Political blindness: claiming credit before checking reality

This research paper critiques the Red Door initiative in South Africa's Western Cape province, arguing that political pressure to claim success has led to the funding of a superficial training programme that prioritizes quantity of participants over actual job creation and business viability.

• The Red Door initiative is an $18 million training programme in the Western Cape province designed to help emerging entrepreneurs enter the micro-enterprise sector. The government set a target to expand from nine to 35 offices over three years, with the goal of producing 20,000 'micro survivalist businesspeople' and 60,000 employees.
• Staff and external critics describe the programme's claims as 'political puffery,' noting that the training is rudimentary and lacks follow-through. In its first year, 4,484 people visited, but received only a few hours of instruction on basic business knowledge, planning, and tender applications.
• Red Door managers have urged the Western Cape government to reduce target numbers and implement a mentorship programme. This proposed change would assign each trainee a 'navigator' to guide them through expanded training and the process of winning tenders and sourcing funds from the Department of Trade and Industry.
• Critics, including Danny Meyer of SMEs Compete and Gisele Yitamben of Asafe, argue that the programme focuses on meaningless input metrics rather than outcomes. They highlight that consultants lack practical business experience and that facilitating loans or interviewing people does not equate to job creation.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2005). Political blindness: claiming credit before checking reality. https://saiia.org.za/research/political-blindness-claiming-credit-before-checking-reality/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Political blindness: claiming credit before checking reality. 2005. https://saiia.org.za/research/political-blindness-claiming-credit-before-checking-reality/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Political blindness: claiming credit before checking reality |date=24 December 2005 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/political-blindness-claiming-credit-before-checking-reality/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2005political, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Political blindness: claiming credit before checking reality}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2005}, month = dec, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/political-blindness-claiming-credit-before-checking-reality/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }