A Deliberate Economy

A few Coloured business people, especially those within the broader entertainment industry are intentionally now trying to keep their supply-chains confined to Coloured-owned businesses.

These intentions however still need major buy-in from end-consumers within those communities.

I need to stress that this is a fairly new way of doing business and it can be seen as still being in its infancy, but it is definitely growing.

Those businesses that are starting to flourish in this newly developing micro-economy are clearly the ones who are placing a huge premium on quality and not only affordability.

Coloured service providers are starting realise that when they are dealing with Coloured clients, a perfect end result will be a selling point when attempting to grow their client base no matter from what population group those clients are.

Some would see this new developing way of doing business as a natural turn of events when one considers that people labeled as Coloured are the majority population group in the Western Cape.

However it is far from natural but rather deliberate and determined actions entirely driven by individuals who have become conscious of the fact that demanding excellent service delivery from Coloured service providers, while empowering them in terms of network-building, will certainly ensure increased economic independence within the communities in which they operate.

Having no reliable statistics, the observations I am sharing with you might easily be written off as pure speculation on my part, but being privy to some of what happens behind the scenes when especially big events like festivals, album launches and concerts are organized, I get to see these deliberate efforts in action.

These range beyond just the use of Coloured entertainers, but include anything from transportation, sound and lighting, security, catering, cleaning services, to many other little miscellaneous services.

These deliberate efforts could be seen on a fairly large scale with the recently held Jazz on the Lawn Festival and on a smaller scale, yet still with all the intent, with the Suburban Menace Album Launch. These are but two examples of this growing trend.

In a different industry, I was also fortunate a short few months ago when the Confederations Cup was played in SA, to be employed as a semi-skilled craftsman in constructing the dug-outs for the Iraq vs. Poland friendly game played at the University of the Western Cape Stadium.

With the University stuck between what are mostly Coloured communities, there was a deliberate program set up to use as many smaller contracting firms based in those areas who are either Coloured owned or part owned, employing craftsmen from the immediate surrounds.

Delivering a refurbished stadium that complies to FIFA standards on short notice might seem like it was a once-off employment opportunity for many of the temporary workers involved but when considering that many of those contractors have notched up another successfully completed project, there is now the increased chance of getting future contracts from not only UWC but other institutions and corporate clients as well.

The reason I know much more about the deliberate efforts to use Coloured contractors than your average semi-skilled craftsman would know is that a friend of mine, one of the leading consultants on the project management team, happens to be a Coloured woman who is ardent about getting the demographic representations just right for every project she tackles in whatever geographic area that project happens to be.

In sharing my observations about these newly forming trends in Coloured-owned business, I am hoping that if you are not yet involved in such initiatives, and you happen to have decision making powers in your line of business, or at the very least have the freedom to make choices when you need something to be done around your own home, that you consider using service providers that come directly from the community you are from, even if you have moved to that house up on the hill.

It is nowadays much easier to distinguish between good service providers and kansvatters, so the excuse that you will get better service from non-Coloured owned businesses does not hold much water anymore.

The pitfalls and tell-tale signs that you have to look out for are the same no matter from which population group the service provider is from.

The time has come to keep that money circulating within our own communities and to do it with clear intent while still demanding the best service levels you deserve.

To the service providers, it is time that you up your game and prove that money spent in your community can keep circulating in that very community.