The growing unhappiness about the ”buy South Africa campaign”, run by Proudly South Africa (PSA), has led to the formation of a new initiative, South Africa First (SA First).
Although the PSA, supported by labour and organised black business groups, believes the SA First initiative will cause confusion in the market, the government has thrown its weight behind the project, saying it will stimulate economic growth and create employment opportunities in the country.
The PSA was launched in 2001 by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to stimulate local demand and create employment by encouraging local consumers to buy local retail and corporate brands.
But it has so far failed to deliver on its mandate, resulting in hundreds of disillusioned members – including Eskom, Old Mutual, PetroSA, Barloworld and Telkom – withdrawing their annual subscription fees and key staff members resigning.
The Mail & Guardian understands that SA First, headed by PSA former CE Martin Feinstein and former Nedlac boss Phillip Dexter, came after several companies that left the PSA approached the two men to launch an alternative ”buy local” campaign.
With major global brands competing locally, backed by enormous marketing muscle, SA First aims to encourage the growth of South African-born-and-bred brands in all industry sectors, beginning with the information and communication technology sector.
Feinstein said SA First will actively lobby on behalf of its members for ”level playing field” tenders, procurement preference for local content and informed choice on the part of consumers.
PSA CE Manana Moroka is said to be furious about the initiative. Attempts by the M&G to get her comments were unsuccessful. But, in a memo posted on its website this week, the PSA said the new campaign ran the risk of duplicating efforts and will cause confusion in the market.
”This is regrettable, since Proudly South Africa enjoys the support of the four major constituencies and has already been lobbying government and other stakeholders on local procurement,” the PSA said.
The Communications Workers’ Union (CWU), a Cosatu affiliate, said the SA First initiative was an attempt to undermine Nedlac. The union questioned the involvement of Feinstein and Dexter, as former employees of the PSA, in the initiative. ”CWU finds it very strange that the former leaders of these noble institutions have deemed it correct to collaborate and manipulate the market forces for their own material needs.”
Feinstein said SA First does not intend to compete with PSA.
”Proudly South Africa is a very important campaign and it involves a lot of key stakeholders. They are a broad campaign while we, as a private sector initiative, are going to focus on creative ways to encourage government and business to develop local supply chains in specific sectors. It would be a pity if turf issues arose because we believe in partnerships and collaboration with organisations like Proudly South Africa and others so that different talents and strengths can be utilised. Our aim is to help companies that align with SA First to be recognised for their job creation and their investment,” said Feinstein.
Tshediso Matona, the director general at the trade and industry department, said he saw nothing wrong with an initiative dedicated to encouraging companies to buy local products.
”We should not be concerned about who should drive the campaign. It is the results that we should be worried about. If there are different vehicles seeking to achieve the same thing, there is no need to oppose one another. The more hands to the task, the better. The idea is to get more and more people to buy local products. This will increase job opportunities and boost economic growth,” said Matona.
Feinstein said SA First will operate as a non-profit trust to bring together individuals and companies who want to promote local content, business creativity and production. He said SA First is planning its first research project into how local authority procurement can benefit the local computer sector.
”Around 40% of computers sold in South Africa are assembled locally, while 60% are imported. Those figures should be the other way round. The local producers estimate that if government required every PC in government offices to be locally produced, about 10 000 jobs could be created in three years. That gives you some indication of why SA First exists,” said Feinstein.