Sebenza Mbokodo Women's fund beneficiary Bokamuso Bo Bontle Director Lebohang Ramat, DA Leader, John Steenhuisen and Midvaal Municipality and Executive Mayor Bongani Baloyi at Meyerton south of Johannesburg, 9 August 2021, to visit two beneficiaries of the DA-led Midvaal's innovative Sebenza Mbokodo Women's Fund.
Empowering women is more than annual platitudes on Women’s Day – women should be given real
empowerment by assisting them financially to build sustainable businesses, says Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen.
The party is giving interest-free loans to informal businesses run by women through the Sebenza Mbokodo Women’s Fund.
Midvaal mayor Bongani Baloyi said: “We thought we must assist them with the seed capital to grow their businesses.”
Steenhuisen said: “Studies show that when you empower women you empower and uplift communities. The real empowerment is in building citizens who are not reliant on the state; who are able to … provide for their
families.”
The project partnered with Standard Bank and Absa. It had helped create 1 080 jobs from women-owned businesses. It had dispersed R1 million and had an additional R1 million the businesswomen could still apply for.
Grateful business owner Dimakatso Mokoena said she began her business shortly after graduating in 2018 because she could not find a job in her field.
“I did not have any income coming in and that is when I saw the need to sell atchar and eggs,” she said.
“The Sebenza Mbokodo project helped and inspired me to expand my small business to something bigger.”
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