The One Stop Shop is an investment facilitation mechanism, which seeks to ensure the ease of doing business in South Africa.

Neville Matjies, executive manager, Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) said, “We have evaluated our ranking on various investment indices and we have been steadily declining over the last few years. One of the biggest issues is related to creating an environment conducive to doing business in the country.”

Within this context and at a national level the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) has consolidated its efforts to create an entity called Invest SA. The purpose of the entity is to ensure that the process of doing business in South Africa, for both domestic and foreign companies, is enhanced.

Similarly, the board of directors of TIKZN had identified this need as a strategic objective and at the top of the list for promoting ease of doing business in KwaZulu-Natal. As such a study to examine the feasibility of establishing a provincial One Stop Shop was commissioned.

The study concluded that the establishment of a One Stop Shop, in a centralised facility, was a necessary step create an environment conducive to trade and investment in the province. In order to build on the dti model, the establishment of the KZN One Stop Shop will be synchronised with the efforts of the national ministry. President Zuma launched the national One Stop Shop in March at the dti and announced that three others would be established: Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. President Zuma said. “We have directed officials to keep the service simple and short. The One Stop Shop will provide a more co-ordinated‚ streamlined and professional service to those who wish to set up a business.”

The One Stop Shop will be located at Trade & Investment House at the Kingsmead Office Park in Durban. The facility will assist with common challenges and address serious bottlenecks in projects in an efficient and transparent manner. Instead of going to twenty offices you will now be able to go to only one window to access the majority of the relevant government agencies such as South African Revenue Services, the departments of Labour, Home Affairs, Trade and Industry and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).

This service will include rezoning applications, environmental impact assessment, labour permits, company registration, issuing of licences etc. It will provide investors with a single place to pick up all documents and approvals that are statutorily needed to set up an investment project in KwaZulu-Natal. At a transformation level, an objective is to link foreign companies with local companies. If the ease of doing business is enhanced then this process can move quicker.

The KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA), TIKZN, and DTI are currently finalising the implementation plan for the establishment of the facility. This includes engaging with the various bodies that will be represented at the One Stop Shop.

Staff will be seconded at a decision-making level, and the service will be provided on an appointment basis, dependent on demand. This will ensure that investors can speak directly to experts. “However, it must be stated that the whole process is not to by-pass regulations and legislations but to enforce requirements timeously,” said Matjies.

The Special Economic Zone Act states that special economic zones must have One Stop Shops. TIKZN will sign a cooperation agreement to provide direct support to the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone and the Dube TradePort, as they are both designated as special economic zones.

Matjies said that the next phase was to engage with the South African Local Government Association (Salga) and KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) on a local government level to ensure a seamless process for investors in the municipalities. In this regard TIKZN has an ongoing process of capacitating new counsellors in order to meet the needs of investors.

Through the provision of services via the One Stop Shop TIKZN will be able to actively market the province as a preferred investment destination. Said Matjies, “Our model will ensure that we can fulfil our mandate to our communities and
stakeholders.”

As a consequence of this proactive approach to facilitating business, at both national and provincial level, the ease of doing business is greatly transformed. The spinoffs of this facility include: job creation, reducing poverty, providing access to the economy and creating a better life for all.