The Rotary Club of Hermanus hosted author and entrepreneur GG Alcock at an inspirational presentation on building bridges between South Africa’s business sector and the township economy, where he sees huge potential for economic growth.
Alcock, whose latest book Kasinomics Unleashed explores the strength of township economies and entrepreneurs, spoke to representatives of all areas of the Overstrand community at the United Church on 16 September.
He described townships as large, diverse and highly active economies, driven by entrepreneurs who understand their markets and respond quickly to changing needs. While acknowledging that the industries are largely unregulated, he said the market would require that goods and services be of a high quality.
“These guys are proud and resilient,” he told some 150 audience members. “We should be celebrating these businesses and be proud of them.”
He called them “circular economies” in which one man may sell bread to various markets sourced from a variety of township bakeries which purchase ingredients from local grocery stores.
He cited areas that need strengthening as township infrastructure, including electricity, water and sewage, and links between people with skills and products with markets and people with opportunities to purchase.
Modernising
“Our society is modernising, not Westernising,” Alcock told the audience, which included representatives from the Overstrand Municipality and Western Cape government, Rotarians, the Hermanus Business Chamber (HBC) and the Sandbaai Business Forum.
“GG Alcock is well known for his work on South Africa’s informal economy and his argument that our townships and informal areas are engines of economic value, job creation and employment,” mayoral candidate Clinton Lerm said. “He delivered an insightful, energising presentation grounded in experience.”
An area that some found troublesome is that Alcock is effectively condoning a “shadow economy” that doesn’t pay taxes but may draw social benefits.
“The contributions far outweigh the growth,” he argued in response to a question, adding that not paying taxes contributes to social stability and economic growth, in the form of fuel levies and value added taxes or VAT.
A workshop followed at Mollergren Hall on the areas he sees as having potential for growth, including beauty, prepared food, automobile services, construction and home improvements.
“GG’s (Alcock’s) statistics and practical insights provided a completely different perspective on how the formal and informal sectors can interact, collaborate, support one another and create opportunities for growth,” HBC Vice-Chair Antoinette Bronkhorst said.
Insightful
The Rotary Club is strengthening its commitment to areas of youth unemployment and skills development, in line with Rotary International and South African government policies.
“The KasiNomics workshop was genuinely insightful and eye-opening,” said Charlotte Mbathat, Hermanus entrepreneur and Rotaractor.
“The opportunity for us as young people to be exposed to an event of this calibre is something I am very grateful for,” she said.
It took a small step toward tackling the national problem of youth empowerment and employability in June with a pilot programme in which 11 young people built a small wooden structure at the Pebbles Project in the Hemel en Aarde Valley.
This came after they completed three months of classroom training in all aspects of construction as part of Pebbles Youth Development Programme.
They worked with renowned Cape Town-based Quinton Adams and his “Backyard Varsity Trainers”.
