Pretoria- New legislation which is aimed at creating the right environment for the growth and sustainability of co-operatives is to be taken to Parliament soon, says Trade and Industry (dti) Minister Rob Davies.
"There has been a serious need for us as Government to recognise the specific nature of co-operatives and to design programmes geared towards addressing their unique needs," said the minister, adding that co-operatives themselves, the South African National Apex Co-operative (Sanaco) and the National Economic Development and Labour Council had been involved in consultations.
"These consultations resulted in us developing new legislation that we will be taking to Parliament soon. The legislation provides for the creation of a new co-operative development agency, co-operative academy to provide training, a co-operative tribunal which will deal with disputes, as well the new co-operative advisory council," said the minister.
Davies was speaking at the celebration of the International Day of Cooperatives hosted by the department in partnership with the Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), and Sanaco in East London on Saturday.
Through the establishment of these new institutions, the department will be able to inject more support and resources to co-operatives so that they can create jobs, alleviate poverty and boost economic growth.
Additionally there were several new areas of growth and developments that have been identified in the Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP2) which would create opportunities for co-operatives. These include agro-processing, aquaculture and organic farming.
The dti launched a new version of the IPAP in April. The new version which includes more sectors like oil and gas services and boating is set to create 129 000 jobs. The IPAP 2 was launched last year, with a newer version released earlier this year. The latest version is a result of the consolidation of programmes and plans in the previous plans.
The new document aims to clarify the relationship between the New Growth Path released by the Economic Development Department last year, as well as the IPAP.
On the matter of youth unemployment the minister said his department is close to finalising a youth enterprise development strategy.
"We are going to ensure that our co-operative and youth development programmes speak to each other. We will also make sure there is synergy between the efforts and initiatives of the dti and those of the NYDA in such a way that each of us brings our particular focuses and products on the table to assist young people."
NYDA deputy chairperson Yershen Pillay said the agency was part of the celebrations in order to create awareness amongst the young people about the role of co-operatives in facilitating economic development in the country.
Five co-operatives who exhibited at the celebration won themselves training and support services vouchers to the value of R50 000 each from the NYDA in the best exhibitor competition.
International Day of Co-operatives is celebrated worldwide on the first Saturday of the month of July every year.
On Friday deputy minister Elizabeth Thabethe encouraged co-operatives to take advantage of a memorandum of understanding on co-operatives that was signed by BRICS countries in Beijing two weeks ago.
"After South Africa, India, Brazil, Russia and China signed a memorandum of understanding to promote co-operative development amongst BRICS countries, the onus is now on us South Africans to ensure that we reap the benefits of this MOU.
"This we can do by identifying opportunities for co-operation with our BRICS partners to ensure that we capitalise on this massive opportunity. The MOU marks a significant milestone in co-operative development and will open international markets for the South African co-operatives to do business on the global stage," she said.
Among some of the commitments made in the MOU is the facilitation of bilateral and multilateral cooperation among co-operative enterprises in BRICS countries.
The countries also pledged to facilitate trade and investment cooperation between cooperative enterprises in BRICS countries through exhibitions, trade fairs and delegation visits.
