Black business mobilised
2006-09-14
ABOUT a hundred black businessmen and women from various sectors of the economy in the Boland celebrated and welcomed the launch of the National African Chamber of Commerce (Nafcoc) in the Drakenstein area in the Paarl Town Hall recently.
Nafcoc’s history started in the early 1940s when informal black trader organisations in and around Johannesburg began to recognise the need to sharpen their business acumen and raise the level of business awareness amongst their members.
Today Nafcoc is geared to meet the economic challenges and opportunities that arise in the new economy.
The organisation’s aim is to represent the interest of small, micro and medium-sized enterprises and black economic empowerment companies in policy formulation with key stakeholders including the Drakenstein municipality and financial institutions.
It will also contribute to economic empowerment by building the capacity of SMMEs through business support services, business development and by creating employment opportunities.
Dan Kotze, general secretary of the Drakenstein Nafcoc branch, said the launch of Nafcoc to address the needs of black business in rural areas is long overdue.
“More than ten years into a new economy and the majority of people from the rural area have not really benefitted from black economic empowerment,” he said in his opening remarks.
“Nafcoc will play a significant role to create a platform for black businesses in the area to participate in black economic empowerment, that will include ownership and control, affirmative procurement, skills development and employment equity.
“By mobilising more people in the mainstream economy, we would be able to address poverty which is rife in rural areas."
The President of BAWSI, Nosey Pieterse, said in his keynote address that the country has won its political liberation through the mobilisation and organising of the oppressed masses.
“It is only through the organising and mobilisation that South Africa will achieve economic emancipation.
“Our country requires an economy that can meet the needs of all our people in a sustainable manner.
“Government’s objective is to achieve its vision of an adaptive economy characterised by growth, employment and equity by 2014,” Pieterse, said.
Delegates from the West Coast, Witzenberg, Cape Winelands and Cape Town attended the launch. The event was sponsored by the South African Wine Industry Trust, a major contributor to transformation in the Wine Industry and Drakenstein Municipality.
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