Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu is confident that procurement will be a major a catalyst for job creation in South Africa.
Addressing delegates at the Smart Procurement World Conference in the Western Cape last week, the minister acknowledged that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face daily challenges and repeated the call to big business to assist SMEs and entrepreneurs to find finance, skills development and mentorship.
She applauded the enterprise development component of the conference and said that it will boost the province’s SMEs.
The Cape conference tripled in size compared with the inaugural Cape Town event in 2014, receiving greater support from industry, government and sponsors.
More than 1100 people passed through the exhibition halls, including:
383 Visitors
348 SMEs and exhibitors
232 Conference delegates
080 Conference speakers
Procurement needs growth
The affect of South Africa’s economic factors on procurement was examined by Chris Hart, Chief Economist at Investment Solutions.
Hart noted that South Africa suffers from declining fiscal flexibility: “While the country is nowhere near bankrupt the direction we are heading in is not encouraging.”
Hart said that some “expenditure bombs” loom large on the country’s horizon. “National health insurance, the public sector wage bill, the recently disclosed nuclear deal with Russia and government’s support funding offered to parastals affect the country’s cash flow, income statement and balance sheet.”
Boitumelo Mokgatle, Director of Internal Audit & Risk Management for The Presidency discussed the implementation of an effective procurement risk management plan through auditing, monitoring and evaluation of procurement risk.
Marcia Korsten, Chief Director of Public Policy Services for Western Cape Provincial Treasury discussed the link between procurement and the Western Cape’s economic outlook.
Korsten presented figures describing the increasing contribution of the services sector to the Western Cape economy and how future growth is likely to be concentrated in the skills-intensive services industries.
