Minister wants to ensure SME development gets better return on investment
Lindiwe Zulu says the amount allocated by the fiscus for small-business development is a ‘far cry’ from what is needed
Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu wants to mobilise the approximately R15bn sitting in the budgets of different departments and their agencies for small- and medium-sized enterprise development to ensure there is a better return on investment. The minister outlined her vision for the sector in replies to questions to the economic cluster of ministers in the National Assembly on Tuesday. Zulu conceded, however, that the amount allocated by the fiscus for small-business development is a "far cry" from what is needed to support black-, female- and youth-owned, small and medium businesses and co-operatives, who experience barriers to entry into the formal sector of the economy. This year, the department will target 641 beneficiaries to the value of R256m for its black business-supplier development programme. The co-operative incentive scheme will target 302 beneficiaries to the value of R78m. The enterprise incubation programme has been allocated R49.7m and the national i...
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