Question NW4157 to the Minister of Small Business Development

Reply:

I have been advised that:

a) In a quest to cultivate an enterprising culture amongst the youth, the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has designed support measures for youth-owned businesses. This presents much greater opportunities for isolated and marginalised youth into the economic mainstream in respect of which targeted measures are necessary for accelerating the promotion of youth businesses and self-employment. It is in this light, that the DSBD is increasingly expanding its programmes but more importantly, designing targeted instruments assisting youth owned enterprises with enterprise development.

As at the end of Quarter 2 of the current financial year, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), with limited resources, has provided 10,616 skills development and other business development support for youth entrepreneurship which may include interventions such as, but not limited to Financial Management training, Access to funding, Basic Business skills training, Information and Business Advice, Business Plans, Training and Mentoring, entrepreneurship awareness, etc.

Seda has an Entrepreneurship in Schools Programme that encourages learners to consider entrepreneurship as an alternative career to employment. The main objective of the programme is:

1. To influence the mind set of learners by encouraging them to become job creators instead of job seekers once they leave the schooling system;
2. To equip learners with entrepreneurial knowledge and skills needed to start and manage their businesses; and
3. To improve entrepreneurial activity amongst the learners and educators.

Entrepreneurship in schools (Step up to a Start Up) is a programme together with Primestars that will support educators through boot camps to create entrepreneurship awareness amongst the youth and educators.

Furthermore, through Sefa the department has the Youth Challenge Fund (YCF) – the primary objective of the fund is to provide support to youth Start-Up enterprises which are formally registered and is thus seen as an approach to assist in ensuring the economic participation of young people. This is intended to support most promising young entrepreneurs intending to scale-up and growing their businesses.

b) Since its inception the Youth Challenge Fund in November 2021, the programme has approved loans to the value of R227 798 265 to 66 youth-owned businesses and has disbursed R150 348 036 to 42 youth-owned businesses. On the other hand, Seda has also signed a three-year MoU with the National Skills Fund. It includes Work Integrated Learning for 1500 unemployed graduates who will be trained to provide mentorship to 12 500 micro enterprises.

In addition to the above, there other events that seek to orientate young people around entrepreneurship development and opportunities:

1. Seda Eastern Cape in collaboration with the KSD TVET college presented an information session to eighty (80) youth on entrepreneurship awareness. The event took place from on 6-12 June 2023.
2. On 10 May 2023 the Sol Plaatje University (SPU) hosted a Career Fair in partnership with public entities to share Career and Personal Development Opportunities for Graduates to advance employability and Business Opportunities in the Northern Cape.
3. So are the other events such as Seda Eastern Cape’s Amathole Branch which held an eco-system stakeholder meeting by the Border Kei Chamber of Commerce on 22 June 2023. The Chamber is in the process of opening a youth desk focusing on Youth Development in its entirety. The youth desk comes as a follow-up to their annual Youth Reality Conference that the Chamber has been hosting for the past few years. The event attracts over two thousand (2000) young people in and around Buffalo City Municipality (BCM). The chamber has identified challenges that the young people face, and in collaboration with partners seeking to address some of these challenges. One of the challenges being the high level of unemployment among young people.
4. Seda Nkomazi branch in Mpumalanga made a presentation on Seda’s offerings at the Aids Foundation of South Africa from the 30 May -1 June 2023 in Mangweni, Buffelspruit and Naas respectively. The purpose of this collaboration was to implement a young women focused programme, of empowering them with skills including employability, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.
5. The Nkangala Branch and other stakeholders in Mpumalanga participated in the youth month seminar “Leave Your Legacy” organised by Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA). A presentation on Seda products and services, opportunities that are available to youth and Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme (TREP) was done. The event was attended by twenty-one (21) youth entrepreneurs, and it took place on the 14 June 2023.

These are some few activities amongst many that seek to orientate young people on entrepreneurship development and available support services provided by the SBD Portfolio.