I have been advised that:

Both sectors are catered for through the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) funding through the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme (TREP), provided they meet the requirements.

There is a plan to support not only small businesses in electricity and plumbing but to fund small businesses in the built environment value chains. To this end, sefa has partnered with Construction ...

I have been advised that:

The DSBD is the custodian of red tape reduction (RTR) as it relates to SMME and co-operatives. The Department has been working collaboratively with Salga, COGTA and the Presidency since the 2017/18 financial year to implement measures to address the legislative and administrative burden faced by SMMEs and co-operatives, more specifically at the municipal sphere of government. These interventions ...

The Department of Small Business Development has two entities reporting to it, which are Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) and Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda):

I have been advised that:

sefa disbursed approximately R413 million between December 2023 and end of February 2024. About 66% of the total disbursements emanated from the Wholesale Lending Channel activities via the Microfinance and the Credit ...

I have been advised that:

(a) The Act requires the Minister to determine the constitution for the Advisory Body through an open and transparent process. The draft constitution for the Advisory Body has been approved by Minister and published in the government gazette for public comments.

Once comments have been received the final adjustments will be finalised and presented to Cabinet. After the final ...

I have been advised that:

(a)&(b)The Entrepreneurship in Schools programme is a partnership that involves a lot of private sector stakeholders. The owner and custodian are PrimeStars, the Corporate Social Investment (CSI) arm of Prime Media. Other partners include the following: SAPPI, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), EOH, Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropies, Omnia, 3M, AECI, Safripol, Mulilo, BTE Renewables, Richfield, University of ...

I have been advised that:

1. Since its inception in the 2021/22 financial period, the Youth Challenge Fund (YCF) was allocated a budget of:

(a) R296 459 000,

(b) As at 19 February 2024, sefa had disbursed R152 597 678 to 44 Youth-owned businesses under the Youth Challenge Fund.

2. The YCF provides support to youth start-up businesses/enterprises that meet the following criteria:

• Are between the ...

I have been advised that:

1. According to the records of received sponsorships, donations and gifts, the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) can confirm that no sponsorships, (b) donations and (c) financial transfers for lawfare and/or any other purposes were received from any (aa) Qatari, (bb) Iranian and/or (cc) Russian organ of state, organisation and/or resident since 1 January 2021 up to 23 February ...

I have been advised that:

1. At the time of consolidating the response to the Parliamentary question 4157, funding applications for 66 youth-owned businesses were approved and funding was disbursed to 42 youth-owned businesses. Since the data is captured on a live system, as of 19 February 2024 71 youth-owned businesses have been approved for funding to the tune of to the tune of ...

I have been advised that:

The Department of Small Business Development engaged the National Treasury in March 2023 for funding to assist SMMEs to deal with the effects of load shedding under a programme called “Energy Relief”, also known as “the Power Purchase”, and the request was not approved by the National Treasury.

An update on this was provided to the Portfolio Committee.

I have been advised that:

The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has not institutionalised the provision of emergence relief measures to small, medium and micro enterprises due to limited budget; however we will continue to apply to National Treasury whenever there is a pandemic or a disaster.