Red tape is South Africa’s biggest job killer. South Africans are entrepreneurial by nature and every day, across cities, townships and rural communities, people wake up determined to build businesses, create jobs and provide for their families.

Yet too often, government stands in their way with unnecessary forms, delayed permits, duplicated approval processes and unpaid government invoices. For many small businesses, these are the difference between survival and closure.

For this reason, the national Red Tape Reduction (RTR) and Ease of Doing Business Campaign was recently launched by the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD), with the real test in the implementation of the campaign on different government levels. Currently the implementation arrangements are being finalised.

Jane Sithole, deputy minister of DSBD, said reducing red tape is not about weakening standards or compromising public safety, but about delivering regulation that is efficient, transparent and proportionate.

“We need a single, integrated business registration and licensing platform. Entrepreneurs should not have to navigate multiple departments and duplicate applications simply because government systems fail to communicate with one another.”

Sithole said at provincial level, governments should establish dedicated RTR units that coordinate reform across departments, assist municipalities with limited capacity and ensure that new provincial policies are assessed for their impact on businesses before implementation.

Also, municipalities control many of the approvals that businesses require every day. Building plans, land-use applications, trading permits, electricity connections, water connections, and supplier payments all determine whether businesses succeed or fail.

“Every municipality should therefore publish measurable turnaround times for these services and hold senior officials accountable for meeting them. What gets measured gets managed,” Sithole emphasised.

Government should see entrepreneurs not as people to regulate into submission, but as partners in growing the economy.

“Every official should understand that every unnecessary delay affects someone’s livelihood, someone’s employees and someone’s family.”

Shorter turnaround time the aim

Sithole said the launch of the campaign is the beginning, with the department’s next priority to work with provinces, municipalities and public sector to identify administrative barriers that entrepreneurs face and remove them systematically.

The aim is shorter turnaround times for permits and licences, faster payments to small businesses, simpler regulatory processes and improved access to government services, she said.

Red tape occurs with excessive regulation or processes and systems that are hindering or preventing action or timeous decision-making.

Mainly four pillars are relevant in RTR. There must be ease of doing business, as it cannot be that applications pile in someone’s office without any consequence. The DSBD must launch a RTR Portal which must be supported by municipal red-tape hotlines. Mobile business support units must be established, while a thirty-day payment strategy where government must pay suppliers on time, is the fourth pillar.

“Thirty-day payments must be a strategic economic intervention, not a compliance checkbox. Late payment destroys small businesses faster than lack of funding,” she said.

Multiple channels of support

For entrepreneurs and small businesses, multiple channels of support will become available, suitable for different environments. Assistance will come in a combination of online services, dedicated contact points and officials on the ground.

The RTR Portal will provide a central point where entrepreneurs can report regulatory obstacles and seek assistance, while municipal hotlines will complement the portal by providing local support.

The campaign is primarily focused on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives, as according to the National Development Plan, up to 90% of the needed jobs in the economy by 2030 are to be generated by this sector.

In the meantime, entrepreneurs can continue approaching the DSBD, Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency, provincial offices and local economic development offices for assistance. As the campaign expands, additional contact points will be communicated publicly through outreach programmes, stakeholder engagements, business associations, municipalities, digital communication platforms and partnerships with both the public and private sectors.

Supporting entrepreneurs

Sithole said the greatest lesson she learnt is that entrepreneurs are not asking government to run their businesses. An aim of the department is for entrepreneurs to experience government as an enabler rather than an obstacle.

“They are asking government to stop making it harder for them to succeed. They want reliable municipal services, faster approvals, safer trading environments, access to markets and government that responds when problems arise.

“South Africans are incredibly resilient and entrepreneurial. If we remove unnecessary barriers and create an enabling environment, they will create businesses, jobs and opportunities for themselves and their communities,” she said.