As South Africa celebrates the bravery of the country’s young people this Youth Month, Mpumalanga’s young entrepreneurs have called on government to live up to its commitment and assist them grow their businesses in order to contribute in creating employment for their peers and communities.
The young entrepreneurs were speaking on the sidelines of the Spaza Shop Support Fund workshop that was hosted by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), in partnership with the Department of Small Business Development in Mbombela today. The workshop was part of the countrywide awareness and education roadshow that the two departments have already taken to seven of the country’s provinces.
More than 300 spaza shop owners attended the Mbombela session. During her presentation, the Project Manager of the Fund, Ms Siziwe Zulu, told participants that the fund would be prioritising the youth, women and people living with disabilities, for financial and non-financial assistance.
Nomawethu Maseko (27) owns a convenience shop that is currently supplying still water to the community of Pienaar outside Mbombela. The business is already providing employment to two people.
“ Financial support from the fund will help me expand my business and make it sustainable. We learnt that government will be prioritising young people to benefit from this fund. This is an intervention through which government can assist young entrepreneurs like us to change the lives of many people for the better,” said Maseko.
She added that the fact that the participants today consisted mainly of older people means that there was a need for government to ensure that more young people get assistance to participate in the spaza and convenience shops business.
“We are the future. And if they seriously want to change the township and rural economy it is the young entrepreneurs who must be supported in order to bring that change,” added Maseko.
Thando Lubisi (27) currently runs a convenience shop from a caravan located at a filling station yard in Matsulu.
“This fund provides government with the perfect opportunity to assist us as young entrepreneurial people to contribute in creating employment for other young people, and other members of our communities. I have good plans that can enable me to expand my business as I would like to get a proper physical structure in which I can add more stock and equipment. The market is there for my products but the caravan has become small as the demand has grown over time,” said Lubisi.
Warren Mngwambe ( 34) also harbours hopes on expanding his fast-food business which is based in Kabokweni.
“We learnt that the fund also assists with stock and that is exactly what I require at the moment as my customers have increased significantly since I started the business. Stocking piecemeal due to lack of sufficient funds inhibits the growth of my business. My plan is to expand and employ other people to assist me in the business,” echoed Mngwambe.
During the question and answer session of the workshop, most participants lamented the strict requirements that applicants will have to comply with. They indicated that it was expensive and cumbersome to achieve the level of compliance required to qualify for the fund as there are numerous documents that they expect to obtain from various government institutions.
To this end, the Manager of Business Registration and Governance at the Mbombela Local Municipality, Vincent Mabuza, said it would be in the interest of both the spaza shop owners and government to set up a one-stop shop where a spaza shop owner would be able to apply for all the requirements documents from a centralised place.
“I think the fund should also consider assisting potentially viable spaza shops financially to comply as the process cost time a lot of time and money. This can ensure that the number of applicants who qualify for this fund increases in order for it to start making a difference in the township and rural economy,” advised Mabuza
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