R36bn spent, no jobs

13 YEARS: 892 000 ENTERPRISES FUNDED, YET UNEMPLOYMENT RATE GOES UP 8% >>> Red tape, laws choke dynamism government claims to support.

- Jarryd Westerdale

Setlabotjha Field Band lit up the launch of a new basketball court yesterday as 10 Soweto schools competed in soccer, netball and basketball - each winning team earning R20 000 to uplift their school. Picture: Nigel Sibanda

(Nigel Sibanda)

Billions have spent on loans for micro, small and medium enterprises in the past decade but it has done little to spark widespread employment.

Although the funds have created hundreds of thousands of shortand long-term jobs, the unemployment rate has continued to climb.

The department of small business development said it is working on cutting the red tape, but detractors argued that government was "squeezing the flexibility and dynamism out of the economy through over-regulation, excessive state spending and unjustifiably high taxes".

In a series of written replies to questions submitted through parliament, the department elaborated on its work over the last 13 years.