Finance and Economic Opportunities
(1) (a) What is the number of small business enterprises that his Department has assisted during the lockdown in the following areas: (i) Philippi East, (ii) Kosovo, (iii) greater Philippi and (iv) Old Crossroads and (b) what are the details of support provided;
(2) whether any of them were assisted with food relief packages; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether his Department has (a) a database of the informal traders operating in the areas of (i) Philippi, (ii) Nyanga, (iii) Philippi East and (iv) Gugulethu, and (b) offered any form of assistance to them during the lockdown period; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
- (a) What is the number of small business enterprises that his Department has assisted during the lockdown in the following areas: (i) Philippi East, (ii) Kosovo, (iii) greater Philippi and (iv) Old Crossroads
Covid-19 Business Safety Toolkits
During lockdown the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT) is making available a Covid-19 Business Safety Toolkit aimed at enabling Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) to continue to operate in a safe and responsible manner. The safety toolkits are being prepared for distribution in the areas of Philippi East, Kosovo, the greater Philippi and Old Crossroads. In partnership with the City of Cape Town (that is also distributing 10 000 safety toolkits) informal traders, spaza shop operators and sole proprietors are being targeted for access with knock-and-drop distribution. The kits will also be distributed to small community shopping malls. Distribution of additional kits are planned for August 2020 as the procurement process is still underway. Each kit distributed will be tagged and needs to be signed for, to ensure appropriate project governance and auditable processes are adhered to. Figures in terms of number of small businesses, both formal and informal that will get access, will only be available for reporting, once it is distributed.
SMME Booster Fund
The objective of the SMME Booster Fund is to support and assist businesses to deliver on the outcomes of job creation (and/or retention) and business expansion. The Department aims to achieve this by providing (financial) support to organisations in the business development support environment with existing programmes aimed at supporting Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). The Fund focuses on business development support, enterprise and supplier development interventions as well as infrastructure projects aimed at SMME development. The bouquet of interventions includes business start-up training, technical training, mentoring, coaching, procurement of equipment and business tools for SMMEs, infrastructure support, procurement of computers, equipment, renovations and support for incubators and funding to SMMEs.
The following businesses were supported in the identified areas:
AREAS | NUMBER OF BUSINESSES SUPPORTED DURING LOCKDOWN | NAME OF THE BUSINESSES | NATURE OF THE SUPPORT PROVIDED |
Philippi East
| 6 |
| The intervention assisted Early Childhood Development (ECD) businesses. The objective of the assistance is strengthening business and management principles within these organisations to ensure sustainability.
The project will provide internship and training opportunities to 15 youth at ECDs, mentoring of ECD principals and interns, management and governance training to principal and governing body members, income generating training, computer skills training, building renovations for compliance purposes, procurement of equipment and financial management and regulatory compliance support to ECDs.
|
Kosovo
| 0 |
|
|
Greater Philippi
| 2 |
| The support provided to the selected start-ups includes training, business modelling, coaching, mentoring, personal development, manufacturing (incubation services) support and market and finance linkages. The Centre for Entrepreneurship and Rapid Incubator will provide continued support to the business. |
| 1 | Limgomso Painting Contractor | The business is supported with market access via the Fix Forward platform which ultimately generates more leads and business opportunities for the beneficiary contractors. In addition, they receive business training and mentoring.
|
| 6 |
| The intervention assists Early Childhood Development (ECD) businesses. The objective of the assistance is strengthening business and management principles within these organisations to ensure sustainability.
The project will provide internship and training opportunities to 15 youth at ECDs, mentoring of ECD principals and interns, management and governance training to principal and governing body members, income generating training, computer skills training, building renovations for compliance purposes, procurement of equipment and financial management and regulatory compliance support to ECDs.
|
| 1 | MRL Private Collection (Pty) Ltd | The business will go through a comprehensive business turnaround process from which a turnaround plan is designed to meet the needs of the business.
|
| 1 | Tevco | The initiative supports youth-owned businesses using the TopTech Tools programme. The TopTech Tools programme starts with 10 weekly workshops on how technology advances the business and 10 practical online modules disseminating electronic tools that can be used in the business coupled with a mentoring programme to assist the individual entrepreneur |
Old Crossroads
| 0 |
|
|
- (b) what are the details of support provided;
COVID-19 Business Safety Toolkits
The safety toolkit is a durable, canvas bag and contains information posters, bottles of alcohol-based hand sanitiser, re-usable cloth face masks and leaflets that the SMME can give to customers. Distribution of the safety toolkits are linked to the identification of Covid-19 Hotspots in the Province. The department is making available 11000 kits province-wide with 6400 kits specifically geared at the metro hotspots.
- whether any of them were assisted with food relief packages; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
The mandate of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism is linked to Vision Inspired Priority 2 (VIP 2) which focuses on growth and jobs. The Department does not become involved in the distribution of food relief packages which is more aligned to the mandate of the Department of Social Development.
The Department in partnership with the Economic Development Partnership (EDP) is embarking on a project that will support local spaza shops and other neighbourhood food suppliers via the community kitchens who will purchase their products at these businesses via an electronic voucher. The electronic voucher will be the currency redeemed at the local spaza or food suppliers, where their payment systems are linked to a technology platform. The project will be targeting specific Hotspot areas as well as other township areas. The Department’s investment will enable support to between 100 and 150 spaza shops and/or local food suppliers. In addition, 150 community kitchens in vulnerable areas will be supported. The project will be extended over a six-month period to manage the community kitchens who will receive vouchers every alternate week to assist in reconciling and the verification of each transaction. The community kitchens will be issued with vouchers every two weeks to the value of R1000.00 per week.
- whether his Department has (a) a database of the informal traders operating in the areas of (i) Philippi, (ii) Nyanga, (iii) Philippi East and (iv) Gugulethu, and (b) offered any form of assistance to them during the lockdown period; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
- The Department does not have databases of informal traders operating in the areas of Philippi, Nyanga, Philippi East and Gugulethu, but is working with the City of Cape Town in using its database of traders to plan and action support intervention.
The access to Covid-19 Business Safety Toolkits is one such form of assistance. The detail of this initiative is described in the above question 1 (a) and (b).
