Durban — Following an article published by the Daily News on Thursday, where the KwaZulu-Natal Growth Fund Trust has been accused of sabotaging a black woman-owned business, Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Edtea) MEC Siboniso Duma has directed the department’s head to give him a report on the matter.
The Growth Fund Trust is a provincial government entity under Edtea and was created to help fund small-medium enterprises. According to the letter from the fund which, was seen by the paper, funding of R72 million for Goodlife dairy product company was approved in 2020, but to date the fund has only paid R19m, and according to the company director, Busi Gumede, there is no explanation as to why the balance has not been paid.
In a statement issued by the department on Wednesday night, it said after being inundated with calls by key stakeholders and members of the public after they had received the Daily News poster headlined “Growth Fund sued for sabotage” it decided to issue a statement.
“We have decided to issue this statement which is a response we had sent to the Daily News. We understand that the newspaper, and the journalist in particular, is only reporting about matters that are in court. We do not in any way wish to create an impression that the journalist is at fault. We however wish to set the record straight and be transparent to the members of the public,” read the statement.
The MEC said he was unable to comment in detail or to give any specifics because this matter is before a court of law, and he had requested a report from the head of the department on the matter.
He said notwithstanding this, he wished to reiterate the position of the department, that it was committed to ensuring the KZN Growth Fund plays a leading role in ensuring a “spatial distribution” of its funding.
He added that one of the key mandates of the KZN Growth Fund is to reduce inequalities and the promotion of broad-based BEE, and therefore it was important to see progress by the entity towards the creation of black industrialists.
“The ANC as a governing party has directed all government departments and entities to usher emerging entrepreneurs into the mainstream economy. We want those that were previously marginalised to occupy key sectors of the economy. This must happen in the townships and deep rural areas because these are areas that are underdeveloped. We want women and the youth to be the drivers of economic development and creators of wealth. The time is now,” concluded MEC Duma.
In its response, the fund too said it was unable to comment since the matter was before a court of law.
Daily News