Question NW767 to the Minister of Small Business Development
05 April 2016 - NW767
Kruger, Mr HC to ask the Minister of Small Business Development
(1)(a) What is the current status of the plan to reduce red tape in the Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality in Limpopo, (b) what is the total number unnecessary (i) policies, (ii) by-laws and (iii) regulations that were rescinded during the process to reduce red tape in the specified municipality and (c) what total amount of administration costs will the specified intervention save businesses in the specified municipality; (2) can she list three or more examples of the red tape that was cut because of the specified intervention in the specified municipality?
Reply:
(1) (a) The current plan of the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) regarding the Red Tape Reduction Programme is to revisit the piloted municipalities to assess progress made in relation to the following: complaints notification system, 30 payment system, building plan approval processes, business registration permits, by-laws and communication of small business information to SMMEs and Cooperatives. Specifically for Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality in Limpopo, the Department is to consider the procedures and systems in terms of payment of SMMEs within 30 days as the prioritised red tape issue.
(b) There is no record of unnecessary (i) policies, (ii) by-laws and (iii) regulations rescinded in the specific municipality. The total number of policies, by-laws and regulations that impede the development and promotion of small businesses will only be outlined upon the conclusion of the proposed study on regulatory protocols affecting small businesses to be conducted by DSBD during the 2016/17 financial year. However, specific to Ephraim Mogale, by-laws related to small business promotion are currently being reviewed.
(c) The current assessment did not consider the administration costs. However, the reduction of Red Tape in each of the identified areas will lead to the reduction of costs of the turnaround times, improvement on communication on compliance and also reduce costs experienced by SMMEs.
(2) Some of the examples that can be referred to regarding how the red tape has been reduced include: improvement on the building plan approval processes. This also has a positive impact on reducing the costs experienced by small businesses related to building plans applications.