We were all excited when we listened to Premier Oscar Mabuyane articulate his vision and plans for setting up a fund geared towards assisting Eastern Cape youth-owned businesses to thrive. In March 2019 in his budget speech to the provincial legislature, he announced plans to set aside R50 Million towards this initiative and later tripled the money by setting aside R150 Million as announced in his maiden SOPA address on the 29th of June 2019.
What has happened since then is very sad and disappointing. Whilst we have seen the few pictures and reports of entrepreneurs who have been funded, the majority of applicants are losing hope in the ability of the Premier’s office to assist young people speedily and efficiently.
Most challenges are centered around the following three things ;
- A lack of proper communication by The Premier’s office on the progress of funding applications of hundreds of young entrepreneurs.
- A huge backlog of application forms that are not being attended to ( the most recent people that applied in 2021 August have not received responses 14 months later.
- The Premiers office and team that deals with the fund claims to be understaffed and under-capacitated ( This is according to sources working in the department)
I have personally together with 60 other SMMES since initiated a cordial process to hold the Premier accountable that has dismally failed . We wrote to the Permeris office and sent a letter to ISIQALO Youth Fund Director Ms. Yanga Pantsi that she has completely ignored for months. We have called, begged cried for better accountability processes with no success. Many of our colleagues have argued that the only language politicians hear is one centered on riots, violence, and burning things down to get attention.
For the benefit of many entrepreneurs like myself that have deliberately chosen not to move to JHB/CPT but to stay in the province and create employment whilst contributing to the economy, there are five key things I believe the Premier’s office can do to rescue this failing initiative.
5 Ideas to Fix the Mess
- The Directorate of the fund must report to young people openly and regularly. Many frustrations are caused by a lack of transparency.
- Create an ISIQALO Youth Fund Website/Digital platform where young people can log in and see their application status in real time.
- There must be platforms created to increase accountability and communication with the public. Why can’t we have quarterly zooms, newsletters, and reports on how many people have been funded and on what some of the barriers to funding are? This is an initiative that must be led by the director of the ISIQALO YOuth Fud.
- Capacitate the ISIQALO Youth Fund team to be more efficient and sensitive to the disgruntlement of EC young entrepreneurs.
- Increase the visibility of the fund in villages, townships, and forgotten municipalities. The Premier’s office must have an annual roadshow and drive where they visit all municipalities or deploy ambassadors of the fund to encourage young people to apply.
I hope this is read by the right people who will assist us to hold the premiers accountable.
By Luphumlo Joka Director of Global Leadership Consultants
Email joka@globalleadership.co.za
