Sector strategies to break the monopoly structured economy were being developed for Gauteng, said Premier David Makhura in Sandton on Monday.

“We are formulating sector strategies in the province so that we know which interventions to provide for and for which sectors. We need to overcome the monopoly-structured Gauteng economy because out of the 11 sectors in the province, our research indicates that white-owned companies are still dominating in all sectors,” Makhura said when addressing black entrepreneurs and industrialists at a dinner hosted by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).

The aim of the IDC dinner was to ensure that black South Africans were active in productive sectors of the economy.

Black people also needed be at the centre of the economy, he emphasised, noting that the economic participation of black people in key sectors of the economy was important.

Further, claims that black people had been empowered because they participated in the economy were not valid, Makhura expressed. 

Transformation was not about people who were just buying and selling products from other economies like China and India, he added.

Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel who was also in attendance at the IDC dinner, said business leaders in attendance needed to help drive government’s policies to be more business friendly.

“Our task is to bring black South Africans to key industries central to economic growth. During my Budget Vote speech recently, I announced a R23-billion programme to support and facilitate the growth of black industrialists in the productive sectors that the IDC would be managing for government. I am happy that we have a Premier that is well-aligned to the national policies that seek to fight poverty, inequality and unemployment, in line with the National Development Plan,” he commented.