Robust support is the lift small business needs
Partnerships are vital to helping small businesses create jobs and operate effectively, writes Erica Elk
If SA is to create the jobs it so badly needs, the government and nongovernment and the private sector must do more to support small businesses. The small business sector has long been close to invisible, masked by an economy that has historically been too heavily dependent on resources and industry. In addition, the legacy of apartheid – where black people were largely excluded from the right to own and run a business – has left the country with an oversized informal sector. More vigorous support for small businesses could help, particularly if the state, with its significant resources, partners more closely with enterprise support organisations to dispense business support and funding. These on-the-ground support organisations can play a greater and more pivotal role in catalysing the growth and sustainability of small businesses in specific sectors. The Cape Craft and Design Institute (CCDI), by teaming up with the Treasury’s Jobs Fund in 2012, was able to invest R14.5m in 45 cra...
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