Durban – Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the government and businesses must be vigilant against those who sought and employed violent means to disrupt the country’s economic sectors.
Mashatile was speaking in Gauteng on Saturday at an event to honour black business excellence, and celebrate the transformation of South African business leaders.
Mashatile said while the outcries and demands for economic inclusion and transformation must be supported, this needed to happen within the framework of the law.
“The increasing number of reported incidents of intimidation and violent attacks on business owners in the construction, chemical, mining and transport sectors in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Western Cape, Mpumalanga and other parts of the country is not conducive to the positive image of the nation that we seek to promote, and only contributes to disinvestment and economic decline.
“As a government, we strongly discourage such behaviour, and offenders must face the full force of the law. We also call on you as black enterprises to condemn and eradicate these forms of thuggery and criminality in our communities.”
Mashatile said government and businesses must work together to expand the scope of black-owned businesses beyond the convenience store chains such as spaza shops or vehicle repair shops.
“Our economy has much to offer, but the informal sector, which is dominated by black-owned businesses, has not been able to take full use of it until now.
“Importantly, we as government, encourage you to come up with new ideas for establishing sustainable enterprises that will leave a legacy for future generations. Collectively, we should endeavour to establish businesses that will continue to thrive in the decades to come,” Mashatile said.
Last year, then KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala condemned business forums that disrupted construction work and attempted to extort money from construction companies on sites across the province, under the guise of Radical Economic Transformation.
“There are reports that some of those business forums that go from one site to the other trying to extort money from the people are getting arrested and we want to support that.
“We want to place on record that that is not Radical Economic Transformation, it is crime and should be attended to as such. So this priority of dealing with crime in the province will need all of us, but will need all of us to equally mobilise communities to stand up in support of police,” Zikalala said.
THE MERCURY
