Corruption Watch executive director David Lewis believes the role of small and medium-sized enterprises in the local economy is still not appreciated, even though these entities are most likely the key to unlocking economic growth.

The lack of capacity and funds were the sector’s biggest stumbling blocks, he said on Wednesday, adding that the country’s highly-concentrated markets prevented the entry of such business into the economy.

“Why is small business such an underrepresented sector, in terms of law and policy?” asked Lewis, adding that although government has paid “lip service” to the sector, that was “about [all] our government has done.”

Addressing delegates at an AHI small and medium-sized enterprise indaba, Lewis said the country was in dire need of policy solutions that would promote small business and provide access to capital and markets.

He highlighted that albeit strong policies, such as local procurement rules for government, existed, with the aim of supporting these businesses, they were almost always marred by corruption.

“It is damn near the norm in local and provincial government,” he remonstrated, adding that Corruption Watch continuously heard of cases where procurement officers were using their power to favour “their cronies”.

“Corruption is a major impediment to small business and a major barrier to their sustainable entry into the economy . . . this conduct comes down to gross incompetence and lack of care.”

To counter this, Lewis said that Corruption Watch is in the process of developing an app specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises to report any corrupt activities affecting their businesses, or otherwise.

Lewis pointed out that the organisation already had a mobi site up and running, where citizens and business alike can report cases from petty corruption to bigger cases.

“Corruption is an offence against the public and cannot be combated without public participation. It is still a vastly underreported crime,” he said.