MINISTER OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Mr P Atkinson (DA) to ask the Minister of Small Business Development
WRITTEN REPLY QUESTION 1055
Whether the Deputy Minister undertook official international travel in July
2014; if so, (a) why did she undertake this travel, (b) who travelled with
her, (c) to which places did she travel and (d) what was the total cost of
such travel? NW1211E
REPLY
Ms Elizabeth Thabethe, Deputy Minister: Department of Small Enterprise
Development undertook official international travel in July 2014:
a) The purpose was to lead delegations of SMMEâs to the Atlanta lifestyle
hub exhibition, and the Santa Fe Folk Art Market. As part of its
mandate to support SMMEâs and Co-operatives, the Department of Small
Business Development supports exports of domestic products by emerging
entrepreneurs and Deputy Minister has been leading these efforts since
her days in the Department of Trade and Industry.
b) During this visit the Deputy Minister travelled with two of her office
staff members and her official companion in line with the Ministerial
Handbook. The Deputy Minister was also joined by 4 officials from the
department i.e. the Acting DDG of the Incentives Development and
Administration Division (IDIAD), the Chief Director of Gender and
Women Empowerment, the Director for Creative Industries and a Director
for Marketing. The dti entities were represented by the President and
Acting-CEO of SAWEN and the Executive Manager and Senior Manager from
Seda. The delegation also included 14 women entrepreneurs from the
provinces, whose products have been exhibited and sold in the Atlanta
Showroom and at Santa Fe Arts Festival.
c) The official international travel was to Atlanta, Georgia and Santa
Fe, New Mexico in the USA.
d) What was the total cost of such travel? The cost described below
|Delegation |All inclusive costs |
|Deputy Minister office |R 379 414.00 |
|Departmental officials |R 456 626.00 |
|SAWEN officials |R 191Â 852 .00 |
|Seda officials |R 188 490.09 |
|Crafters |R 466Â 732.07 |
|All inclusive costs |R 1Â 683Â 114.16 |
The expenses for 10 of the crafters were paid from the South African
life style projects through Seda whilst the other 5 were supported
through the Sector Specific Assistance Scheme (SSAS) which is costs
sharing grant and this provided for the following: Travel and
accommodation, transport of samples and marketing materials and
exhibition costs.