R19 million handed to KZN small businesses affected by floods

The minister of Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams handed over R19 million to struggling 45 small businesses in the KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday.

The money aims to assist the recipients to recuperate and to rebuild after being greatly affected by the Covid-19, the rampant 2021 July riots and the devastating floods.

Small businesses affected by Covid-19, jury riots and floods

The handover is part of a series of roadshows that started on Tuesday, held in uMgungundlovu, eThekwini and Ugu districts by the minister and deputy minister Sidumo Dlamini.

“In KwaZulu-Natal, businesses were hit hard by rampant looting during the riots in July 2021, which saw over 100 thousand people losing their jobs. Small businesses, especially in the eThekwini Metro were also affected by floods early this year, said the department on Tuesday.

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Under the theme: Unlocking opportunities for SMMEs and Co-operatives for economic growth and job creation, the minister also highlighted the importance of funding small businesses.

“Trying to uplift businesses and assist them to recover from the challenges they face will be some of the issues that will be discussed when Ndabeni-Abrahams and Dlamini lead a series of provincial roadshows in the uMgungundlovu, eThekwini and Ugu districts from 25 to 28 October 2022,” said the department.

Other entities will join the discussion

The discusiopn panel will be joined by the department’s entities, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), as well as other key stakeholders.

The minister also handed over equipment and working material were handed over to informal traders of eThekwini Disability Chamber on Tuesday.

In addition, both the minister and deputy minister will be handing over equipment to identified beneficiaries from the Msunduzi, eThekwini and Ray Nkonyeni local municipalities.

They will do this alongside mayors, members of the mayoral committees (MMCs) responsible for local economic development and infrastructure and other SMME key stakeholders.

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