Opening address by the MEC of Finance, Mrs YN Phosa during the first annual conference on entrepreneurship and leadership network, Nelspruit, Mpumalanga
28 – 31 August 2011
Programme Director, Mdu Mphahlele
Ms Brenda Horne-Ferreira, Conference Chairperson
Mr Robert Mhlambi & Ms Lindy Mkhize
All other Speakers and panellists at this conference
All Women
Conference participants here present today
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me a greatest pleasure to be invited to give the opening remarks during this first session of an important conference on entrepreneurship and leadership.
The conference takes place during an important month with
its distinct focus on opportunities to enhance women empowerment in the country.
Earlier this month, we had an opportunity to address the launch of a book written by Pearl Khoza.
The title of the book is called “It can only be a woman”.
I am conveniently reminded about this book because it
connects the sacrifices and victories of the 1956 generation with the
aspirations of today’s women and women entrepreneurs and leaders in particular.
The book captures a view that women have for long been waiting for a saviour, one who will free them from oppressive cultures, policies, systems and level the playing ground for them.
I want to argue that it is the realisation of the power within this great generation of women leaders, who marched through the corridors of power to demand an end to the degrading pass laws and other repressive laws, which drove them to stand up and be counted as their own liberators.
These torch bearers have certainly played a critical part as both the saviours that the writer speaks about in her book.
Ladies and gentlemen,
One of the many interesting views that are advanced in ‘It
can only be a woman’ is that; while the days of slavery are gone, the mind is
yet to realise the true liberty.
The book posits that any mind cannot achieve this freedom unless it unlearns the past and embraces new knowledge as well as adapt in cognisance of other people’s experiences.
This brings me to the subject of deliberation in this
conference, which is leadership and entrepreneurship in the context of
government programme of action.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are concerned about the high levels of unemployment and
inequality in the province.
The government has therefore decided to focus attention on the five priorities which are education; health; rural development and agrarian reforms; fight against crime and corruption and creation of decent jobs and sustainable livelihood.
Ostensibly, the government has declared 2011 as a year of
job creation through meaningful economic transformation and inclusive growth.
This declaration has since been followed by the adoption of a new national growth path and the commencement of work towards the finalisation of the provincial growth and development path, all which signal that job creation remain firmly at the centre of the economic policy of the country.
The province has, in relation to these strategies,
resolved to support and strengthen sectors with high economic
activity such as agriculture and manufacturing in Gert Sibande, mining,
utilities and finance in Nkangala as well as community services, trade and
construction in Ehlanzeni to maximize economic growth.
We appreciate the fact that the government should do more to ensure enabling environment for business and other social partners to create enough job opportunities to take our people out of the realm of poverty and unemployment.
We welcome this conference as it is intended to sharpen the minds in support of the intentions of the government to increase the opportunities for the emergence of enterprises that will help us to take many of our people out of poverty and unemployment streams.
The drive for job creation is depended amongst others on the effectiveness with which SMMEs play a part in economic development.
The small and medium sized enterprises (SMME) are important players in the continuous work of harnessing job creating economy.
Research has it that SMMEs contribute more than 40% of SA’s GDP and employs more than half of the private sector workforce, and that around 80% of new jobs in the world are created in the SMME sector, so the efforts of entrepreneurs play a significant role in promoting economic growth.
Despite specific efforts that are made to strengthen this
sector, they still face numerous challenges, especially lack of skills and
financial support amongst others.
The SMMEs continue to be regarded as a high risk sector by the financiers, yet we know that they have a great potential to minimise the highest risks that corporate SA complains about – which is the effects of crime on business.
We believe that Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency needs to drive and promote economic empowerment through maximizing access to finance for SMME’s and Cooperatives.
There is an expectation from all in the provincial government that the agency should do so in a manner that leads to development of sustainable enterprises and the creation of sustainable jobs to reduce poverty.
If these can be done, and all other financiers – state and
private sector - adopt this position, we will be advancing the provincial
cooperatives and SMME strategies whose objectives are to help the government to
intervene timeously in order to herald the movement of our people from the
second to the first economy.
Working together with all our social partners, we shall ensure that more and more of our people are taken out of poverty streams through creation of jobs and access to economic opportunities.
Ladies and gentlemen
We must cultivate the spirit of entrepreneurship for
societal progress.
The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people’s choice, to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long healthy and creative lives which this government is all about. I am of the view that development is depended on a greater number of people taking initiative to make it happen.
Entrepreneurship, whilst is an important ingredient of business development, can also influences life in many different ways, making significant positive contribution to the improved standard of economic and social life.
Ladies and gentlemen
Allow me to share with you some of the claims about entrepreneurship.
We are told that self-employed persons are, as a
generalization, happier than people working in large organizations since they
experience greater job satisfaction and have higher levels of self respect than
their counterparts in corporations.
Research reports tell us that the relationship between higher-level employees and organizations could be quite stressful because to a certain extent, their need for autonomy is frustrated in work situations that are dominated by bureaucracy. It is also said, by contrast, that when self employed, such people seem to lead happier and more fulfilled lives than when engaged as employees of the large companies. Closely related to this observation is the claim that self employed entrepreneurs work larger hours than average and tend to remain engaged in their work careers.
This is the reality that one has to accept in the interest of making this a great province through impacting on social and economic wellbeing of the people.
We have rightly accepted the obligation to support the
development of the entrepreneurs not only because of the high unemployment rate,
but because we also want a highly productive human capital to take the province
to the highest growth trajectory.
Society needs more women entrepreneurs to fight unemployment. Greater number of women should emulate the strength of the 1956 generation, by being wealth creators through establishing job-creating enterprises. Women should also take advantage of mentorship and coaching programmes to establish themselves among the legion of successful entrepreneurs in the country.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The subject of leadership is a topic that is continuously being explored by the academics. One thing that all commentators agreed on is that communication is critical to all debates about the concept of leadership.
As Peter Drucker notes, “the leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say “I.” And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say “I.” They don’t think “I.” They think “we”; they think “team.” They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but “we” gets the credit…. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done”.
Closely related to this observation is the contention by
Vince Lombardi that “leadership is based on a spiritual quality; the power to
inspire, the power to inspire others to follow.
I believe integrity, fairness, effective communication and
empathy are other important attributes for good leadership in society and at the
workplace.
Effective leaders are also people who are adaptable, and
who can utilise their skills in different configurations, depending on the
situation.
A leader is a person who is able to learn from experience, observe the current situation and envision how it may unfold given the application of various approaches to it.
In the South African context, you will agree with me that we are blessed with abundant class of good quality leaders who have integrity - from the struggle icon, Mr. Nelson Mandela to the great women who led the 1956 march to the then capital city of apartheid to demand freedom in our lifetime.
The South African women continue to ride the crest of
success in leadership position; amongst many of them one can mention the
Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Gill Marcus; the Chief Executive
Officer of ABSA Bank, Maria Ramos and the President of the South African
Institute of Chartered Accountants, Helen Trush.
We are where we are today, because of women of strength who are leading different sectors, not least of them in business and public sector.
We must, as societies invest in nurturing leadership skills in order to create an environment of certainty of progressive development for the future.
In conclusion, it is my wish that the conference will reflect on important lessons to grow entrepreneurship spirit among the women and young people and also good leadership to advance a goal of a better life for all.
One of the known entrepreneurs, Richard Branson once said “business
opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming. While Zoe
Molapisi, CEO of By Design Communications Group says “being in business has
allowed me to be part of the solution to some of the world’s problems”.
The government is committed to ensure economic growth and has set a
target of reducing unemployment by 15% in 2020, which is presently at 30, 4%.
I therefore urge you to always look for the opportunities to partner with the Government to create as many jobs as possible. This will be a meaningful contribution that will make us a proud and a great nation.
Ladies and gentlemen, my colleagues, Deputy Minister Dinah Pule and MEC Norman Mokoena have elaborated on key issues that the conference must focus on in their opening remarks last night.
I now have a distinct honour to declare the conference sessions opened.
May our Lord bless you throughout the sessions of this conference.
I thank you.
