MICHAEL AVERY: Dismantle the ministry of small talk
The department of small business development has failed to help new entrepreneurs create jobs
It was 2014 and the air in Pretoria was thick with promise and the sounds of backslapping. The department of small business development was born in a flurry of speeches and ribbon-cuttings, the latest in a long line of bureaucratic interventions meant to rescue SA’s sputtering entrepreneurial engine. At last, small businesses would have their own champion in the government, a seat at the cabinet table, a mandate to unlock growth, a ministry that understood the little guy.
Fast forward 10 years and the department has become precisely what it was meant to prevent: another expensive monument to failure. Its agencies, Seda (training) and Sefa (finance), have left a trail of glossy brochures and unmet targets, but precious few thriving enterprises. The 2024 merger into the Small Enterprise Development & Finance Agency (Sedfa) just made things worse. This alphabet soup of Vogon inefficiency has spent the past decade spinning in circles. They’ve hosted workshops, issued press releas...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.