Agang SA party leader Dr Mamphela Ramphele on Wednesday accused the incumbent African National Congress (ANC) of attempting to hide its failure to foster a sense of entrepreneurship among citizens with its suggestion that a Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Ministry be established.

On Tuesday, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told guests attending a breakfast meeting of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry that he was lobbying for support for the creation of a Ministry focusing on SMEs and cooperatives.

Mantashe claimed that a standalone Ministry focusing on SMEs could provide the necessary funding and mentorship to small businesses, with the Department of Trade and Industry focusing on industrial trade and industrialisation issues.

“It is typical of this government that their failure to solve a problem becomes a bureaucratic tangle,” said Ramphele, adding that it was “a case of buying time.”

“After twenty years of failing to foster a sense of entrepreneurship among citizens, the ANC now wakes up because it cannot hide any longer and wants to spend more of taxpayers money on yet another layer of bureaucracy on top of the others they already cannot manage,” she said in a statement.

“It was the same with women and children. Unable to protect our women and children from violence and exploitation, they created a Ministry that has done absolutely nothing for the last five years,” said Ramphele.

She claimed the governing party was unable to accept that it had failed to deliver services efficiently and effectively.

She proposed that entrepreneurs needed the freedom to be innovative, with unobtrusive government support and a regulatory environment that was not debilitating.

Instead, government increased red tape and bureaucracy, “employing more cadres”.

She suggested simple, effective and accessible support and financing mechanisms be crafted; amending the tax code to encourage investment and the establishment of small businesses.

“Government should spend time and resources developing the skills among the population that businesses need if they are to grow,” she concluded.