Cape Town - Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC David Maynier has called for the privatisation of the Port of Cape Town.
Speaking in the legislature where he tabled the main budget for the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (Dedat) – R514.7 million for the 2022/23 financial year – Maynier described the port as a “disaster zone”.
He said that he would later this week meet with Transnet group chief executive Portia Derby to discuss the Port’s operations.
“We know that removing obstacles to exports is a critical lever in our strategy to grow the economy and create jobs. Because, at the end of the day, when the port works, our economy works.”
On the budget, Maynier said Dedat’s budget was earmarked to help the department deliver on five strategic objectives, including accelerating the ease of doing business; boosting private sector investment and promoting exports and scaling up work opportunities.
EFF MPL Nosipho Makamba-Botya rejected the budget and said that every year Dedat boasted about the province having the least number of unemployed people when compared to other provinces, but that this was “basically a lie”.
“The majority of these so-called employed people are actually people doing internships and some low-paying jobs for call centres. These are not the types of jobs that can change people’s lives.”
She said the provincial economy is still battling to absorb qualified graduates and has failed to absorb qualified nursing staff in clinics and hospitals even though these health institutions are experiencing staff shortages which affect service delivery.
Also rejecting the budget, ANC MPL Nomi Nkondlo said the DA had its priorities all wrong in the province.
Nkondlo said the ANC has sought to ensure that small businesses, and in particular those in the informal economy, remain the priority as far as the economic development and tourism of this province is concerned.
“We believe that it is in these communities, where the informal economy exists, that inequality, unemployment and poverty must be tackled. Instead, what we have seen from the DA is experiment after experiment when it comes to this vital sector.”
She said the Western Cape government prioritised foreign investment instead of supporting domestic investment and cultivating domestic supply.