By BAKANG MOKOTO

Bribery and corruption has been flagged as the major threats to Small Medium and Macro Enterprises (SMMEs) especially in deep rural areas. This was highlighted during the recent visit of the Small Business Development deputy minister, Sdumo Dlamini in Taung.

Dlamini embarked on a roadshow to engage with small business owners and co-operatives to discuss economic growth and job creation opportunities.

However, some small business owners said, lack of access to finance and markets has severely affected them.

One of the small business owners, Xolani Nkonyana said: “Corruption and bribery are the major impediment to our business growth. I am running the only black-owned annual horse-racing event in the North West. However, I do not receive any support from the department because we are from Taung.

“The department was financially supporting the Bray annual horse-racing event, but stopped after they realised that the event is white-owned. I am running the same event, but I cannot be supported because it’s me.”

Nkonyana further said corruption and bribery shut them out of opportunities or forced them to part with their hard-earned money. He added that it hampers them to become self-sufficient and sustainable too.

Goitseone Matubako from Dryharts village, who runs an organic farm, shared the same sentiments. Matubako said the government has put some clauses that make it difficult for small business owners to get funding. He said their applications for funding continue to gather dust in the offices of some officials without any responsive measures.

“The bad services we receive from some officials demoralise entrepreneurs and delay the process. How possible that  we continue to apply for funding, but with no positive outcomes. It is heart-breaking because even some officials never have any decency to inform us why our applications were turned down,” he said.

North West MEC for Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism, Kenetswe Mosenogi said: “This is not the first time meeting here, last time we were in Tlakgameng with the department and it is important that we bring services like this to our local area.

“We opened funding last year for SMMEs between R100 000 and R200 000, however, we only received 2000 applications across the province and 18 of them came from Dr Ruth Segomotsi Monpati. This is one of the poorest regions in the province, so I requested the department to re-open applications only for the region.”

Mosenogi encouraged those who are interested to apply again. She said food security is needed here and the government cannot combat unemployment alone.

“The SMMEs play a crucial role and contribute 22% of the turnover. The SMMEs generate 10 million jobs, so we are encouraging everybody to start with the little that they have, so that they can create more jobs.

“Opportunities are available, but the difficulty is the access to information. Now, the national government has established a portal and many of us do not make use of it. So, we encourage you to register your companies, so that you can receive assistance as the government supports only those companies that are registered,” said Mosenogi.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister for Small Business Development, Sdumo Dlamini said there is a high rate of unemployment, particularly among the youth and women. Dlamini said they have engaged into a consultative meeting with other stakeholders, where SMMEs and cooperatives raised their challenges that they are facing.

“They have raised the difficulties they are facing and sharply raised the matter of corruption. They alleged that the corruption is at the centre of delaying them to get opportunities to run their services,” he said.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

North West Premier, Bushy Maape has labelled the forthcoming investment of R9.4 billion by Sedibelo Platinum Mine in its operations at Pilanesberg Platinum Mine near Moruleng as a vote of confidence in the province.

Maape said this investment is a ‘step in the right direction’ in resuscitating the economy. The province has experienced enormous economic shocks as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a decline of 7.6% in the provincial GDP in 2020.

“The unemployment rate stands at 33% in the province. As a government, we need to do everything in our power to take these numbers down. We are engaging different stakeholders and in particular, the private sector to work hand in glove with us to address the challenges of unemployment and poverty confronting our province.

“These engagements are yielding the desired results. The management of the mine indicated that over the next five years, up to three thousand jobs will be created by the development of an underground mine and of a Kell plant at Pilanesberg Platinum Mine,” he said.  

Maape further said the province is on the right trajectory towards economic recovery as this will assist them to address treble challenges, which is unemployment, inequality and poverty.

The Sedibelo Platinum Mine CEO, Erich Clarke indicated that, in addition, the investment will create various economic opportunities for local business people. He said their plans also entail various projects such as housing and investing in Social and Labour Plans.

“We will also be investing in a new Kell plant, which uses new technology to extract the metals from the ore without the use of a smelter. This technology will reduce carbon emissions by eighty percent. 65% of our workforce is from this area and we are looking at increasing it while creating opportunities for the youth and entrepreneurs,” said Clarke.

taungdailynews@gmail.com