Small businesses benefit from handover

Kloofendal — Kloofendal Nature Reserve was filled with happy small business owners and employees on the morning of 26 October.

The Department of Small Business Development (SBD) and Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) hosted an event during which equipment to the value of R350 000 was handed over to local small businesses. The event was attended by the JCPZ’s Chairman of the Board, Advocate Mabaso, and its Managing Director, Bulumko Nelana.

Each equipment package consisted of a one-ton pick-up truck, a ride-on lawnmower, a petrol brush-cutter, a hedge saw, a trimmer, personal protective clothing and personal protective equipment. These small businesses will form part of JCPZ’s Cooperative Development Programme which aims at procuring horticultural and conservation services.

A training session was also given to the cooperatives. This was a packaged programme from the SBD that will ensure the sustainability of the training and could be replicated throughout the city.

This initiative forms part of JCPZ’s mandate to develop and grow primary cooperatives within the City of Johannesburg’s jurisdiction. A database was set up where small businesses could apply for funding from the SBD. The programme aims to emphasise the importance and contribution of Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) and cooperatives to economic development and job creation.

JCPZ realised that most SMMEs and cooperatives lack the necessary equipment and funding to undertake projects in the horticultural environment. This hinders their chances of obtaining work in the private and public sector. The cooperatives form part of the JCPZ’s SMME Development Programme which aims to assist them in building their capacity to realise their goals.

This handover was the first phase of the development programme and eight cooperatives were identified as beneficiaries. Each of these cooperatives will be awarded a six-month contract which will see them implement grass cutting, weeding, tree pruning and many other related services. In this way they are provided with the necessary skills and experience to tender for work in the public and private sector.

The second phase, consisting of 11 applications, has already been submitted to the SBD and a response from the department is awaited. The programme will officially be launched at the end of November or the beginning of December. Processes are already underway to prepare more funding applications to accommodate the rest of the 70 cooperatives already in the JCPZ database.

“We want to see our cooperatives growing beyond JCPZ. We want them to be able to go into the private and public sector. We will monitor them and give them support. The most important thing to remember is to work as a team,” concluded Nelana.