FASA receives recognition award from Proudly SA

Proudly South African’s annual Buy Local Summit & Expo which celebrated its 11th edition honoured South African brands and associations that subscribe and support the Proudly SA ethos. FASA’s CEO Fred Makgato accepted the award at a gala dinner attended by the Deputy President, Paul Mashatile and Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition. FASA member OBC Better Butchery’s Tony Da Fonseca, a past chairman of FASA, also received an award as a retailer with the highest locally manufactured products on its shelves.

The Buy Local initiative was started in 1998 with Nelson Mandela’s appeal to the nation and business to assist in the creation of jobs which gave birth to Proudly SA and the sustainable goal of economic growth through local business growth.

The two-day Buy Local Summit & Expo held on the 27th & 28th March offered delegates from SMME focused workshops, to lessons in local procurement, business solutions hub, to legislator & compliance issues and an impressive exhibition of local goods & services on the expo floor. The result was a jam-packed two days of networking, selling and market access opportunities for both SMMEs and big corporate.

Under the theme “Growing the economy and creating jobs through Localisation,” the two-day programme attracted over 2 000 delegates physically, and many more through the event’s online streaming platform. Proudly SA plays its part in alleviating poverty and unemployment through its broader buy-local campaign, and as a flagship event of the organisation the Summit has multiple objectives aimed at maximising reach and the impact of the campaign.

“These objectives include lobbying all tiers and agencies of government to prioritise localisation in their procurement processes, encouraging corporate South Africa to increase its uptake of locally sourced and manufactured goods and services required for their day-to-day operations, and educating consumers on the impact of buying local, and its importance in job creation and much-needed economic growth,” says Chief Executive Officer of Proudly SA, Eustace Mashimbye.

Associations like FASA joined various stakeholders of the Buy Local movement, including manufacturers and producers, corporate buyers, enterprise development agencies and programmes, government representatives, as well as policymakers, consumers as well as friends of the Buy Local movement. “FASA has been a supporter of Proudly SA for many years,” says Fred Makgato, “as our mandate is also to support the push to encourage local entrepreneurship, an essential element to economic transformation.”

Speaking at the Proudly South African Buy Local Summit and Expo, held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Sandton, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel said government has a role to play in encouraging localisation in the country. “Localisation is about driving innovation in our society. We need to get the private sector to embrace localisation and do more on the procurement side.”

Patel said the various masterplans available provide an opportunity for the private sector to get involved in localisation. Localisation also provides an opportunity for job creation.
He said the private sector has an important role to play in growing the economy. “I urge you to do more to publicly advocate the great work that South African business persons, small businesses and the workers are doing,” concluded Patel.