Cape Town - Township-based entrepreneurs and small businesses run by youth, people with disabilities and women now have access to the Western Cape’s R16 million SMME Booster Fund.
Launching the latest iteration of the fund, Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC Mireille Wenger said she wanted to encourage organisations which implement business development support projects and access to markets, to apply for project funding.
She said since the fund began in 2019, it had allocated R59 million in funding and supported 730 SMMEs across the province.
“One of my priorities is to make it easier for the private sector, especially small businesses, to do business in the Western Cape, and create jobs.
“Targeted programmes like the SMME Booster Fund is one of the ways we are helping small businesses and entrepreneurs to get started and thrive.”
Ahead of the fund’s launch last week, Wenger visited Owen Mdledle, owner of Baphumelele Fountain of Hope Farm in Philippi, who was one of the past beneficiaries of the SMME Booster Fund.
In 2019 and 2021, the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (Asisa) received funding from the SMME Booster fund.
With this funding they ran the Financial Literacy and Micro Enterprise (Flame) Programme which offers business support to businesses with a turnover of less than R1 million.
Through this programme, made possible by the SMME Booster Fund, Mdledle received 18 months of financial management, business strategy, market development training, mentorship, and coaching.
Wenger also met with Saliem Williams, the owner of Lekka Pies in Mitchells Plain, who received assistance through the department’s dedicated Red Tape Reduction Unit.
“Williams contacted the business support helpline service for information around funding opportunities that could save his business. Within 24 hours, our unit connected him with the support he needed for his business to survive in collaboration with Sefa,” Wenger said.
Provincial ANC Finance and Economic opportunities spokesperson Nomi Nkondlo said: “Access to finding remains a critical need of SMMEs, and there is even more pressure in the post-Covid-19 environment.”
She hoped Wenger would have frank discussions with industry on their rigid business and funding requirements, particularly from black businesses in townships and small rural towns.
All information on the application process can be found here - https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/smme-booster-fund
