local fiscuses: to be blunt business has been generally regarded as a ‘cash cow’ for municipalities. But he also refers to the ‘deep black hole’ that rates and taxes disappear into with negligible service delivery in return.
Business has reached the stage when it no longer wishes to, or can be, innocent bystanders. Zulu proposes a redefinition of public-private partnerships at local government level that allow citizens and businesses ‘…a (direct) say in collection of their rates and taxes’. He further exhorted business formations to be more ‘ruthless’ in calling out non-performing councils and councillors.
Business has the capacity, willingness, and resources to engender real change in the operations, management, and improvement of, particularly, local government operations and services. No where is this need greater than in the financial management of municipalities, where as Zulu puts it ‘…a point of desperation has been reached.’ He goes on to propose a ‘public-private sector model that will ensure better oversight, transparency and delivery of services’ .
Zulu concludes by highlighting that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide employ an average of 15 people, but that for the 2,5 million registered SMEs in this country, that figure is five or less. He ascribes this directly to the ‘hostile environment’ in which they operate.
Is it not high time that local authorities take business on as trusted and equal partners?
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
