OVERVIEW
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mall business is taken very seriously by government, as reflected in Minister of finance Nhlanhla Nene’s 2015 budget, which firmly responded to the call to encourage and promote entrepreneurship and the small business sector in South Africa, according to Sipho Zikode, the acting Chief Executive Officer of the Small Business Development Agency (Seda), an agency of the Ministry of Small Business Development. Zikode further commented that tax exemption for a small business with an annual turnover below R335 000 is a win-win for tax authorities and the small business sector and welcomed the R3 billion allocated to the Department of Small Business Development for mentoring and training. The funds are expected to go a long way in supporting and improving the “township-economy” as well as helping develop a much broader support network by the Department of Small Business Development’s agencies to be more visible and accessible to more beneficiaries of small enterprise support services.
One of Seda’s main contribution to the small business sector is helping small businesses with debt collection from government departments. Seda runs a hotline through which small businesses can request assistance in securing payment from government departments for services rendered. Seda has 42 incubation centres in South Africa. The National Department of Trade and Industry (dti) intends setting up 250 incubators for small business by 2016. Towards this end, the dti’s Manufacturing Competitiveness Enhancement provides a cash grant to companies planning to upgrade machinery or buildings, or invest in training. Programme has paid out R1.6-billion in order to protect and create jobs in the sector. Indeed, this programme has proven incredibly popular among companies seeking to improve their competitivity. “Over the last three years the number of applications has skyrocketed. We have a massive backlog,” dti director-general Lionel October was quoted as saying. Launched in 2012-13, the programme will have had a total of R7.4bn allocated to it by 2017-2018, when it concludes. The clothing industry, in particular, has benefited substantially from this assistance. In the three years to the end of January, By end January 2015, the programme had paid out R1.6-billion, with R307-million claims awaiting processing. Seda assists SMEs in getting financial help, as well as providing advice in the drafting of business plans, marketing strategies and in skills training. The agency runs several incubators around the country under its Seda Technology Programme (STP). An example is the Zenzele Technology Demonstration Centre, a project that helps small-scale miners and mineral-processors to create viable businesses.
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