During President Cyril Ramaphosa’s highly anticipated State of the Nation Address on Thursday, he announced changes that he said would help alleviate constrictive admin around business.
The annual speech was done this year at Cape Town’s City Hall after a fire broke out in Parliament on 2 January that took two days to contain.
Speaking about jobs, Ramaphosa said government was reviewing the Business Act and reviewing legislation and affected small and medium enterprises to assist informal business with regulatory problems.
“There are too many regulations in this country that are unduly complicated, costly and difficult to comply with. This prevents companies from growing and creating jobs. We are therefore working to improve the business environment for companies of all sizes through a dedicated capacity in the Presidency to reduce red tape,” Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa said he would be hiring Sipho Nkosi to assist with cutting red tape across government. Nkosi has experience in business, including as the chief executive of Exxaro Resources, and is chairperson of the Small Business Institute.
“The red tape team will identify priority reforms for the year ahead, including mechanisms to ensure government departments pay suppliers within the required 30 days,” the president said.
“The team will also work with other departments and agencies to unblock specific obstacles to investment and business growth. It will support current initiatives to simplify processes relating to property registration, cross-border trade and construction permits.”
Other notable appointments announced during the address where were:
- Daniel Mminele, a former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank, will head the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team to lead the mobilisation of funds for a just transition. The president announced this move on Wednesday ahead of his speech.
- In filling the position as head of the Investigating Directorate, Ramaphosa said a replacement would be appointed once Advocate Hermoine Cronje left the role. Reports of infighting in the National Prosecuting Authority surfaced after Hermione Cronje announced her resignation in December. She leaves her position in March.
EWN Report
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