The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has allocated R666-million for the strengthening and expansion of the Small Enterprise Development Agency's (Seda’s) presence across the country with the aim to maintaining a Seda office in each district.

Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshaveni made the announcement during his address on the department’s budget vote for 2021/22.

The initial budget for the 2021/22 financial year is R2.5-billion.

To continue implementing the SMME Support Plan, a further R157-million has been allocated to the Seda Technology Programme.

“The enterprise development work of Seda is the frontline of our services to small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) including cooperatives.

"In addition, since we took the decision that access to support must not be determined by the ability to complete application forms, Seda has been assisting entrepreneurs to complete various applications including business registrations with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, the South African Revenue Service and the Unemployment Insurance Fund,” said Ntshaveni.

She further announced that R288-million had been allocated for the Business Viability Programme to assist businesses scale-up or expand to turn around their operations.

“The SMME expansion or scale up programme coordinates efforts to support small and medium-sized enterprises to scale up their businesses and survive beyond their first five years through access to working capital and markets for goods and services.”

The acting Minister acknowledged that access to finance remained a key constraint in the development and growth of SMMEs and cooperatives, adding that most small businesses struggled to access finance owing to perceived risks identified by lenders.

“The department will soon table the draft SMME Funding Policy of South Africa for public comments. This draft policy seeks to make proposals on the coordination of SMME funding across the public and private sector,” she noted.

She added that it was critical to the department’s mandate to work on reducing regulatory burdens and creating a conducive policy and legislative environment to support the growth and sustainability of SMMEs and cooperatives.

“The Department has made great strides in this regard. Notably, the proposed amendment of the National Small Enterprise Bill was published in Government Gazette for public comments. The amendments mainly attended to the establishment of the Small Enterprise Ombud Service.”

During the 2021/22 financial year, the department aims to take the National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill through Parliamentary processes after Cabinet approval.

In addition, Ntshaveni said assistance to municipalities to roll out the Red-Tape Reduction Programme (RTRP) was an important component of the work of the DSBD as the government aims to create a conducive environment for the establishment of new enterprises and growth of the existing ones.

“To ensure the department addresses issues of reducing red tape, three districts will be assisted with rolling out the Red-Tape Reduction Programme Pilot Administrative Simplification Programme for SMMEs and cooperatives. It also intends to amendment the Businesses Act.”