Johannesburg- The government’s localisation strategy is bearing fruit, and by the end of October, the Rural and Township Entrepreneurship Programme that was approved by Cabinet eight months ago had resulted in 289 products – manufactured by 45 small businesses – being placed on the shelves of major retailers and wholesalers.
This is according to a response by Deputy President, David Mabuza, who responded to oral questions in the National Council of Provinces on Thursday.
In February 2020, Cabinet approved the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme as championed by the Department of Small Business Development.
This Fund was developed as a response to the urgency of the need to roll out appropriate support to small businesses in townships and rural areas.
“Through the programme, qualifying small enterprises are provided with financial and non-financial support to empower them to run their businesses in a profitable manner and also help them to acquire business equipment, tools and machinery with a view to increasing their capacity to access economic opportunities and enhance their competitiveness.
“As of 31 October 2021, 289 products manufactured by Small Medium and Micro Enterprises have been placed on the shelves of major retailers and wholesalers in the country as part of the localisation programme.
“These products were manufactured by a total of 45 small businesses, creating over 700 jobs,” he said.
The Deputy President said it is the government’s vision that through the programme, more products will be locally produced by small businesses for supply to local and global markets and create more job opportunities.
“At the same time, we need to encourage the public to buy goods produced locally, as this will increase sustainability and competitiveness of these businesses.”
Deputy President Mabuza said in addition to the initiative, the Department of Small Business Development – through its entity SEDA – has established 54 branches through a district-based development approach to align support to the district economic sectors, thus bringing services closer to the entrepreneurs.
“It has, however, been realised that there are still a number of areas where entrepreneurs are still travelling long distances to access these services, which is why SEDA is in the process of establishing additional service points.
“This includes considering alternative mechanisms such as mobile offices to increase access. Furthermore, the Department is establishing more incubation centres and digital hubs across the country, to add to the 110 currently existing to supporting township and rural-based enterprises.”
– SAnews.gov.za
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