The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe says South Africa needs to produce more entrepreneurs to address issues of unemployment. Thabethe was addressing the community of Bulwer in KwaZulu-Natal at an outreach campaign organised by the department today.
The outreach campaign seeks to strengthen government’s commitment to empowering rural and peri-urban communities to accelerate job creation and sustainable economic development in the country. It also aims to create awareness on the support products and services offered by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) and its agencies, to businesses.
Thabethe said entrepreneurship should be encouraged and form part of daily lives in households, communities and schools. She further advised the community to look around their areas of residence and identify gaps which can be turned into opportunities to supply new products and services to the people.
“The dti is working hard to identity different markets for small businesses and entrepreneurs in order to expose them to different kinds of markets to expand their businesses. I want to encourage you to start small and form cooperatives to support your families,” she added.
According to Thabethe, cooperatives have shown over the years that they are a good model to start a business and to encourage communities to work together.
“The department has also supported and trained numerous cooperatives who are doing well today in creating jobs for their communities and nationally. I also feel this community can do the same and even go beyond expectations,” said Thabethe.
The Executive Mayor of Ingwe Municipality Ms Nomagugu Luzulane said the outreach campaign “Taking the dti to the people” is a good initiative that should be adopted by other government departments who are not represented provincially and locally.
“Our small businesses and the community will take full advantage of these opportunities presented here today by the dti. They have proven over the years to be hard workers and have produced numerous leaders for both the government and the private sector,” said Luzulane.
The event was attended by more than two hundred entrepreneurs, vendors, small businesses and the community.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe, Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 079 492 1774
Tel: 012 394 1650
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
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