07.06.2025
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Mpumalanga pumps over R11 million to support SMMEs

3 mins



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The Mpumalanga Economic Development and Tourism Department has pledged R11 million to boost struggling Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and revive Sabie’s ailing economy.

MEC Makhosazane Masilela has announced that the funding will specifically target the revival of the mining and forestry sectors in the province.

Once sustained by tourism, timber, and mining, Sabie town is grappling with high unemployment due to the closure of some companies.

“We will be funding the agency in this municipality, which is Thalita, by one million to assist us in terms of revitalising the mining that is happening in this municipality, and also forestry that is happening in this municipality, and we are not working alone. We are working with different financial sectors also through MEGA, we’ve got R11 million to support SMMEs,” says Masilela.

Video | Mpumalanga invests R1.5 million in SMMEs

Greater Sabie SMMEs Chairperson David Magagula believes emerging businesses will benefit from the interaction held with the provincial government.

Magagula says excessive red tape has posed a challenge in accessing funding for their businesses.

Magagula stresses that they are not SMMEs that have business ideas, but the challenge comes when they have to access funding.

“You find that there are those red tapes within the government. These are the challenges that made our SMMEs dependent on the government programmes, like maybe if there’s a paving of a road or something, that’s when they will start to do something. Meaning that our businesses are not sustainable because we depend on projects. The question is, what if there are no projects?” Magagula asks.

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