Programme director
The Executive Mayor of the West Coast District Municipality, Councillor René Kitshoff
The Mayor of the Saldanha Bay local municipality, Councillor Joubert Skei
General Manager of Arcelor Mittal South Africa, Saldanha Works, Mr Marius
Fischer and colleagues
General Manager, Exxaro Namaqua Sands, Mr David Southey
General Manager PPC, Mr Johan Vorster
Transnet Port Terminals Business Unit, Mr Loius du Toit
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning and sincere thanks to Arcelor Mittal for the invitation to address you this morning. Thank you for this initiative in assisting us as government to bring our services closer to our communities. It is an accepted fact that we need partnerships if we are to succeed in growing our economy. So, well done to Arcelor Mittal as well as to our colleagues in the provincial and local government, in support of this initiative.
The global economic meltdown has taught us that we need new ways of doing business. We need, as a matter of urgency to include the small business sector as an integral component of the greater business community. Often the Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprise (SMME) sector cites access to finance as a major obstacle for growth. I am therefore pleased to note that in July last year this same company held a national vendor day and access to funding for SMME’s was part of the information given by the Department of Trade and Industry.
However, it would be irresponsible if we make funding available without training, without mentoring and without monitoring. The Department of Trade and Industry therefore has numerous agencies one of which is the Small Enterprise Development Agency or (SEDA) that provides non-financial support to SMME’s. SEDA has a national footprint and is in the process of re-training staff to meet the challenges of a growing SMME sector.
I am very happy to note the presence of the local government representatives at this event. As government we have realised that we need to coordinate our efforts. Local government is not only about providing the basic services as important as they are, to communities. There is a growing awareness that local economic development can contribute positively in the fight against poverty and unemployment. Together, we can and must do more.
I want to urge other companies to emulate this initiative of Arcelor Mittal, and partner with government in providing the SMME community with information and opportunities to grow their businesses. A successful global company like this one has much wisdom to impart to small enterprises. You can give practical advice on what it takes to run a business.
To all owners of small businesses and those aspiring to be, you have to actively seek the information that will make your business a success. In fact the most successful businesspeople I have found were those that started with their own resources and a will to succeed. You have to be actively involved in your business, no information or finance will come looking for you!
Ladies and gentlemen, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has many programmes and institutions that can assist SMME’s. The fact that these services are not accessed in the numbers that will make a difference is largely our fault despite our best efforts. We have had to honestly assess what it is that must be done differently.
Some of the conclusions we have come to are:
* that our processes, which includes application forms are too long and complicated, forcing especially aspirant businesspeople to use consultants
* that we apply very conservative principles when funding small business
* the department makes too much use of intermediaries, instead of assisting directly
* we still even as units and agencies of one department tend to duplicate and work in silos.
The DTI is a large department, this you will see if you have had the opportunity to visit our campus in Pretoria. Under the DTI umbrella we have 18 agencies, amongst those are ones specifically focused on small business development. These are:
* The South African Micro Apex Fund (SAMAF) targeting newly established cooperative banks and micro finance institutions. SAMAF does not lend directly to individuals, they form partnerships with community based and community driven financial institutions based in poor communities
* Khula acts as a guarantor to businesses that want to access loans from participating banks and other financial institutions
• And as previously mentioned, the small enterprise development agency (SEDA) who gives non-financial support to small business
The DTI also has in-house schemes based in the enterprise organisation one of our units. The most relevant scheme for many of our communities is the Black Business Supplier Development Programme.
Honoured guests I want to encourage women aspiring to get into business and those already in business to join the South African Women Entrepreneurs Network (SAWEN) an initiative of and wholly supported entity of the DTI. SAWEN as it is known is established in all provinces. The benefits that you will receive outweigh the R300 registration fee paid by far. Under the SAWEN umbrella is the Technology for Women in Business program. Also part of the program is the Technology for Women in Business (TWIB), Cell C and Motorola Technogirls programme.
The DTI has a specialist cooperatives unit, dedicated to assisting cooperatives. The scheme that they have is called the Cooperative Incentive Scheme, a 90h10 cost sharing grant, that’s right, a grant, for qualifying registered primary cooperative in the emerging economy. The 90 percent is the DTI share, your share to contribute is the 10 percent. The maximum grant is R300 000. There are qualifying criteria and the grant is not for all types of cooperatives. The grant covers the following only:
* business development services
* business profile development
* feasibility studies or market research
* production efficiency
* technological improvement projects
* plant and machinery
* start-up requirements
* working capital requirements
Through my office I have been in constant talks with the unit to relax some of the requirements and simplify the application process. Government has identified cooperatives as a vehicle in the fight against poverty.
Honoured guests, once more may I thank Arcelor Mittal for this initiative, you have the full support of the Department of Trade and Industry and I personally will take an active interest in getting feedback on what the impact of this initiative has been. Thank you to the colleagues from provincial and especially local government who supports this initiative, together we can do more.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
15 September 2009
Source: Department of Trade and Industry (http://www.thedti.gov.za/)
