Small Business Development Budget Review and Recommendations Report

Meeting report

The Chairperson tabled the BRRR document for consideration by Members.

Mr R Chance (DA) referred to:
- Page number 3 of the BRRR and said that the usage of some words in the last paragraph should be reconsidered, as actions are not being followed by words.
- Spelling errors on page number 5.
- Page number, 5 bullet number 5, asked for the completion dates of all programmes already evaluated.

The Chairperson replied that the Committee is waiting for the report on those completion dates;  the report was due on November 18, 2015.

Mr Chance continued presenting his input and referred to:
- Page 20, the table did not have a reference to SEFA and - it should.
- Page 21, asked about the budget estimate figures on the report and where they came from.

Mr Noko Manyelo, Media and Parliamentary Liaison Officer, replied that those figures came from the Department.

Mr Chance referred to the figures on page 21 and 22 and asked whether the figures were included in the budget or if the Committee was asking for extra funding?

Mr Manyelo replied that maybe the figures were a result of a misprint and that the BRRR figures would be revised and fixed for the next meeting.

The Chairperson commented that when dealing with the budget, the Committee needs a person that can respond to those specific questions, why was the Director General (DG) not present?

 Deputy Minister Elizabeth Thabethe replied that the DG was abroad.

The Chairperson showed concern that the Committee did not received any apologies. It could not be that the DG is abroad and that there was no one that could address questions raised by Committee Members.

Mr Chance continued presenting his input:
- Page 24, paragraph 3.3, commented on the usage of language and the necessity of adjusting the figures presented on the BRRR. Each of the five programs should have a percentage allocation to see how much was being used.
- Page 29, The DA did not agree with the ANC in terms of the SEFA intermediaries. The DA was in favour of the use of intermediaries; he asked that it be noted on the report.

The Chairperson commented on the SEFA intermediaries and said the issue was more about the interest rate. The ANC thought that small businesses and cooperatives should not be subject to high interests on loans.

Mr Chance continued presenting his input:
- On the last page, under funding recommendations, some inclusions of specific institutions need to be made.
- The figures that refer to job creation needs to be double-checked.
- Recommendations on start-up funding and how to handle them more effectively need to be made.

Mr H Kruger (DA) said SEDA need to be brought back to the table as they might be misinforming the community in terms of their capacity for job creation.

Mr X Mabasa (ANC) replied that SEDA was not misinforming anybody. SEDA was not a funding entity; their task was to empower people technically. SEDA would be the last to say that they will create jobs as SEDA only provided the skills. In other words SEDA was all about technical empowerment.

Deputy Minister Thabethe added that SEDA would never provide financial support. Maybe there was a misunderstanding among the community, and that if SEDA had created confusion among the community something must be done, but in the meantime the Committee should not jump into conclusions until evidence was presented.

Mr S Mncwabe (NFP) said in essence the BRRR was okay. He referred to page 31 and said that the 2005 Amendment to the Cooperatives Act needs to be pushed forward.

Rev K Meshoe (ACDP) referred to page 8 and said that the list of challenges needs to be fixed. 

Mr T Mulaudzi (EFF) said the EFF also supported the ANC in terms of the elimination of intermediaries, as the percentage that the cooperatives and the small business ended up paying was too high. There was not enough support to the small business sector and recommendations in terms of funding need to be made. 

Mr S Bekwa (ANC) referred to page 23 and the budget being allocated to the accommodation of the Department. It was a lot of money and the figures need to be reviewed.

The Chairperson agreed to review all the recommendations made by the different parties, as well as the ANC submissions. The BRRR was not approved as modifications and amendments need to be made to the document.

The meeting was adjourned.