Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu has promised that her nascent department – currently housed at the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI’s) campus, in Pretoria – will soon finalise its plans for stimulating entrepreneurship and for the creation of an environment that was far more friendly to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Speaking in Johannesburg at an event held to unveil US technology group GE’s R700-million scheme to support SMEs and foster innovation and skills development, Zulu said the economy had to “take centre stage” if South Africa was to properly address its ‘triple scourge’ of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

The creation of the Small Business Ministry had already received widespread support, with commentators arguing that South Africa had little chance of making a serious dent in its high rate of joblessness without the creation of more small businesses.

Zulu stressed that, while the DTI had pursued a number of small-business initiatives, the creation of a specific Ministry was government’s response to ongoing appeals for the issue of SME development to receive higher priority.

The Ministry plan was likely to focus on improving the environment for the establishment of new enterprises, while also offering some funding and incentives. However, it was also likely to seek to leverage the R847-billion public infrastructure programme, but requiring winning bidders to set aside a certain portion of their packages for SMEs.

Easing the regulatory burden and building partnerships with corporates that could offer ready-made markets, mentorship and/or business-incubation facilities were other likely features of any future plan.

But Zulu also emphasised the need for an attitudinal shift, whereby citizens felt increasingly empowered to do more for themselves, rather than waiting for government to meet their needs.

She went so far as to call for a “toyi-toyi of a different type”, whereby the energy previously associated with the songs and dances used to galvanise resistance to apartheid was channelled into seeking economic and development opportunities.

Reflecting on the “submit or fight” choice faced in the 1960s by the anti-apartheid movements and leaders such as former President Nelson Mandela, Zulu argued that the contemporary choices were just as stark. “The choice that we have is either to pick up and step up and work, or decide to collapse.”