Picture: The community members attending the public hearing/Generic
By BAKANG MOKOTO
The Chairperson of Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development, Violet Siwela said they have concluded three days of public hearings on Thursday on the National Small Enterprise Amendment (NSEA) Bill in North West’s Bojanala Platinum District at the Rustenburg White Town Hall.
Siwela said two other public hearings in the province were held in Taung, and Mahikeng on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. She further said, residents of Bojanala Platinum District, who participated in the public hearings overwhelmingly supported the NSEA Bill and proposed that a new clause be inserted to make it mandatory for big businesses to train small local enterprises.
“They submitted that the proposed Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency should relax funding criteria and set aside funds specifically for small enterprises owned by women, youth and people living with disabilities.
“The residents further suggested that the new agency should stop the theft of applicants’ business ideas as is currently the case with Small Enterprise Finance Agency, they claimed. Another participant suggested the use of artificial intelligence as a solution to this challenge,” said Siwela.
She added that, at the same time, others said that the Bill should find mechanisms to end the bullying of small enterprises by big companies. Siwela said the biggest form of bullying, they claimed, is non-adherence to the 30-day payment period by both local government and private companies.
“The Bill is eight years overdue and the committee is determined to move with speed and diligence to ensure that it is passed into law as a matter of urgency. After the last leg of public hearings in Gauteng next week, the committee will deliberate on all written and oral submissions and write a comprehensive report.
“The committee will then deliberate on the Bill and come up with a final version that will be tabled in the National Assembly for adoption,” she said.
The Guardian 