By John Young
Extravagant claims are made about how small businesses will comprehensively solve the unemployment crisis: how, if children and students were just taught how to be entrepreneurs, the economic outlook would turn to rosy. The fact is that some people are much more suited to being employees than employers and there are very few SMMEs, even after “upscaling”, that will employ very large numbers of people.
The SMME sector is indeed vital for South Africa’s economic health. The truly small business (micro) subsector gets little attention but survivalist enterprises play a vital role. Hawkers and street traders work long hours and “house shops” (a step below spaza shops, where a room in a house is deployed) are a feature of the economic profile of most townships.
In this context, two recent initiatives involving the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) are particularly welcome. One of the initiatives will improve the information available to researchers and policy-makers and the other programme offers concrete and practical help to SMMEs.
The Absa/SACCI Small Business Growth Index (SBGI), run by the Bureau of Market Research, will do regular surveys of the sector and provide accurate and up-to-the-minute data on trends. This information could contribute to reducing the failure rate of startups, currently at alarming levels.
The second initiative involving SACCI is called SME Launch. To be administered by Inhlanyelo Hub NPC, SMME Launch leverages the networks of SACCI, the financial acumen of the Chartered Institute of Business Accountants (CIBA) and the experience of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) in issues such as legal compliance, intellectual property registration and the formalisation of a business.
Both of these initiatives are outlined in detail in the latest issue of Opportunity magazine, available now.
Also in this issue
The theme of entrepreneurship occurs again in a report on a new partnership between the Services Sector Education and Training Authority and the Wits Centre for Entrepreneurship. Another SETA, the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (CHIETA), contends that digital badges should replace paper certificates for artisans.
There are two interviews related to the opening of a LEGO Certified Store in Cape Town and two lawyers weigh in on what can be done about illegal mining in South Africa.
Stellenbosch University Associate Professor Craig McGregor and Bruce Douglas Young of the Africa Energy Leadership Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, warn that there are several roadblocks on the path to the introduction of green hydrogen on a commercial scale in South Africa.
To bolster infrastructure development, and for that to be sustainable, collaboration and policy certainty are required, according to Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) President, David Leukes. Regarding low-cost housing, Hlengiwe Maila has studied the South African market and believes that there is a better way to tackle the backlog.
The freight industry is one of the world’s biggest polluters. Bidvest International Logistics believes that the answers must come from both the road and rail freight sectors.
Two students at Stellenbosch University have applied innovative technology to track tree health. Both Yasmin de Raay and Chris Erasmus, who has developed a wireless dendrometer that tracks growth patterns, water dynamics and environmental stress, have qualified for the international finals of the 2025 Blue Sky Young Researchers and Innovation competition. De Raay’s work involves machine learning and the generation of microscopic images that give information about root growth.
— John Young, Editor, Opportunity
