Parliament Committee split over small business challenges in Limpopo

Members of the Parliament Portfolio Committee on small business have expressed mixed reactions over the challenges faced by small businesses.

This comes as the committee was wrapping up its week-long oversight of the small businesses funded by the department in Limpopo. The committee visited various businesses in all districts of the province to assess the performance and progress of business development.

The committee, comprising members of different political parties, says the insights will inform the committee’s work going forward. Committee members from the ANC and DA, Balungile Sapo and Shara Singh, say although there is notable improvement, there is a need for more government support.

‘We understand that there are elements in the gaps that need to be attended to, but with the progress that the department has made, together with the entity as things stand, we are quite comfortable and we are quite happy to see them assisting young people and women, to be specific. The unfortunate situation is, though, we’re not really seeing any of these entities being highly profitable and creating the kind of jobs that we need. So, what we will have to do is we will have to take our deliberations back to Parliament, back to the committee, and look at restructuring those programs so they have the necessary impact.”

WATCH: Government visits small businesses in Limpopo

Meanwhile, committee members of opposition parties, Carol Mafagane and Babalwa Mathulelwa of the MK Party and EFF, say there is a notable gap between the government and small business owners.

“We have been meeting people who are in need of a lot of help and intervention from government. Are they getting the support that they need? They are just—I’ve just believed that the government is doing more of a fiscal term and leaving them in deep problems. So what we’ve witnessed is a lot of big problems. We are following the money of the government. But also, there is a gap that people are struggling with in the market. People are the money; it is just dumped to our people. There is no follow-up by the department. There is no assistance in terms of capacitating them.”