SOFTWARE company Sage rallied behind President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona), delivered last week, which set a strong agenda for economic renewal over the coming year, saying business owners, small businesses and entrepreneurs are ready to get to work.
Pieter Bensch, Sage’s executive vice-president for Africa, Middle East, Asia and Australia, in an interview with Business Report said: “We were pleased to hear him acknowledge that businesses create the jobs and promises to create the conditions for small, medium and large businesses to grow, access new markets and hire more people”.
Ramaphosa committed to cutting red tape for businesses, conceding that there were too many costly and complicated regulations that impacted the creation of businesses and jobs.
He also announced the appointment of prominent business person and small business champion, Sipho Nkosi, to a position in the Presidency to help cut red tape and remove unnecessary bureaucracy hampering small business and their growth.
According to Sage, the creation of a team to reduce the red tape was an acknowledgement that the country needed to focus on simplifying regulation and compliance, especially for informal small businesses. The software company said it also welcomed news that the government planned to review the Business Act and other regulatory frameworks that made it difficult to do business.
“The president is correct in saying small and medium businesses (SMBs) create the most jobs and opportunities for the poor – and this is a sentiment echoed globally through research. Furthermore, we know many of these businesses have struggled through the past two-and-a-half years. However, we look forward to seeing more details about the redesigned loan scheme the president mentioned to help businesses bounce back from the pandemic and July unrest,” Bensch said.
Sage said with the recent announcement of a further loosening of Covid19 restrictions under adjusted Level 1 lockdown, many businesses were hoping for a steady return to normal trade after two years of disruption. This would be facilitated by the president’s commitment to ending the State of Disaster, a key step in returning to a condition of relative normality.
Bensch said the pandemic and the unrest last year had taken its toll on many enterprises’ balance sheets.
“Understanding that SMBs are the backbone of the global economy, we urge the president and his Cabinet to rapidly implement the growth-boosting policies proposed in the State of the Nation Address,” Bensch said.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE