It was refreshing to at least hear the president state in his state of the nation address that small businesses create the most jobs “and provide the most opportunities for poor people to earn a living”.
However, in saying this he merely referred the decision-making to the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) to review the labour market regulations for smaller businesses.
The reality is that Nedlac is heavily loaded against the business community. The government and labour hold sway, and every year they make the regulations more onerous, as opposed to the system easing up.
The president will not be able to move forward because the ANC is beholden to Cosatu as its alliance partner — a partner that controls an enormous chunk of votes. We also know the president has designs at the end of this year to clinch another term of office as the head of the party. Without the support of the SACP and Cosatu this will come to nought.
As we can see from the numerous recent moves to tighten the regulations in the labour field the chances of deregulation in the small business sector are almost nil.
Michael Bagraim, MP
DA deputy shadow employment & labour minister
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