Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni says government is committed to creating an environment that enables small businesses to thrive.
“Over the course of this seventh administration, we will, as the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) and the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency (SEDFA), provide financial and non-financial support to one million Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs),” Ndabeni said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the 14th Annual Proudly SA Buy Local Summit and Expo held at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, Ndabeni said the government will implement the Red Tape Reduction Framework and continue to support municipalities in adopting the E-Registration System.
The Red Tape Reduction Framework provides municipalities and businesses with practical tools and resources to address municipal red tape issues to improve the business environment for small businesses.
The E-Registration System Program intends to reduce significant red tape and to create a more straightforward, efficient, and easily accessible business registration system across districts and local governments.
“We will improve access to enabling business infrastructure and equipment and will scale-up access to finance for MSMEs across all segments, working closely with other Development finance institutions (DFIs), banks and non-bank financial institutions,” Ndabeni said.
Ndabeni said government will be looking to better integrate financial offerings with improved market and investment readiness support, as well as with post-investment support for business sustainability.
“MSMEs play a crucial role in addressing some of our country’s biggest challenges, including unemployment and inequality. Every rand spent at a local business helps circulate money within our economy, enabling businesses to grow, employ more people, and build communities.
“MSMEs employ millions of people, with most reports suggesting this could be as high as 60% of employed persons in the country. They create pathways for young people entering the workforce, they empower women entrepreneurs, and they prop up local economies across the length and breadth of South Africa.
“They give innovative ideas the chance to grow into commercially thriving enterprises. But these MSMEs can only succeed when communities support them,” she said.
The Minister emphasised that when locally produced products are purchased, it helps a small business owner to pay wages, expand their operations and reinvest in the community.
“That purchase might help someone hire a new employee, train an apprentice or open another store. We will ensure that the new Business Licensing Bill makes it easier, not more difficult, to start and operate a small business in South Africa.
“We have the talent and the quality but still seem enamoured with global brands. This is where Proudly SA plays such an important role, and I encourage you to pick up your promotional and advocacy work to profile our local brands,” the Minister said.
Ndabeni urged the government to support e-commerce platforms that promote locally produced goods.
“The global online platforms that offer our consumers cheap mass- produced goods at a fraction of our production costs are a real threat, and we have engaged with relevant countries through our bilateral trade negotiations.
“We have also intensified our war on the illicit goods which leak through our ports of entry and are produced in backyard factories here at home,” the minister said. -SAnews.gov.za
