Township Business and Procurement Reform Workshop

The Gauteng Provincial Government has a policy that 60% of procurement spending should be directed to Township Businesses. The GCRO, Gauteng Department of Economic Development and the Provincial Treasury hosted a workshop on 18 February 2025 to discuss the policy objectives and understand the challenges that face implementation.

The workshop discussed presentations from government and academia:

• Dr. Mamokete Modiba (GCRO) discussed her recent work on Township Economy and raised a range of conceptual and practical challenges that arise.
• Thulani Guliwe (Economic Development) raised issues on the implementation of the Township Economic Development Act, and how our understandings of reindustrialisation must be shaped by the practice of building industrial capacity in townships.
• Ayesha Variawa (Provincial Treasury) explained the system of procurement and raised challenges faced in interpreting "township" as per the legislation.
• Dr. Laven Naidoo provided an input on how machine learning could support the process of building procurement systems that are ethical and opens up opportunities for township businesses.

The meeting resolved to start work in three areas:

1. Defining townships: The TEDA legislation defines townships that need to be operationalised. The joint GPG and GCRO teams will focus on understanding the legislation and interpreting the legislation spatially using GIS and other research techniques.
2. Product mapping: Based on several sources, the joint GPG and GCRO team will develop a map of products being developed in townships and understand the implications of the public procurement process.
3. Broader procurement reform: Efforts to support township businesses will be part of an overall reform of the public procurement system. Current work on building demonstration projects will continue and be informed by the objectives of supporting township businesses.