The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe today encouraged residents of Sekhukhune in Limpopo to consider establishing small business, particularly cooperatives in order to contribute in job creation and poverty eradication.
The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe today encouraged residents of Sekhukhune in Limpopo to consider establishing small business, particularly cooperatives in order to contribute in job creation and poverty eradication. Thabethe was speaking at a public participation seminar that was held at the Peter Nchabeleng Sports Complex in Schoonoord, near Jan Furse as part of the Taking the dti to the People Campaign that she is spearheading.
More than 500 business people and aspirant entrepreneurs attended the seminar, which was hosted by the Department of Trade and industry (the dti) in conjunction with the District Municipality. The MEC of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism in Limpopo Mr Pitsi Moloto, as well as Sekhukhune district and local municipality councillors and chiefs were also part of the event.
The purpose of the campaign is to create awareness about the dti’s products and services, as well as the small business support services offered by its agencies. It also seeks to reinforce government’s commitment to empowering rural and peri-urban communities to accelerate job creation and sustainable economic development in the country.
“Since 2006, the dti has embarked on a long national campaign to make sure that people who are in business know how they can access the financial and non-financial support from government in order to grow their businesses, and those that aspire to enter the business world should know where to get the right information that will assist them in starting their own businesses. We bring all the national, provincial and local small business development agencies to you in order for them to explain to you what they offer and how they can assist you,” said Thabethe.
Officials from agencies including the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), Company and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), Limpopo Development Agency (LimDev), Trade and Investment Limpopo (TIL), South African Women Entrepreneurs’ Network (SAWEN), the South African Micro-finance Apex Fund (Samaf), and Proudly South African (PSA) made presentations and informed participants about how they assist businesspeople. The officials then fielded a series of questions from participants.
Enquiry:
Sidwell Medupe (Departmental Spokesperson)
Tel: 012 394 1650
Mobile: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
