Pretoria – The Department of Small Business Development has spent R60.7 million through its Black Business Supplier Development Programme to facilitate access to finance to 221 enterprises.
“This has supported 7 412 jobs of which 6 321 are permanent and 1 091 are temporary,” the department said.
This was revealed by the department on Wednesday, when it presented its performance report for the first quarter (April-June) of the 2015/16 financial year to the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development.
During the first year, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) spent R344 million on 24 711 Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs).
The department said 43 percent of the allocations were in the priority sectors such as construction, Information and Communication Technologies, mining, manufacturing, agriculture and tourism as defined in the New Growth Path and Industrial Policy Action Plan.
A total of 2 174 clients have received support from the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA).
“This support has made a huge impact on the growth and sustainability of these enterprises.
“Seventy percent of surveyed clients indicated an increase in turnover; 45 percent of surveyed clients indicated an increase in the number of people employed; 98 percent of satisfaction level from Seda supported clients,” the department said.
Through the Seda Technology Programme (STP) 535 permanent jobs were created by incubated small enterprises, mostly in agriculture and the construction sector.
“With regard to our commitment to pay small businesses within 30 days, we are pleased to indicate that 97.6 percent invoices were paid within 30 days during the period under review, while the remaining 2.4 percent were paid one day after 30 days,” the department said.
The Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development has welcomed the report by the department.
The committee was satisfied with the progress made by the department over the last three months. – SAnews.gov.za
