Karen Harverson
The Department of Public Works will set aside an as yet unspecified percentage of contracts for small black emerging businesses.
This is part of an initiative by the Public Works and the Department of Finance to reform procurement policies to give small businesses access to the public sector market.
A meeting will be held next week at which strategies will be set to give preference and support to small business.
“We need to recognise the central role that could be played by SMMEs in the economic development of disadvantaged people,” said Public Works Minister Jeff Radebe, speaking at the second annual small, medium and micro enterprise (SMME) conference held at Gallagher Estate last week.
He said there were more than 800 000 SMMEs in South Africa which together absorbed about a quarter of the country’s labour force.
“Small business in South Africa has traditionally been faced with market constraints and an inability to market its services particularly in the procurement of goods for the public sector,” he said.
Last month, the department launched a pilot roster system to ensure marginalised consultants obtained work in which they were qualified and competent.
“Measures will be implemented to ensure that work undertaken is not compromised in terms of quality and cost control and that the system is transparent, fair and monitored to avoid unfair practices.”
He said the department had widened the steering committee managing the roster to include professional people from the private sector.
“We have set up an initiative in Public Works to ensure the tendering system embraces SMMEs. We want to increase their role and therefore it is essential that the tendering procedure be simple and standardised for all levels of supplies.”
Radebe said many emerging black businesses knew little about government procurement procedures and were often constrained by the language barrier. He called on the banking sector to change its attitudes towards providing loans to disadvantaged people.
He said larger contracts would be divided into smaller sections to be more accessible to small business. “We need to share the economic cake without compromising standards.”