Transnet gives small businesses a leg up in KZN

15th March 2019 By: Marleny Arnoldi - Deputy Editor Online

State-owned freight utility Transnet, in attendance of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, on Friday launched an enterprise development megahub for small businesses and entrepreneurs in Empangeni, in KwaZulu-Natal.

The hub will assist small businesses, aspirant entrepreneurs and startups to be incubated into a real business environment.

The initiative forms part of Transnet’s enterprise development programme and will help small businesses in need of company registration; business skills development; temporary office space and mentorship; tax registration and administration; project implementation and monitoring plans; supplier readiness programmes; and to participate in the public procurement system.

This is the fifth hub of its kind that Transnet has established in the country, with other hubs operational in Johannesburg (Gauteng), Mdatsane (Eastern Cape), De Aar (Northern Cape) and Saldanha (Western Cape).

To get the small businesses ready, Transnet formed partnerships with the South African Revenue Service, the National Youth Development Agency, the Small Enterprise Financial Agency and the Small Enterprise Development Agency, which will assist in providing accredited training programmes, registrations and capacity building to new and existing businesses.

“This hub is about generating growth from below. It is about training people, giving them opportunities, giving them the kind of guidance they require so they can have the energy and enterprise that can drive our economy,” said Gordhan.