BANKSETA ANNUAL REPORT 2023

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Success stories

Rural entrepreneurs learn vital business skills with BANKSETA and SALGA More than 5000 rural entrepreneurs have been empowered in the last three years through a partnership between the BANKSETA and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA). The newly-trained entrepreneurs come from all nine provinces and at least 39 districts. The skills they have been given over the three-day training course range from new venture formation to planning for growth. They range across all ages, from youngsters of 15 years to seasoned veterans, and from formally registered businesses to informal ventures as well as those that are still in the planning stages. The sectors in which the businesses are involved included beading, arts and crafts, farming, construction, hospitality, business consulting, car washing, education (day care centres), catering, importing, and general supplies. Zanoxolo Futwa, who manages the project on behalf of SALGA, says SALGA’s mandate is to be a pillar providing support to municipalities across the country by delivering tools and systems to help them deliver on their mandates.

SALGA’s research has found that fewer people living in rural municipalities have the capability to join the mainstream economy than in urban areas. As a result, they are less able to pay for the services provided by the municipalities. A gap therefore exists between the capacity of rural people to generate the income needed to fund the municipalities to enable them in turn to provide adequate services. SALGA therefore identified the need to train rural entrepreneurs to start up and run businesses efficiently and partnered with a number of strategic partners to provide this training. The key focus is on developing capacity and support systems to enable growth in the revenue base of municipalities. With such growth, not only services can be provided, but municipalities can borrow against their balance sheets. Zanoxolo says: “If you’re unemployed, you can’t generate revenue to pay for services, the result of which is a reduction in the social cohesion of the country.”

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PART B: PERFORMANCE INFORMATION | BANKSETA ANNUAL REPORT 2022/23