01 Feb 2022

The business community has to play its role for the country to attain Vision 2036 objectives, says Kanye South MP, Dr Lemogang Kwape.

Addressing a business community in Kanye, Dr Kwape underscored the need to resuscitate businesses amidst the adverse effects of COVID-19.

“We are aware that most businesses hit rock bottom during the State of Emergency, therefore there is need to strategise on ways to resuscitate them, he said.

He noted that even though they provided different services and products, uniting and working together could go a long way in creating a robust business community that would represent Kanye as a block and create employment for other residents.

He implored them to deploy innovative and creative ways of staying relevant in the market.

However, he expressed concern at the general environmental hygiene around the village, which he said had a negative impact on businesses.

Dr Kwape noted that even though the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) had revised guidelines to ease doing business, there were still some concerns amongst business people who could not access funding.

He said there was need for entities providing services to business people to align their guidelines and requirements.

“There should be seamless interaction between service providers because the objective is to grow businesses and create employment not to make them collapse. We continue to receive concerns of irregularities and corrupt practices regarding issuing of trading licences,” he said.

Furthermore, he urged business owners to pay tax as required to avoid legal consequences, and encouraged them to take advantage of the tax amnesty in order for their businesses to be in good standing.

One attendant, Mr David Bogale noted that shortage of water and red-tapes deployed by licencing and funding entities were some of the challenges that hampered growth of businesses in Kanye.

“We aspire to transform Kanye business sector and create jobs for other people, but shortage of water is a big challenge for many businesses. Additionally, some requirements for funding and licensing deter business operations which hamper growth,” he said.

He noted that construction of Kanye stadium would enhance the business sector and contribute towards maintaining tourism as one of the country’s economic mainstay.

He said once completed, the stadium would lure tourists and investors into the village thereby creating employment through various segments of the value chain.

He also called for authorities to ensure that government-funded businesses were properly monitored to ensure continuity and accountability.

Mr Oabona Seboko said even though they commended government for embracing the horticultural sector, most were forced to operate on subsistence scale due to shortage of land. He emphasised that there should be demarcated horticultural plots for aspiring farmers who did not have the land.

“Even though we always encourage young people to venture into farming, lack of land is a big hindrance and therefore horticulture farmers are mostly subsistence even though the enterprise is commercial,”he said.

He also decried slow implementation of the impact accelerator subsidy for horticulture.

The Southern District council chairperson Mr Thamiso Chabalala, noted that though they acknowledge the general concern of licensing irregularities, the council was committed to providing support and encourage businesses to grow.

Consequently, he said that they had since established a comprehensive plan of interaction with various sectors of society.

He said they have realised that the kgotla meetings were gradually losing popularity hence the main objective was to take council services to the people through various platforms for interaction. ENDS