The private sector had a critical role to play in helping small businesses to become sustainable‚ Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said on Friday at the launch of the Cape Town hub of Anglo American and De Beer’s Zimele Enterprise Development.
South Africa has for years suffered an unemployment rate of about 25% and small business development is widely punted as a route out of the problem.
Zimele has similar hubs in the Northern Cape‚ Limpopo‚ Gauteng and the Free State which provide financial assistance‚ mentoring and support to budding entrepreneurs‚ who are regarded as high-risk by the banking sector.
Last year it disbursed about R1.4-billion of its R1.7-billion in available funds and since inception in 2008 has assisted more than 2600 entrepreneurs and supported more than 26000 jobs.
The organisation‚ which boasts a repayment rate of between 85%-93%‚ operated a number of dedicated funds and was looking to expand into agriculture and beneficiation‚ said Anglo’s Zimele director‚ Sakhile Ngcobo.
Zulu said the government was determined to work with the private sector to remove obstacles to small enterprise investment‚ which was a key to economic growth but still at a low level in South Africa.
“The best way to develop‚ grow and sustain small businesses is through partnerships.
“There is no doubt in my mind that the private sector needs to open up more procurement opportunities for small businesses to get involved within the core areas of each industry.”
Her newly created department was in the process of refining its five-year strategic plan‚ which would focus on the participation of small businesses in the value chains of private companies‚ Zulu said. It would also look into the supply of goods and services to the government‚ the removal of regulatory constrains‚ capacity building and skills transfer.
The department was also working to remove the regulatory constraints that hindered the development of small businesses. “The first phase of reducing regulatory constraints facing small‚ micro and medium sized enterprises was targeted at local government level.
“Future work will focus on provincial and national government departments‚” Zulu said.
De Beers chairman Barend Petersen‚ who spoke at the launch‚ touched on the group’s achievement in transformation. In the three years from October 2011 to September last year‚ the representation of the historically disadvantaged in top management at De Beers Consolidated Mines had improved from 33% to 50%‚ he said.
In senior management‚ it rose from 33% to 41%‚ and in general management‚ from 47% to 54%. — BDlive