Takealot Group CEO Frederik Zietsman said he hopes the next trade, industry & competition minister, an appointment expected to be announced in the coming days, will bring a strong technology focus to the portfolio.
South Africa will soon have a new trade minister after the incumbent, Ebrahim Patel, said he would not make himself available for reappointment to the cabinet following the 29 May general election.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to appoint his cabinet in the coming days following intensive negotiations with the Democratic Alliance and other members of the incoming government of national unity. The trade portfolio is reportedly one of the ministerial portfolios the DA is interested in heading up in the GNU.
“I would hope [the new minister has] the presence of mind to acknowledge that tech is moving at a rate never seen in history,” Zietsman said.
“I hope [the new minister] will have an ear to listen to us and other players and be a tech-first minister, to think about what the world of 20 years from now will look like and partner with the private sector to build a thriving South Africa.”
He said South Africa is still figuring out how to deal with e-commerce from a policy perspective while the rest of the world has already moved on to focusing on the impact of AI, and how that should be regulated.
“The minister needs to be someone who ‘thinks digital’, because that’s where the future is,” Zietsman said at a press conference in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Manufacturing base
At the same event, Tshepo Marumule, Takealot.com head of external affairs and public policy, said the company has a role to play in supporting South Africa’s manufacturing base.
“We see ourselves as a business that can play a productive and active role in bringing back manufacturing, including in the townships that are not seen as economic centres,” he said.
Marumule emphasised that there is much that can be done to improve the township economy, including by building a manufacturing base focused on products that are in demand on platforms like Takealot’s. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media
