Distinguished guests, members of the 0360 Ekurhuleni Business Forum, entrepreneurs, ladies and gentlemen, good morning! Thank you for inviting me to your Business Imbizo.
It is truly an honour to stand before you – people who are actively shaping the future of business and entrepreneurship in our country – in the heart of Ekurhuleni,
I acknowledge that you chose me to come and address you today, and not someone else, because you know my story that has been well-published.
I often get amused when many still remember me as the “Black Like Me” man so many years after I established and grew that brand, working with Connie, my wife. But it also makes me feel proud because we grew a truly solid brand that fully penetrated many of our communities in South Africa and elsewhere in Africa.
I was born into a poor family in Hammanskraal, outside Pretoria. In a period spanning 40 years, I went into business – at the age of 22 – established ‘Black Like Me’, became Mayor of Johannesburg in 2016 and, since 2020, became President of ActionSA, which I founded during the Covid-19 year. That is a quick summary of my eventful life.
Today, however, I am here to talk about two crucial topics:
1. The South African Business Environment – specifically the impact of politics on business in South Africa, and
2. Relevant ActionSA Policy Proposals: our vision for Inclusive Economic Empowerment (IEE) and our proposed Opportunity Fund.
The South African Business Environment: The Impact of Politics
Let us begin by acknowledging the reality we face as entrepreneurs and business leaders in South Africa. Our environment – political, social, and economic – directly shapes the opportunities we encounter. It does so in several key areas:
1. Criminality in post-1994 black communities and the collapse of the criminal justice system
Crime has been a consistent and significant constraint on the growth and sustainability of back-owned businesses in our country. Small businesses, especially those operating in townships and informal settlements, are particularly vulnerable to criminal acts like violent robberies, burglary, and shoplifting. While research has shown that is ranked among the top obstacles to doing business in South Africa, small and emerging black businesses have felt the most severe impact of it.
This has not been helped by the collapse of the criminal justice system. Inadequate policing, slow response times, lack of effective prosecutions, and reported police involvement in some crimes have enabled criminals to act with impunity, increasing the risk and cost of running such businesses. Many of the black-owned people that closed due to crime had suffered multiple incidents, often involving violence.
The inability to afford insurance further compounds the vulnerability of black-owned businesses, many of which operate in high-risk areas and cannot afford the financial shocks caused by crime. This environment of insecurity undermines community cohesion, discourages investment, and stifles entrepreneurial activity.
2. Stringent labour laws that are not conducive to SMMEs
Our labour legislation, while designed to protect workers’ rights, often imposes significant administrative and financial burdens on SMMEs.
ActionSA’s proposed legislation with move away from the current “one size fits all” approach and consider the unique challenges faced by small businesses. These include complex requirements for dismissals, rigid rules around overtime payments, and the extension of bargaining council agreements to SMMEs that often lack the resources needed to comply.
No one can deny that while designed with noble intensions, a lot of these regulations have the unintended impact of making it difficult for SMMEs to hire and manage staff flexibly. Too often, they increase payroll costs and expose small business owners to legal risks if they inadvertently fail to comply with procedural requirements. The net effect is a business environment that favours larger, established businesses and disadvantages emerging black entrepreneurs seeking to establish or grow their businesses. We are determined to change this.
3. The impact of illegal foreigners operating in black areas
This has become a contentious issue. I have, personally, been labeled “xenophobic” for calling out. The truth, however, is that its social and economic impact is significant.
Many local black business owners have argued, with reason, that migrant traders who often operate Spaza and other informal businesses enjoy competitive advantages such as access to broader business networks, willingness to work for lower margins and, in many cases, are non-compliant with tax and regulatory requirements.
We have seen the number of times children have died after buying expired, eve poisoned, food from some such traders. It is as if they deliberately put profits ahead of human life.
The influx of foreign-owned businesses has also resulted in unfair competition in the form of lower prices that locals struggle to match. This has forced many locally owned businesses to either close or to be taken over by foreigners, often for peanuts.
Clearly, the saturation of the informal market by illegal foreigners restricts opportunities for South Africans, leading to unwanted xenophobic looting and violence, further destabilizing local economies and discouraging entrepreneurship.
The strain on public resources such as housing, water, electricity, and education is bad.
So, it is clear – and ActionSA is quite aware – that the combination of pervasive criminality, stringent labour laws, and the unregulated operation of illegal foreigners in black communities creates a hostile environment for black-owned businesses in South Africa. I doubt that Ekurhuleni is exempt from this. If nothing changes, local SMME sustainability will remain unsustainable, as growth will be limited, contributing to the high failure rate of black entrepreneurs.
Political Instability and Business Confidence:
- Our political landscape has often been described as “noisy and disruptive.” Political manoeuvring, policy uncertainty, and failures of most, if not all, of our state-owned enterprises have driven down business confidence. At times, only 30% of businesses have felt confident about the economy, and this lack of confidence leads to reduced investment, fewer jobs, and slower growth.
- When politics becomes a barrier rather than a catalyst for business, the entire economy suffers. Without fast, sustainable growth, unemployment rises, and the cycle of poverty continues.
Corruption and Service Delivery
- We’re all too familiar with the consequences of corruption and the collapse of municipal services. Loadshedding, failing infrastructure, and dysfunctional municipalities do not just cause discomfort – they have a direct financial impact on every business in this room. Tell me if you have never been affected by any of this.
- When social challenges become endemic, they erode the sustainability of businesses. As business leaders, we cannot afford to be reactive. Instead, we must use our collective power and influence to demand accountability from those in power, inform, and guide policymaking.
The Role of Business in Shaping Policy
Business is not just a participant in the economy; it is a driver of policy and societal change. As actual and aspirant leaders in business, you must step-up, make your voices heard, and decide what issues are most important for our communities and country. I believe that it is time for business to not only be on the menu for government to manipulate it for political ends, but to be an active shaper of policymaking. But this role comes with great responsibility, as influencing policymaking must not be done selfishly, driven only my profit motives. At the heart of it must be public interest, ensuring that opportunities are created for greater inclusivity into the mainstream, of the economy over time.
Relevant ActionSA Policy Proposals:
In terms of ActionSA Policies, such as our proposed Inclusive Economic Empowerment (IEE) and the Opportunity Fund, we believe that when implemented, they will offer much needed impetus for sustainable economic recovery and growth, by directly addressing the challenges faced by our country.
The Inclusive Economic Empowerment
Our vision is clear: we want to dismantle the barriers that keep millions of South Africans excluded from economic activity. Our approach is not about manipulating outcomes for a few but about expanding opportunity for all.
For decades, policies like B-BBEE have been manipulated to benefit a small elite, while the majority remain excluded. We want to end that. Our IEE Policy is different. It focuses on equality of opportunity, not just equality of outcome. We want every South African – regardless of background – to have a fair shot at prosperity.
Importantly, IEE is about addressing the root causes of inequality. It’s about improving basic conditions: quality education, healthcare, infrastructure, and access to markets. We will reform employment equity as we have come to know it, introduce a universal basic income stimulus, address persistent spatial injustices, and promote social cohesion.
Our proposed Opportunity Fund is the cornerstone of our IEE Plan.
It will replace existing government development funds and be managed by independent, professional asset managers and trustees – not politicians – appointed by Parliament. They will report annually reporting to Parliament on how much they have collected and how the funds were used. Politicians will provide guidance and oversight, but they will not decide who gets empowered on which tenders are awarded. This is to ensure transparency, accountability, and the prevention of corruption.
Instead of the cumbersome BBBEE compliance requirements, currently costing businesses between 4% and 6% annually, ActionSA’s proposed IEE will make it easy for businesses to comply with ease, by being expected to contribute 5% of their profits to this fund.
Tax evasion is to be declared a criminal offence carrying a minimum of 5 years imprisonment for CEOs, business owners, or auditing firms that enable tax evasion. SMMEs will be exempted from the 5% profit contribution.
The fund will invest in 1) Education (10%), 2) Entrepreneurial funding (30%), 3) Infrastructure projects (35%), and 4) Other sustainability-promoting investments (25%) and be utilised exclusively for those previously excluded during apartheid era.
It will support skills development, entrepreneurship, housing, and essential infrastructure – all of which we believe are areas that directly affect daily lives and prospects for many young South Africans.
To summarise, I am confident that this Opportunity Fund will benefit people like you, local entrepreneurs, in several impactful ways:
1. It will provide a dedicated entrepreneurial funding, ensuring that there is capital for SMEs and startups that have historically struggled to access finances. This targeted investment will enable entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, create jobs, and increase economic participation.
2. Unlike current empowerment funds, the Opportunity Fund will be managed by independent professional asset managers.
3. The fund will support skills development, education, and infrastructure, which are all critical to creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurship. It is obvious that improved education and infrastructure directly enhance entrepreneurs’ ability to operate competitively and sustainably.
4. To avoid overburdening small businesses with costs, they will be exempted from the required contribution of 5% of their profits.
We will introduce a Universal Basic Income Stimulus to provide financial support to all South Africans, ensuring a safety net for the most vulnerable.
Just to be clear, the Opportunity Fund we propose will belong to the people of South Africa. Anyone seeking to benefit unduly will face the full might of the law.
So, entrepreneurs and business leaders of Ekurhuleni, you are the backbone of our economy. You are the innovators, the job creators, and the hope for a better tomorrow.
But, to succeed, you must demand a political and economic environment that is fair, transparent, and enabling. You must demand it and co-create it, co-shape it.
You must reject policies that entrench inequality and embrace those that expand opportunity for all, especially those to whom our history and the past 31 years have dished out inequality after inequality, often because you lacked needed political connectedness even when your socio-economic conditions qualified you to be enabled.
ActionSA is prepared to work with you – to build a South Africa in which every person, regardless of background, can achieve their dreams.
Together, let us be the generation that breaks down the barriers, creates jobs, and builds a prosperous, just, and sustainable future for all.
Thank you!
Mashaba turns his attention to the plight of SMMEs
Distinguished guests, members of the 0360 Ekurhuleni Business Forum, entrepreneurs, ladies and gentlemen, good morning! Thank you for inviting me to your Business Imbizo.
It is truly an honour to stand before you – people who are actively shaping the future of business and entrepreneurship in our country – in the heart of Ekurhuleni,
I acknowledge that you chose me to come and address you today, and not someone else, because you know my story that has been well-published.
I often get amused when many still remember me as the “Black Like Me” man so many years after I established and grew that brand, working with Connie, my wife. But it also makes me feel proud because we grew a truly solid brand that fully penetrated many of our communities in South Africa and elsewhere in Africa.
I was born into a poor family in Hammanskraal, outside Pretoria. In a period spanning 40 years, I went into business – at the age of 22 – established ‘Black Like Me’, became Mayor of Johannesburg in 2016 and, since 2020, became President of ActionSA, which I founded during the Covid-19 year. That is a quick summary of my eventful life.
Today, however, I am here to talk about two crucial topics:
1. The South African Business Environment – specifically the impact of politics on business in South Africa, and
2. Relevant ActionSA Policy Proposals: our vision for Inclusive Economic Empowerment (IEE) and our proposed Opportunity Fund.
The South African Business Environment: The Impact of Politics
Let us begin by acknowledging the reality we face as entrepreneurs and business leaders in South Africa. Our environment – political, social, and economic – directly shapes the opportunities we encounter. It does so in several key areas:
1. Criminality in post-1994 black communities and the collapse of the criminal justice system
Crime has been a consistent and significant constraint on the growth and sustainability of back-owned businesses in our country. Small businesses, especially those operating in townships and informal settlements, are particularly vulnerable to criminal acts like violent robberies, burglary, and shoplifting. While research has shown that is ranked among the top obstacles to doing business in South Africa, small and emerging black businesses have felt the most severe impact of it.
This has not been helped by the collapse of the criminal justice system. Inadequate policing, slow response times, lack of effective prosecutions, and reported police involvement in some crimes have enabled criminals to act with impunity, increasing the risk and cost of running such businesses. Many of the black-owned people that closed due to crime had suffered multiple incidents, often involving violence.
The inability to afford insurance further compounds the vulnerability of black-owned businesses, many of which operate in high-risk areas and cannot afford the financial shocks caused by crime. This environment of insecurity undermines community cohesion, discourages investment, and stifles entrepreneurial activity.
2. Stringent labour laws that are not conducive to SMMEs
Our labour legislation, while designed to protect workers’ rights, often imposes significant administrative and financial burdens on SMMEs.
ActionSA’s proposed legislation with move away from the current “one size fits all” approach and consider the unique challenges faced by small businesses. These include complex requirements for dismissals, rigid rules around overtime payments, and the extension of bargaining council agreements to SMMEs that often lack the resources needed to comply.
No one can deny that while designed with noble intensions, a lot of these regulations have the unintended impact of making it difficult for SMMEs to hire and manage staff flexibly. Too often, they increase payroll costs and expose small business owners to legal risks if they inadvertently fail to comply with procedural requirements. The net effect is a business environment that favours larger, established businesses and disadvantages emerging black entrepreneurs seeking to establish or grow their businesses. We are determined to change this.
3. The impact of illegal foreigners operating in black areas
This has become a contentious issue. I have, personally, been labeled “xenophobic” for calling out. The truth, however, is that its social and economic impact is significant.
Many local black business owners have argued, with reason, that migrant traders who often operate Spaza and other informal businesses enjoy competitive advantages such as access to broader business networks, willingness to work for lower margins and, in many cases, are non-compliant with tax and regulatory requirements.
We have seen the number of times children have died after buying expired, eve poisoned, food from some such traders. It is as if they deliberately put profits ahead of human life.
The influx of foreign-owned businesses has also resulted in unfair competition in the form of lower prices that locals struggle to match. This has forced many locally owned businesses to either close or to be taken over by foreigners, often for peanuts.
Clearly, the saturation of the informal market by illegal foreigners restricts opportunities for South Africans, leading to unwanted xenophobic looting and violence, further destabilizing local economies and discouraging entrepreneurship.
The strain on public resources such as housing, water, electricity, and education is bad.
So, it is clear – and ActionSA is quite aware – that the combination of pervasive criminality, stringent labour laws, and the unregulated operation of illegal foreigners in black communities creates a hostile environment for black-owned businesses in South Africa. I doubt that Ekurhuleni is exempt from this. If nothing changes, local SMME sustainability will remain unsustainable, as growth will be limited, contributing to the high failure rate of black entrepreneurs.
Political Instability and Business Confidence:
Corruption and Service Delivery
The Role of Business in Shaping Policy
Business is not just a participant in the economy; it is a driver of policy and societal change. As actual and aspirant leaders in business, you must step-up, make your voices heard, and decide what issues are most important for our communities and country. I believe that it is time for business to not only be on the menu for government to manipulate it for political ends, but to be an active shaper of policymaking. But this role comes with great responsibility, as influencing policymaking must not be done selfishly, driven only my profit motives. At the heart of it must be public interest, ensuring that opportunities are created for greater inclusivity into the mainstream, of the economy over time.
Relevant ActionSA Policy Proposals:
In terms of ActionSA Policies, such as our proposed Inclusive Economic Empowerment (IEE) and the Opportunity Fund, we believe that when implemented, they will offer much needed impetus for sustainable economic recovery and growth, by directly addressing the challenges faced by our country.
The Inclusive Economic Empowerment
Our vision is clear: we want to dismantle the barriers that keep millions of South Africans excluded from economic activity. Our approach is not about manipulating outcomes for a few but about expanding opportunity for all.
For decades, policies like B-BBEE have been manipulated to benefit a small elite, while the majority remain excluded. We want to end that. Our IEE Policy is different. It focuses on equality of opportunity, not just equality of outcome. We want every South African – regardless of background – to have a fair shot at prosperity.
Importantly, IEE is about addressing the root causes of inequality. It’s about improving basic conditions: quality education, healthcare, infrastructure, and access to markets. We will reform employment equity as we have come to know it, introduce a universal basic income stimulus, address persistent spatial injustices, and promote social cohesion.
Our proposed Opportunity Fund is the cornerstone of our IEE Plan.
It will replace existing government development funds and be managed by independent, professional asset managers and trustees – not politicians – appointed by Parliament. They will report annually reporting to Parliament on how much they have collected and how the funds were used. Politicians will provide guidance and oversight, but they will not decide who gets empowered on which tenders are awarded. This is to ensure transparency, accountability, and the prevention of corruption.
Instead of the cumbersome BBBEE compliance requirements, currently costing businesses between 4% and 6% annually, ActionSA’s proposed IEE will make it easy for businesses to comply with ease, by being expected to contribute 5% of their profits to this fund.
Tax evasion is to be declared a criminal offence carrying a minimum of 5 years imprisonment for CEOs, business owners, or auditing firms that enable tax evasion. SMMEs will be exempted from the 5% profit contribution.
The fund will invest in 1) Education (10%), 2) Entrepreneurial funding (30%), 3) Infrastructure projects (35%), and 4) Other sustainability-promoting investments (25%) and be utilised exclusively for those previously excluded during apartheid era.
It will support skills development, entrepreneurship, housing, and essential infrastructure – all of which we believe are areas that directly affect daily lives and prospects for many young South Africans.
To summarise, I am confident that this Opportunity Fund will benefit people like you, local entrepreneurs, in several impactful ways:
1. It will provide a dedicated entrepreneurial funding, ensuring that there is capital for SMEs and startups that have historically struggled to access finances. This targeted investment will enable entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, create jobs, and increase economic participation.
2. Unlike current empowerment funds, the Opportunity Fund will be managed by independent professional asset managers.
3. The fund will support skills development, education, and infrastructure, which are all critical to creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurship. It is obvious that improved education and infrastructure directly enhance entrepreneurs’ ability to operate competitively and sustainably.
4. To avoid overburdening small businesses with costs, they will be exempted from the required contribution of 5% of their profits.
We will introduce a Universal Basic Income Stimulus to provide financial support to all South Africans, ensuring a safety net for the most vulnerable.
Just to be clear, the Opportunity Fund we propose will belong to the people of South Africa. Anyone seeking to benefit unduly will face the full might of the law.
So, entrepreneurs and business leaders of Ekurhuleni, you are the backbone of our economy. You are the innovators, the job creators, and the hope for a better tomorrow.
But, to succeed, you must demand a political and economic environment that is fair, transparent, and enabling. You must demand it and co-create it, co-shape it.
You must reject policies that entrench inequality and embrace those that expand opportunity for all, especially those to whom our history and the past 31 years have dished out inequality after inequality, often because you lacked needed political connectedness even when your socio-economic conditions qualified you to be enabled.
ActionSA is prepared to work with you – to build a South Africa in which every person, regardless of background, can achieve their dreams.
Together, let us be the generation that breaks down the barriers, creates jobs, and builds a prosperous, just, and sustainable future for all.
Thank you!