Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance is proposing that
business owners be allowed to claim back from the skills development levy money that they can show they spent on training their own staff.
"This will encourage businesses to take on unemployed people and up-skill them," according to Dion George, the deputy finance spokesperson.
A "new economic policy" was launched in Parliament on Wednesday by the party, which lays considerable stress on skills and training. The DA promised to create a national human resources development commission to research long-term growth needs for skills development.
"We must know what we need and why we
need it," George said.
The party also wants skilled immigration encouraged.
"Having highly skilled people in the country will create employment for those with lower skills,"
George said.
Small business
The policy calls for the expanded public works programme to concentrate on providing training for those working in it, rather than simply giving temporary employment.
The "new policy" does not contain very much that is brand new, however, it still lays emphasis on the importance of the market and as chief whip Ian Davidson said at the media conference held to launch the policy: "The real
drivers in the economy are the individuals."
Small, medium and micro industries contribute between 30 and 40% of GDP, and employ more than 62% of the private sector work force, the party says.
"The DA will broaden the tax base by designing a specific and simplified VAT income and provisional tax regime for small businesses," the policy document says.
"Not only will this significantly reduce the costs of doing business and encourage the creation of job opportunities - it will also draw more firms into the tax net."
Opportunity vouchers
The policy reiterates its support for the "opportunity vouchers", which have been touted by the party for some time, although the idea has been fleshed out a little.
Young adults who want to start their own businesses, or study further, will be eligible under quite strict criteria for the vouchers. The vouchers will entitle the recipient to a partial subsidy at a university or FET, will provide
seed capital to establish small or micro enterprise, and could bring a state guarantee to cover loans extended by a commercial bank to set up such enterprises.
The policy also aims to cut the cost of doing business by simplifying labour regulations. The DA will review all current labour regulation in partnership with labour and business, and will introduce a longer probationary period for employers to assess new workers' productivity before offering them
full-time work.
The party also repeats the idea (tentatively embraced by the government) of a wage subsidy to reduce the cost to employers of hiring first time workers.
According to Kobus Marais, the finance spokesperson, the party's aim will also be to increase the tax base, by bringing in more individuals and more businesses. It proposes to reduce the companies' tax by one percent, and then
by stages to 25%. Marais also proposes to scrap the tax on savings that have been held for more than 12 months.
- I-Net Bridge