Vote of thanks by Productivity SA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Mothunye Mothiba, at the occasion of the launch of the Productivity month 2021

Programme Director, Ms. Lalane Janse Van Rensburg, my first vote of thanks goes to the Executive Team and staff of Productivity SA. My reason for this is because the colleagues have shown resilience as we are navigating these difficult times, in particular, coping with the challenges associated with remote work, but keep going forward to serve South Africans.
Ladies and gentlemen, I will be remis in my duty if I don’t thank the chairman of the board, Professor Mdwaba (for gracing this occasion in person) and the members of the board who logged in remotely. I thank them for showing servant leadership and stewardship during these difficult time, including consistently ensuring the relevance and sustainability of the entity, and supporting us as we struggle with turning our economy around.

Our esteemed speakers, Ms Neo Mamathuba and Dr Renjini Joseph, Lecturers in Industrial Psychology and People Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg; Dr David Molapo, Management Consultant, Educationalist and renowned Motivational Speaker; and Ms Carolyne Anooplal, the Acting Senior Manager, Human Resources Management have all given us food for thought. I am not going to even attempt to summarise issues which they shared with us, which, if I do I may end up distorting the actual messages they delivered.

The message I derived from all their inputs is resonating with a quotation by Elon Musk, who said ‘When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favour’. I say this precisely because, our duty and journey to galvanise South Africans to join in “Leading and inspiring a productive and competitive South Africa” has never been easy.

This launch of Productivity Month 2021 should encourage us in our resolve to inspire every South African to be productive and for South Africa to be competitive, if we are to address the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality, which are to some extent due to the absence of faster and sustained inclusive growth, low productivity growth and transformative innovation.

We should move forward with the conviction that, our Enterprise Development and Support Programmes are critical for this ailing economy, which fails to contribute to South Africa’s achievement of a productive, high-income economy which is globally competitive, with sustainable growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Having refreshed our memories on what our role is, I hope as we mark Productivity Month, you are all galvanised and raring to go. As the Board Chairman alluded earlier, we cannot afford to be complacent and whilst we ensure SMMEs and businesses are sustainable, the entity must always be wary that charity begins at home.

I know that we have reflected sufficiently on our challenges (including relevance and sustainability of the entity) and sometimes thinking that these are insurmountable. let me reassure you that, with your capabilities, this ship is steady and heading in the right direction, but we should not let our guard down.

Upon further reflection and putting our clients first, there is sufficient evidence for where we are now, which confirms that Productivity SA is turning the corner, however, there is still so much to do, and many more challenges ahead.

It was the manufactures of The Titanic who said just before the Titanic set sail, that “Even God himself cannot sink the ship”. History has since taught us to never be complacent, and I am merely reiterating this challenge not to instil fear, but to rather encourage us to eradicate what seems like insurmountable challenges.

As I previously mentioned on other platforms, South Africa is facing many challenges, but the trick is not to opine too much about the challenges but to rather focus on solutions. Productivity SA is one of the solutions. You are the solution.

One of the issues I constantly raise and remind us about is that twenty-seven (27) years into our democracy, South Africa still has high levels of informality (with over 1,5 million or 67% of the 2,3 million SMMEs operating in the informal economy) and inequality rates in the world. I emphasised that we are duty bound to address these if we are serious about resolving our poverty, unemployment and inequality challenges by 2030.

I also indicated that, unfortunately, our growth patterns are skewed in favour of the more affluent provinces (Gauteng and the Western Cape, with KZN also emerging as a growth point) with over 60 percent of the 2,3 million SMMEs in these provinces and the rest in the six remaining provinces, which are predominantly poor and rural in nature.

As we galvanise South Africans behind the Productivity Movement, we should take stock of this reality (informality and inequality) and take umbrage in what Elon Musk said, ‘When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favour’.

We should gain the courage and a sense of urgency in all on us who have a duty to change the lives of those who depend on us.

I will be failing in my duty if I do not acknowledge that, you are a force to be reckoned with, having shown resilience and tenacity throughout the year such that by the time we get to launch Productivity Month, we are an organisation with much to be proud of. I have been advised that we are on course to achieve our APP targets, which should be applauded.
We have a duty to lead by example as a Productivity Centre if we are to galvanise all South African towards a productive and competitive South Africa.

As we launch Productivity Month 2021, let us continue working together to create a better future for all of us. I would like to thank the Corporate Relations team for arranging today ‘s gathering.

I would like to thank all the speakers today. Their presentations have made my vote of thanks much easier because what I heard today was exceptionally inspirational and we were fortunate to have the calibre of speakers in our midst today. I believe that as the launch comes to a close, one can draw a conclusion that, we leave with more than we came with.

Happy Productivity month to you all, and let us go out there to galvanise South Africans behind the Productivity Movement and get more Productivity Ambassadors.