Red tape 'biggest snag to growth'

GRANT Thornton's latest quarterly survey on privately held business owners' perceptions highlights that 37% of South African executives rate over-regulation and red tape as the biggest constraint to business expansion.

Deepak Nagar, managing partner at Grant Thornton Durban, released the fourth quarter data for the 2011 Grant Thornton international business report yesterday.

"For the first time in five years, over-regulation as a business constraint now surpasses SA business owner frustrations relating to the lack of availability of a skilled workforce with 36% of business owners noting this as a challenge," Nagar said.

The BRIC countries had stated the same concerns as SA in terms of factors which constrained business performance but the lack of availability of a skilled workforce still topped the list at 39%.

BRIC averages recorded during Q4 2011 for the report indicated that over-regulation was also a significant constraint for the region with 35% of business owners voicing this concern. "It is interesting to note that SA now tracks on a par with global trends with an average of 32% of business owners most constrained by over-regulation and red tape."

When business owners were asked if they or any of their staff and families had been directly affected by a threat to personal security,46% affirmed that they had been affected.

Gauteng topped KwaZulu-Natal business owners marginally, with 52% of Gauteng businesses directly affected by crime during the past year, while 51% of KZN businesses affirmed this concern.

Only 39% of both Western Cape and Eastern Cape business owners responded that crime had affected them in the past 12 months.