Small business operators in townships will remain part of the consumptive majority if they don’t take advantage of opportunities in the mainstream economy.
This was highlighted at San Kopano Community Centre, Alexandra during an information-sharing session between the Gauteng’s Department of Economic Development, SMMEs and prospective entrepreneurs. “Despite being part of the 70 to 80 per cent of the national population comprised of township and rural residents, they are still to exploit many opportunities offered through business and industrial hubs next to their locations,” the department’s Mathopane Masha said.
He said that the hubs are the government’s attempt to integrate these residents and small business operators into the mainstream economy from their current soft enterprises. “The opportunities are in places where they live and work and will enable them to contribute more to stimulating the national economy and the province’s programme of revitalising Gauteng’s city regions’ township economy.”
Masha said information on the available opportunities will attract the local entrepreneurs to move from the soft and small productive sectors of tuck shops, brick moulding and street vending to formal and more profitable ventures in the value chain of the mainstream economy offered by the hubs.
He said that from the information, they will derive better knowledge for decision making in, among others, product needs and production, market access and branding, value chain links, packaging and access to other opportunities on their products which can be packaged to penetrate the broader market. “Currently, their informal status constrains them from also accessing government support, subsidies and benefits from formal public and private initiatives supporting the mainstream economy, including at exhibitions.
Offered Mothibedi, also of the department, urged them to exploit the opportunities from their vantage positions with their products which can be scaled up and made more profitable as well as generate more employment. The inclusive economy, he said, was part of government recognising the potential profitability and employment-generation opportunities by SMMEs and cooperatives. “The support availed to them includes exposure to regulatory frameworks, tendering and bidding and how to access opportunities through ring-fenced subsidies requiring local content in products and services.”
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