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Free State Treasury MEC Ketso Makume
The National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NAFCOC) in the Free State says that addressing joblessness and promoting economic growth should be among the province’s top priorities.
The chamber says small businesses in the province are being stifled in operations due to government late payments.
These comments come ahead of the tabling of the provincial budget by Treasury MEC Ketso Makume.
The chamber’s provincial leader, Tshepo Matsaba, says the province has the highest rate of unemployment in the country, yet historically the bigger allocations of the budget often go towards welfare departments instead of developmental departments.
“We feel that our institutions, like Free State Development Corporation, need to be properly funded and properly managed so that they can assist entrepreneurs. We need to speak of measures that seek to back R900 billion worth of the township economy. We need to see that through the municipalities and departments that are meant to be assisting entrepreneurs and ensuring that there’s infrastructure development and there is economic growth. We wish to start seeing a shift away from being more of a welfare budget, but one that seeks to develop and grow the economy of the free state.”
VIDEO | Free State budget speech today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXcDZ3c_YdA
