On Wednesday the 1820 Settlers Monument hosted the Small Micro and Medium (SMME) Business Imbizo, inviting 300 local businesspeople.
On Wednesday the 1820 Settlers Monument hosted the Small Micro and Medium (SMME) Business Imbizo, inviting 300 local businesspeople.
This public/private partnership between financial service provider Metropolitan and the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) and other government partners intends to nurture rural, black empowered entrepreneurs who bring development to their communities.
This year, in the third annual series of imbizos to travel the country, the focus is on Chris Hani, Alfred Nzo, OR Tambo and Cacadu district municipalities.
Entitled “Weathering the storm” the series explores the challenges and opportunities offered to SMMEs by the global recession.
Neil Felix, marketing manager for the Metropolitan SMME portal, outlined numerous problems facing these districts.
While more urbanised regions such as the Western Cape or Gauteng offer established channels for marketing and outreach, small businesses in Cacadu and other districts struggle to move beyond the survivalist stage.
“There’s a lack of dialogue between business and government and poor relationships between big corporates and small businesses we need to create channels of access,” said Felix.
Metropolitan’s internet SMME portal allows small businesses to network, market their goods and services and approach potential national and international clients.
However, many guests could not see themselves growing beyond mere survival without financial assistance. One ceramics producer said that he could not afford to pay trainees for the three years necessary to train them.
Meanwhile a security company and B&B owner complained of corrupt officials within the ECDC and Department of Trade and Industry which led to delays and the misallocation of funds.
Government is the biggest employer of SMMEs nationally. However, the manager of local economic development for Cacadu, Mickey Mama, says that government contracts are inaccessible to many local businesses.
The Cacadu district has approximately 1 600 registered SMMEs but its headquarters remain in Port Elizabeth.
Not only is this not in the district it administers (Port Elizabeth is part of Nelson Mandela Metropole) but it is inaccessible to many of the rural businesspeople it could be employing.
“A caterer from Graaff Reinet won’t drive for hours to tender for us,” says Mama. Pumelelo Kate, former mayor of Makana Municipality and the current portfolio head for local economic development in Cacadu, said that the official district’s headquarters should have been moved to Jeffrey’s Bay “as of yesterday”.
“We are politically conscious of its location and the decision to move has been made by the ruling party,” he said.
However, Kate added that relocation is an expensive exercise which cannot be prioritised. Therefore there is no projected time for the move.
Mama says that while the Fifa World Cup provides many opportunities to entrepreneurs these too will be within a 120km radius of Port Elizabeth.
Felix said that while this includes Grahamstown, tourists still favour the centre of town rather than seeking out accommodation in peripheral areas.
“These strikes are also a detractor,” he said, “it seems like the World Cup has become a platform for people to air their grievances.”
Kate added that while protest is “an action enshrined in the Constitution, any action whichdoes not bring income is bad news”.
While the delegates acknowledged these problems, Felix emphasised that 1 April was the start of the financial year for government and many corporations.
“Small businesses are dependent on the spend of these bigger institutions, but they’re still making sense of their budgets, we will see an upswing in the third quarter,” he predicted. For more information visit www.smmeimbizos. co.za or call 043 743 6367/043 742 6397.
