Image By: Canva
The original article can be found here.
With elections around the corner, South Africans have their expectations for the upcoming vote, and the same could be said for small businesses.
The seventh national South African election will undoubtedly bring about change, which could also impact the business sector.
Failed business
Ahead of the 2024 elections, here is a look at the election expectations of businesses in the country. Vusi Maduna, who owns a recycling business called Super Waste Recycling, said he expects to see change in the current government.
Maduna said: “The current government needs to change because it has failed to create a good business environment for small businesses.”
Jorgina Heugh, the owner of a lash business called Adore Her by G, said her expectations involve gaining exposure and securing funding to establish a permanent location for her business.
Heugh said that finding a location to sell her products is too expensive in Cape Town. Therefore, she would like the government to help her funding so she can secure a spot for her business.
She added the new government should help businesses like hers to get exposure.
Cutting red tape
Ndumiso Ncube, the founder of the logistics company Manjula Group, said that his expectation of the upcoming elections will be cutting red tape for businesses.
According to Ncube, the red tape that he encounters when he approaches government institutions makes it really difficult for businesses to access funding that can be used to scale up their businesses.
He also suggested that the government should employ more locals because the more locals are employed, the fewer protesters are on the road protesting this issue, and the better his business can operate.
Trouble brewing
Another IOL article points out that Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s recent campaign in Soweto and Bram Fischerville ahead of the upcoming elections has sparked both enthusiasm and controversy surrounding his Nas’iSpani initiative.
As Lesufi walked around, people greeted him warmly and asked him to make the Nas’iSpani projects bigger, which young people in Gauteng really like.
During the State of the Province address earlier this year, Lesufi proudly announced that almost 90,000 young people had gotten jobs through Nas’iSpani, comparing it to filling the FNB Stadium with hope and opportunity.
However, not all young people in Gauteng share in this optimism.
Despite Nas’iSpani’s achievements, the latest statistics from StatsSA paint a bleak picture, with the unemployment rate rising to 2,565,000 in the fourth quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year in Gauteng.
