Localisation is key in creating local demand – Deputy Minister Mathale |
| The Deputy Minister of Small Business Development, Mr Cassel Mathale says localisation creates a demand for South African products and ultimately reduces unemployment, poverty and inequality. Mathale was speaking at the two-day Buy Local Summit held in Sandton today.
Mathale said the South African government recognises local procurement as a stimulus for job creation and has developed and implemented a number of strategies to assist the local manufacturing industry with a renewed drive towards local procurement. “The need to support domestic procurement and localisation in the growth of the economy can never be over-emphasised. Equally, the value and centrality of re-industrialisation in South Africa should never be underestimated. We need to intensify our efforts to radically transform our economy by ensuring that small, medium and micro enterprises and cooperatives occupy their rightful place in the mainstream economy,” said Mathale. He added that the success of these enterprises relied mainly on inputs such as requisite skills, mentoring and coaching, appropriate marketing and procurement systems as well as access to market opportunities, both within the public and private sectors. “It is a great pleasure for me to be part of this year’s summit and expo, as we all search for innovative ways to address the imperative of localisation in the private and public sectors in growing our economy, creating jobs and broadening our skills base,” he said. Mathale also said the concept of localisation was very strategic for the growth of small enterprises as it increases the demand for locally made, grown goods and services. “It ensures that all products and services have not less than 50% local content whereby SMMEs and cooperatives benefit by participating in the value-chains of big companies either as suppliers of inputs towards the locally produced finished products or as service providers at processing, packaging or even distribution level,” Mathale added. Mathale urged consumers to consciously buy goods and services that are produced by South African companies and especially those who bear the logo of Proudly South African. “In that way we are confident that we are not only upholding the national pride in the local products but we also contribute to employment creation as these companies are employing the many unemployed South Africans. With our joint determination to buy local and re-industrialise, we will overcome poverty, unemployment and inequality,” he said.
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