City urges national alignment on Ease of Doing Business reforms

18 September 2026

A renewed focus on reducing red tape and an Ease of Doing Business initiative from the National Government is welcome, but needs to go beyond talk, said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos at an opening address at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress Africa (GEC+Africa).

GEC+Africa, taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, gathers entrepreneurs, policymakers, investors, and thought leaders from around the world for critical discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities. The City is one of the strategic partners of the event.

Speaking yesterday morning, Thursday, 17 September, Alderman Vos said the Ease of Doing Business campaign launched by the Department of Small Business Development in June was vitally important to enabling entrepreneurial growth in the country. It is the same title as the City of Cape Town’s programme that kicked off in 2023.

‘This is not about one sphere of government competing with another. We all want the same thing: More investment, more businesses succeeding and, most importantly, more jobs. For me, the test of this programme is quite simple: does the business owner notice the difference? Does an application take fewer days? Is a permit easier to obtain? Can an investor get an answer faster? Can an entrepreneur spend more time growing a business and less time trying to work out how government works?’ said Alderman Vos.

The City’s Ease of Doing Business programme is guided by an index where 10 indicators, including land use rights, building plan approvals, wayleaves, energy connections, and business licences, are measured by assessing the number of procedural steps, timelines, and costs involved.

Innovation in government is often simply about finding practical solutions to everyday problems – identify the problems, create solutions, and measure progress, he said.

‘We are seeing results. Wayleave turnaround times have fallen from around 40 days to about six days. Business licence turnaround times have improved from a median of 44 days in July - September 2025 to 18 days in April - June 2026,’ said Alderman Vos.

Importantly, the City also publicises the findings on a dashboard with more detailed information included in its annual report.

‘I believe there is an opportunity to take this approach much further across South Africa to be transparent about service standards through published turnaround times. Create digital systems that allow businesses to track applications. Enact measurable targets for the senior officials responsible for these processes. Reducing red tape cannot simply be talk. It has to be practised for it to change the everyday experience of doing business. The recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor special report on South Africa shows that what our entrepreneurs need are streamlined, better co-ordinated systems, mainly from government, and far less onerous regulations.

‘I welcome the engagements the National Government has begun with municipalities and I look forward to sitting down with their team to share knowledge and learnings. I hope to see the tangible and deadline-driven outcomes of these discussions so we can support Cape Town and South Africa’s entrepreneurs in reaching their greatest potential,’ said Alderman Vos. 

Captions 1 and 2: Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, addressing the audience at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress Africa at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

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